The phone rang, rousing Evangeline from the couch. Damn it! How could she have fallen asleep? She’d planned that as soon as Silas made his departure, she was going to get a start on dinner, regardless of his assertion that she was to rest until Drake called.

She scrambled for the phone, at least glad Silas had put it within reach. She nearly groaned when she swung her legs over the end of the couch so she could get up and head for the kitchen as she talked to Drake.

“Hello?” she asked breathlessly.

“I’ll be home in twenty minutes,” he said shortly.

“O-okay,” she said, gripping the phone tighter.

Even as she talked, she was digging into the bags and searching for the right skillets and warming the grill on the professional-grade stove.

“Dinner will hold for a few minutes, I take it,” he said.

“Yes, of course,” she said hastily. “I can have it ready whenever you’re ready to eat.”

“Good. Then what I want you to do is go into the living room and undress. When I arrive I want you standing at the end of the couch, your belly leaned against the arm, legs slightly apart. And then when I tell you, you are to lean forward and put your hands down on the couch so that you are bent over the arm.”

She hesitated, a puzzled look creasing her forehead. “Okay,” she said quietly.

“Your punishment, Angel,” he said, evidently picking up on her confusion. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about this morning.”

She nearly dropped the phone but managed to get a grip before it smashed onto the floor.

“Be sure you’re ready and that you’ve heeded my every instruction or I won’t be pleased,” he said in a silky voice.

“I won’t disappoint you, Drake,” she said in a low tone.

He hesitated this time and then he said, “I know, Angel. That I know.”

And then he hung up, leaving her to stare at the phone.

She closed her eyes, refusing to focus on the fact that he was going to punish her. She had to get a start on dinner so he wouldn’t think she hadn’t already done so. This whole day had been nothing but an epic clusterfuck.

She thought briefly about heeding Silas’s advice and telling Drake of all that had occurred the minute Drake came through the door, but then she frowned. What a coward she was being. At the very first opportunity she was trying to get out of trouble, when it was her own damn fault.

No, she’d get dinner well on its way to being prepared, and then she’d go into the living room and do as Drake had told her. She wouldn’t wimp out the very first time their relationship was tested, or at least the first time she disobeyed him. Somehow she thought that would disappoint him far more than the fact that she’d disobeyed him.

With five minutes to spare, she had everything prepared and on the stove, the sizzling sounds of food cooking and the inviting aroma filling the air. All that was left were the steaks, and she wouldn’t put those on until they were ready to eat.

Knowing she now had less than five minutes until Drake arrived, she fled to the living room, ignoring the twinges of pain in her knee. If she hadn’t spent all afternoon napping on the couch and had been moving around, her knee wouldn’t even hurt. But after so many hours of inactivity, of course it was going to protest the sudden movements.

She hastily undressed and then carefully folded her clothing and put it on the coffee table. She didn’t want it to appear as though she’d rushed through the process, even if that was precisely what she’d done.

She slid her shoes underneath the coffee table and then laid her bra and panties on top of her torn jeans and shirt.

When she was naked, she walked to the end of the couch and leaned into it, running her hands over the leather arm, and then leaned forward, testing how comfortable she would be when he asked her to bend over.

Okay, that wasn’t so bad.

She straightened and dutifully took her position exactly as he’d described and then closed her eyes, knowing the next few minutes until he arrived would seem like an eternity.

•   •   •

Drake waited impatiently for the elevator doors to open and immediately stepped off, not even taking the time to hang his coat over the coatrack. He slipped it off on his way to the living room and tossed it aside.

His breath caught in his throat when he saw Evangeline standing just as he’d instructed her at the end of the couch, her bare skin glowing in the low light. Only a lamp was on in the far corner, lending an intimate air to the room.

He walked up behind her, unable to resist such beautiful temptation. He brushed her hair over one shoulder and pressed his lips to the curve of her neck. She shivered beneath his touch and tiny chill bumps danced across her skin.

“So responsive,” he murmured. “So fucking beautiful.”

He heard her soft sigh, as beautiful as she was.

“Stay right where you are,” he commanded.

