***
I felt like a princess.
That was a stupid thought. I should feel violated. I’d practically been sold to Drake in exchange for a better deal for my father’s company. And yet I felt like I was in a fairy tale. The diamonds hung at my throat and my fingers trailed over the thick, heavy stones. The dress was a light pink silk that hung low over my breasts and stopped at mid-thigh on my legs. I was showing far more than I intended, but it was so very hot on the island, and it felt amazing to have the light fabric over me after a cool shower.
Leonard helped me out to the back veranda and then led me over the boardwalk to where a table was set up on Drake’s private beach. Out there, it was just him, me, the food set out on the table, some twinkle lights and an actual string quartet set out on a platform for me. That was quite the showstopper, and I hadn’t expected to see anyone else out on the beach.
“You got me string players?”
“I wanted to be classy for you,” he said, standing and pulling out my chair as best as he could on the sand.
As soon as I pulled up to the table, I kicked off my flip flops and leaned with my elbows against the surface. “This is so beyond what I expected.” I gestured to the diamond necklace I wore. “Mrs. Johnson… Penelope was kind enough to pick this out for me for the night. She has a whole case of choices, and she doesn’t have to do that. This is supposed to be business.”
He reached out and squeezed my hand. “You know that it’s not just about business, and that it never has been. I want so much more from this month.” He chuckled, a low rumble that made warmth flare in my belly. “If I only wanted to talk business, you know I’d have invited Maurice. As it is, he’s really not my type.”
His eyes, so like warm chocolate, shone back at me under the moonlight. I couldn’t stop staring at them, just as I hadn’t been able to back in the boardroom. He was mesmerizing, and there felt like so much lay beyond those depths, beneath that scar on his left eyebrow, that left him looking like a dangerous Jason Mamoa.
When we were younger, Carol used to joke with one of her loser high school boyfriends that chicks dug scars; maybe she was right.
“I know, but it’s all so much.”
“Afraid I’ll kick you to the curb when we’re back in California?” he asked, pulling the silver domes off our meals of excellently prepared salmon. The scent of dill made my mouth water. “Isn’t that what you think?”
I picked up a fork and poked at my meal, at the flaky morsels that I was probably too nervous to eat much of. “I know that you’ve gone through most of the Hollywood roster. Any starlet under thirty has been on your arm. I don’t want to do that. I… romance should be special.”
He laughed, and suddenly that sound didn’t appeal as much. Drake dug into his own meal and chewed a bit before he finally answered. “Princess, how much more special could this be? You have a private villa to yourself, your own servant for a month, and anything you ask for, I can get.”
“I’m sure you do this for all your conquests. But you can’t give me anything I truly want. My mother—” I cut myself off, unwilling to divulge my mother’s illness and the true reason why I agreed to this trip.
He frowned. “Right, your mother. She doesn’t actively engage with the company, so I didn’t do much research on her.”
I stilled; it was probably too much of a weakness to admit to her illness in front of him. He might talk a confident and cajoling game, but he wasn’t necessarily safe, wasn’t a man I could trust any part of myself with, let alone my heart.
“Mom isn’t made for business,” I said. It was technically true now. I poked at some rice, and then nodded up at him. “So, why the Bahamas? I assume you have houses in every corner of the planet. Luxury compounds from Thailand to Chile.”
“I don’t travel as much as you’d think,” he conceded. “Oh, I do for business, but I love L.A.”
“The smog, traffic, and everyone posturing for position?” I was incredulous. “L.A. drives me crazy. It’s why I had to get away to college at UC San Diego and why my family liked to get away to the lake when times were good. It’s too hard being there all the time, too fake.”
“Travel can be hard though,” he admitted. “I’m always on call for premieres or emergency client consultations. I like the personal touch for some of the biggest hitters.”
“I can’t imagine J-Law or Tom wait much.”
He chuckled. “Depends which Tom. I… I don’t always like traveling if I don’t have to. Adjusting to new surroundings, not knowing all the angles. At home, I keep to certain routines, the clubs I know, the eateries, that way I know how to exit fast.”
I frowned. “You think that crowds of dissatisfied customers will come for you with pitchforks?”
He shook his head. “Back in Iraq, things were rough.”
“Oh,” I replied, not sure of what to say.
He was opening up a bit, abandoning some of the cockiness that turned me off, giving me just a glimpse of the man Penelope trusted. At least he was giving me something, but I was afraid if I pushed for anything more, he’d clam up. Maybe he wasn’t even aware of how much he was putting out there.
“I had enough surprises for a lifetime,” he said, pulling up a large velvet box from his lap. It was necklace size, and that confused me. After all, Penelope had been sent with the right one for my outfit already. “It means,” he continued, setting his fork down, “that I crave control in everything I do. So, I have a few retreats, but I prefer to stay a creature of habit.”
“All right,” I offered, frowning at the box. “I don’t know if I understand.”
He cracked it open, and I gasped. A stylized dog collar, bejeweled with rubies and diamonds, with a few silver studs sticking out from it. “Do you know what it is?”
I stood up but stayed when he grabbed my wrist. “Is this a joke? Do you what? Want me to wear that?”
“I’m a Dominant, Belle, and for this month, I hope that you’ll be my sub. I won’t force you to go that far, perhaps we’ll work up to everything, but this is a promise.”
“Oh. it’s definitely a joke or you’ve gone Looney Toons,” I snapped, pulling my arm away from him.
“No,” he said, standing, and the ocean breeze carried his scent to my nose, that mix of rugged cologne and masculine musk that was pure sex and pure Drake.
Would it be so bad? A traitorous voice whispered in the back of my mind, even as my clit throbbed between my legs. For one month, the most wanted bachelor in the world wanted no one but me. Maybe it could be more. Maybe…
No.
I deserved more. I’d waited long enough for a good relationship, for more than the few disappointments in college. I wasn’t going to throw so much away to be a flavor of the month for him. I might have to do some things, but I wasn’t putting on a dog collar, no matter how many diamonds adorned it, and letting him just do anything with me. I’d read a few novels in my day and I could imagine the rest. I wasn’t willing to give him that much control over me. None of it was what I wanted to sign up for.
“What type of promise?” I snapped. “God, I understood negotiations meant more, but this is far beyond the pale, Drake.”
“Princess,” he said, setting the collar on the table. “I want to work up to everything. Honestly, in public, I filter through with the dates and the publicity stunts. But I pick my subs far more carefully, and only offer this to the few private women I feel I can trust. They aren’t just disposed of. I’m saying I want to see if we mesh well this month, see where it might go from there…”
“But why? Why did you want any of this when you were going to walk before when we wouldn’t take your insulting deal?”
His nostrils flared, and I could tell Drake was fighting down his own anger. “First, I was offering far more than anyone else would. I was the only company to take a meeting with you, and I expected you to act reasonably and accept that. Second, I saw you, really saw you in that room.” Drake punctuated his point by pulling me flush to his torso, so close that I could feel the ridge of his erection against my body. “You’re amazing, Belle, and I want you.”
“As a submissive,” I hissed. “As some degenerate game.”
“It’s not like that. It’s about trust and about honoring what everyone needs. You’d have all the power with our play; the sub always does. Just think about it. You don’t have to answer now. We can always deal with the actual negotiations and other, milder, things. But just think about it,” he said, his lips now were perilously close to mine. So close that I could reach out and taste him.
Forcing myself to stay sane, I pulled away from him. “No, I’m not doing this. I… Goodnight, Drake,” I said, storming back across the beach, leaving my date and that damn collar behind me.
I was no one’s pet, and no one, not even Drake McManus was going to fully own me.