Then he left the room to get the crop from the bedroom. This would be her first experience with anything other than his hand and the few smacks he’d administered to her ass, and therefore he wouldn’t graduate to something harsher. Not until he was certain she was ready and with him all the way.

When he returned, she was still standing there, as still as a statue, her pale skin glowing in unearthly light. She was a goddess and she was all his.

He trailed the end of the crop down her spine, eliciting another shiver from her. He continued his gentle exploration, letting her become accustomed to the feel of the leather before he marked her gorgeous ass.

He moved to the side of her so he could see her face, her expression.

“I’m going to administer six lashes,” he said in an even voice. “Just to remind you in the future that you are not to disobey me. But fair warning, Angel, if it happens again, I won’t be as merciful.”

She shifted her weight, an almost imperceptible movement, but he was tuned in to her completely and missed nothing. He was about to administer the first blow, still to the side of her, because he wanted to watch her reaction. The moment when the initial pain faded into pleasure. He wanted to watch her eyes go hazy at the pleasure he gave her.

But a sudden flash of pain and obvious distress briefly chased through her eyes before it was gone, leaving him to wonder if he’d imagined it. But no. He’d clearly seen it. He frowned because he hadn’t done more than stroke her skin with the flogger.

He let his hand fall to his side as he continued to stare piercingly at her.

“What’s wrong?” he demanded. “Evangeline, look at me.”

Slowly she turned her head so that she faced him fully and he was no longer just seeing her profile. Her eyes glittered with unshed tears and it gutted him.

“Nothing is wrong, Drake. I won’t disobey you again,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry. I was wrong. I was being a petulant little child and I was a bitch. You didn’t deserve that from me.”

And then her weight shifted again, and he saw that she moved most of her weight to one leg instead of having both feet planted solidly on the floor. She winced, pain once more flashing in her eyes before she visibly got herself under control and turned to face ahead. She leaned forward to plant her hands on the couch as he’d instructed her earlier, but all Drake could see, remember, was the pain in her eyes. Pain that he had in no way caused.

His gaze dropped down her body, searching for any discernible source of discomfort. Then his eyes narrowed when he saw what the couch had effectively hidden from his view. A bandage on her knee.

He went immediately to his knees, turning her to the side so she faced him, and he could now plainly see the dressing over her knee.

“What the fuck?” he murmured, purposely pitching his voice low so that his emphatic words held no bite or anger directed at her.

He stood rapidly and then picked her up, cradling her against his chest, and then walked around to the front of the couch and carefully laid her down. Then he gently lifted her legs, wanting to cause her no further pain, and draped them across his lap so he could get a closer look at her knee.

“What happened?” he demanded.

She sighed. “It’s nothing, Drake. I promise. It was stupid of me and I was clumsy. Zander and I went out to buy groceries and then he insisted I needed a pair of sunglasses and so he stopped in a boutique and bought two pairs of hideously expensive sunglasses.”

She shuddered and closed her eyes, and he realized she was more upset over the cost of the sunglasses than she was over the injury to her knee.

“When we walked out, I tripped. I’m not even sure what exactly happened except one minute I was standing and the next I was facedown on the sidewalk and Zander was freaking out. He wanted to call you immediately, but I begged him not to. So he called Justice to come get us. Only Justice and Silas arrived, and then Silas insisted he bring me to your doctor.”

Drake’s eyes narrowed as he absorbed her account. “And why didn’t you think it important to call me?”

“You were busy,” she whispered, distress radiating from her voice. “Your note said you would be busy and that you would be wrapped up in important meetings all day and that you’d be late for dinner. It was nothing worth disturbing you over. Your doctor stitched it up in just a few minutes and gave me medicine to numb the wound.”

“He had to stitch you?” he asked behind tightly clenched teeth.

Her eyes grew larger with fear and nervousness, but he was too determined to get to the bottom of this whole mess before allaying her fears that he was angry with her. Jesus. He should have been the one with her. The whole goddamn time.

“Only a few,” she said defensively. “I don’t know why he even bothered. I’ve suffered far worse before, and slapping a bandage over it worked just fine.”

“That may have been okay before,” he said, trying to get a grip on his emotions. “Before you belonged to me, that is. But it is not okay now. You belong to me now, and I will always ensure you are cared for above all others. Your comfort and safety are second to none other. You should not have had to go to the clinic with only a strange man to comfort you. I should have been there to hold you and to carry you up to our apartment after and ensure your absolute comfort. That’s my job, Angel.”

He pinned her with an intense stare. “Now tell me. What’s your job?”

She looked confused and her brow creased in obvious puzzlement. “I don’t understand what you’re asking,” she said helplessly. “I’m not being deliberately obtuse, Drake. I’m just confused by your question.”

“My job is to always take care of you. To provide for you. To ensure your safety when I cannot be near and most especially to ensure that you are comfortable above all else. You only have one job, my angel. Obey.”

Evangeline stared in wonder at Drake as a myriad of conflicting emotions assailed her over his matter-of-fact stating of the facts—the truth—as he saw them. She felt slight irritation. But mostly she felt profound relief. As though a great burden had shifted and had been lifted from her shoulders.

Could it really be as easy as he made it appear? That this man, this beautiful, dominant man would cherish her, pamper her, spoil her, protect her, take care of her and in return, all she had to do was to obey? It was almost more than she could fathom. Like she was in a never-ending fantasy and if she opened her eyes it would all be gone in the blink of an eye, and so she held tightly to the dream, squeezing her eyes tighter shut to keep reality at bay.

Then he leaned down and very carefully peeled away the bandage, and after a moment’s inspection, he reverently pressed his lips to the wound. She was astonished that in one moment he was all raw power, bristling alpha male about to discipline his submissive, and in the next second he was so exquisitely loving and tender that it brought an altogether different kind of sting to her eyes.

“From now on if anything, and I mean anything, should happen to you, I want to know about it immediately. I don’t care how insignificant you think it is. I expect to know about it the minute it happens. Understand?”

She swallowed and then somehow managed to verbalize her consent around the knot in her throat.

Then to her further shock, he gently slid her body further over his lap until he cradled her against his chest. He pressed his lips firmly to her brow and then stood, lifting her higher into his arms. He carried her into the kitchen and then eased her down on the island with the rest of the kitchen surrounding her.

“Tonight, I cook for my injured princess,” he said, a gleam in his eyes.

Appalled, she immediately launched her protest. “In no way do a few stitches keep me from cooking dinner. Besides, everything is nearly done except for the steaks, and they’ll only need a few minutes to grill on each side.”

He tweaked her nose affectionately and then followed it by kissing her long and leisurely on the lips.

“Then I won’t have much left to do, will I? You will sit right where you are and direct me from on high. You tell me what to do and how, and I’ll have supper served in no time.”

Evangeline watched in fascination as he tended to the meal, pausing from time to time to ask her if he was doing it right. And as she was watching him and as she replayed the events prior when he’d forgotten all about her punishment and had instead instantly made certain she was all right and taken care of, she had an epiphany of sorts.

Drake enjoyed taking care of her. In fact, he seemed to delight in it. It—she—mattered to him, and he took what he called his “job” very seriously. She wondered if he had never had anyone who truly cared about him and if that was why he seemed so determined to give her something that maybe he himself had lacked.

It only made her all the more determined not only to accept him unconditionally but also to do everything in her power to take care of and protect him. Maybe no one in his past had ever ensured that he was happy and cared for, but she’d be damned if she was going to be like those people. Drake would know without a doubt that there was at least one person who cared deeply enough about him to always ensure his happiness and comfort. And if she could do all those things by simply pleasing him and following his rules, then she would do so with no hesitation, no more questioning herself.

“Drake,” she said hesitantly.

He turned as if sensing the seriousness in her tone.

“I am sorry,” she said softly. “For today. Earlier. I was a bitch and as I said, you didn’t deserve that from me. I’m ashamed of the way I acted, and I did so without thought and that hurt you. I feel terrible about it. Can you forgive me? I will try very hard never to give you any cause to be unhappy with me again. I want to please you. It’s important to me. More important than you even know.”

His expression relaxed and he walked over after flipping the steaks and wrapped his arms around her.

“You are not a bitch, Angel. Far from it. And I think we should both just agree to forget all about today and move on. But baby, I want a promise from you. You are to never let me punish you or even put you in a situation where you are hurting or feel any discomfort. You should have told me the minute your accident happened, and if not then, you most assuredly should have told me before I put a crop to your ass. Thank God I figured it out before I doled out your punishment, because I would have never forgiven myself for causing you unnecessary pain.”

There was genuine self-derision in his tone and remorse. Her heart softened to the point of melting because he seemed so horrified that he could have caused her further pain.

“And I can’t tell you how much it means to me for you to so sweetly and genuinely tell me that you care. That you want to please me and that it’s important to you. I’ve never had that,” he admitted, looking immediately chagrined that he’d imparted something he considered deeply personal. But it only reinforced what she’d already figured out.

“I want you to know that pleasing you is every bit as important to me as pleasing me is important to you. I want you to be happy. I want you to shine. For me. Only, always, for me.”

She relaxed and kissed him and then drew away, a teasing grin on her face.

“So no punishment for me tonight, then?” she asked lightly.

He returned to the stove and picked up one corner of a steak, holding it up for her inspection.

“Just a minute or two longer,” she advised.

Then he regarded her somberly.

“No, Angel. I think it’s safe to say you’ve already had a little too much excitement for one day. I have never considered myself a patient man, but I’m finding lately that when the reward is great, I’m willing to temper myself. Just know that now that you better understand the parameters and limits I’ve set for you, I won’t be as forgiving in the future, and disobedience will be punished. But I will never take it too far, and I would cut off my right arm before ever intentionally hurting you.”

Her body went all tingly as a mixture of disappointment and curiosity curled in her stomach. She realized in that moment that she didn’t fear Drake hurting her. Physically. He was too disciplined and restrained in all things. The physical part of her fantasized about what his punishment would feel like and if she’d revel in the burn as she had the night he’d spanked her those few times with his hand. The emotional part of her couldn’t bear to ever disappoint Drake again in such a way as to warrant punishment. His approval, she realized, meant a great deal.

“What if I wanted you to use the crop on me?” she asked huskily before she could temper her words. “Not in punishment. Is that something that would please you, Drake? Because I fantasize about it and I think . . .”

“What do you think, Angel?”

“That it would please me very much,” she admitted.

He was taking the steaks from the grill and putting them on a platter and went completely still when her admission hit him. Then he turned the burners off the other skillets and slowly turned, fire brewing in his eyes.

“Maybe if I wasn’t standing.” She plunged ahead before she lost her nerve. “A man of your expertise surely has a thousand ways of flogging a woman without me having to put any weight on my knee.”

“What I think,” he said slowly, “is that first we should eat. And then afterward we can have this discussion. Preferably with you in my bed, tied up and powerless to do anything but accept the pleasure I give you.”

She gulped. She was supposed to eat now? And actually remember what anything tasted like?

He served portions of the food onto two plates and then put them on the table. Then he returned and carefully lifted her down from the island and carried her over to the table, but instead of depositing her into her own chair, he settled down with her in his lap.

She realized that once again, he was going to feed her, but this time, there was no hesitation on her part. She’d enjoyed it the first time he had fed her by his own hand. Intimacy had cloaked them, pulling them further and further into a hazy fog of passion and arousal.

As he began to feed her—and himself—he complimented her on yet another excellent meal.

“But you cooked, not me!” Evangeline protested.

“I hardly call slapping two steaks on a grill and turning them at the minute marker you set while simply turning on the heat under the other skillets to rewarm the food you’d already prepared cooking the meal,” he said dryly. “It was delicious and I appreciate the effort you underwent to make it special for me. That means a lot to me, Angel. I only regret that you hurt yourself in the process.”

“A skinned knee was worth pleasing you,” she whispered. “I do want to please you, Drake. It’s a need within me I can’t even explain to myself. You give me so much. You make me feel beautiful and wanted. I want so much to give you back even a part of what you give so selflessly to me.”

He kissed her, hugging her closer to his body. “You do please me, Angel. Never doubt that. Now, what do you say we continue this conversation in the bedroom where I can properly tend to my angel and give her what she wants and needs from her man.”

“I’d say that’s the best idea I’ve heard all day,” she whispered against his lips.