Maison Domine: A Binding Ties story Page 7

  “Thanks, Gabe. I’m thinking play collar, wrist and ankle cuffs, corsets, and whatever else you can think of, all in shades of blue. I’ll get her exact sizes sometime before I come home.” A quick glance at the clock let him know it was almost time for Lara to come by. He wrapped up his call. “Anyway, she’s on her way over. I’ll talk to you later. And thanks for not giving me too much shit. Yet.”

  Gabe grumbled a bit but hung up after settling on a time for them to meet Tuesday evening, leaving Jax to plan out the details of his and Lara’s wicked evening ahead.

  Lara returned to her room, feeling bereft without Jaxon’s presence. Better get used to it, girl. You know you can’t keep him around come Monday. Your career is too important.

  But, according to Sam, her career was slowly killing her. Between the stress and the long hours, Lara knew her body was exhausted and she was putting herself at risk. She tried telling Samantha it was only until she got tenure, but they both knew the truth. As long as Lara was at Waterman, or any university of a similar caliber, she would be overworked.

  Jax had been sending her such mixed signals she had no idea if he actually wanted this affair to extend beyond the weekend. And beyond anything he’d said or done, Lara was a woman of the world. Hollywood hunks didn’t stay with the curvy girls. They were good for a weekend, or a night, but never the long haul. Maybe it was time to have an honest conversation with him, before she got too involved. If it went badly, she could always cut her vacation short. If not, they could cross that bridge in the unlikely eventuality it ever came to pass. But either way, she’d know.

  Never the type to sit back and wait once her mind had been made up, Lara made her way over to his room. No one was in the halls, which meant she wasn’t stopped for conversation, or interrogation in Katrina’s case. She knew the owner wanted to get the scoop on their relationship; she had seen it in Kat’s eyes during brunch. But at the moment, Lara had nothing solid to give her. And Lara, always the good scientist, only dealt in facts.

  Finally reaching his room, she lifted her hand to knock when Jaxon’s voice stopped her. She didn’t want to interrupt his phone call. Turning to leave, she barely caught his next words.

  “She’s stunning, the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Her hair is this golden color, like honey and sunshine. Oh, and her eyes! They’re not just blue, but a bright electric blue.” Everything inside Lara stilled. Her brain worked overtime, trying not to jump to conclusions, because it sounded like he was talking about another woman. But Jax didn’t seem the type to cheat…although, how well did she actually know him?

  “And they light up for me when she’s turned on. Her legs go on for miles, she has the perfect amount of curve, and her breasts, my God, they’re a work of art.” Jax wouldn’t string her along when he had a girlfriend. Or would he? Trying to set aside all of her emotionality towards the situation, Lara decided to analyze it with as much distance as she could.

  “She’s got a lushness that doesn’t stop.” Her heart stuttered and her brain felt like it…shut down. Walking without conscious thought, simply needing to get away from his door, Lara felt her trust in Jaxon shrivel to nothing. It was impossible to interpret his words another way. He was seeing some other woman, and bragging about her on the phone to someone.

  He was probably crowing about the woman he took to the last faculty function. She was an up-and-coming model who sneered at Lara’s plate of food while she sipped a glass of white wine and looked bored. Lara had been seated at their table. Lucky her. The model’s hands hadn’t stopped touching Jax all night, tangling in his hair and rubbing his chest. The woman embodied Marilyn Monroe, but without the intelligence hiding behind her dumb blonde. She was the perfect Hollywood girlfriend.

  Evidently Jax liked ’em blonde-haired and blue-eyed. Too bad for him her own dirty blonde hair and average blue-ish eyes couldn’t stack up next to his Ms. Stunning. Not to mention Lara’s less-than-perfect body.

  If he just wanted an affair, he shouldn’t have treated her as if their weekend fling was anything more. But he hadn’t actually made any promises, now had he? Where was her much-touted intelligence when she needed it? Lara kicked herself for being naïve.

  Well, at least she didn’t have to wonder anymore about how far Jax wanted things to go between them. Lara’s heart contracted in pain, as if it couldn’t bear the reality. The pain was too much for her to continue hiding behind her own denial. She’d been halfway in love with the asshole, hoping for something more. Even if it meant giving up her teaching position.

  If she wanted to be completely honest, a good part of Lara knew she wasn’t happy teaching. After her lunch with Sam, and facing the reality of her shabby state of wellbeing, Lara needed to seriously look at a new career. Hey, maybe something good could come from this clusterfuck of a vacation.

  It was odd, actually. Until this weekend, she hadn’t been willing to look beyond the goal she’d had for years of being a tenured professor. Yet, at this point, she couldn’t remember why she’d wanted it. The offer from Taylor Pharm was looking better every moment. And with them, she wouldn’t ever run into Jaxon.

  She fled to her room and threw the few things she had unpacked back into her suitcase. She tossed off the blue silk robe Jax had given her, happy to exchange it for the sweats and T-shirt she had managed to sneak into her bag among her newer, sluttier clothes. Damn him!

  Doing a quick, last-minute check around the room, Lara was assured she was not leaving anything important behind.

  After sneaking down the stairs, she had almost made it to freedom when a voice stopped her. “Lara, can I help you?”

  Damn, damn, damn! Of all people, Katrina was the last one she wanted to see.

  “Kat, hi. Look, something has come up. All of a sudden. I, uh, have to leave right away.”

  “Yeah, sure. And I bet Jax knows. Which is why you’re sneaking off in his cuffs, right?”

  Fuck. She tore at the jewelry, relieved to be free of the once-comforting weight. Shoving the leather into Kat’s arms, Lara turned and threw over her shoulder, “Tell him I said benzene.”

  It had been over thirty minutes. Jax decided to go after her, eager to start the rest of their day. He flung the door open, only to see Katrina, hand lifted and ready to knock. She was not the woman he wanted to see at that moment.

  “Kat, can I help you?” Trying to hide his impatience, and failing miserably, he started walking towards Lara’s room, knowing Kat would follow him.

  A thud distracted him. He looked back at Katrina, incredulous at her lack of control, stomping her foot like a child. It drew his attention to the pile of black leather and metal on the floor in front of her. Guess she wasn’t stomping her foot. It took him a few seconds to register exactly what she had thrown. Lara’s cuffs.

  “She said ‘benzene’. Mean anything to you?”

  “No. Oh, no. No. When did she leave? Why?” He rushed Kat, grabbing her by the shoulders, begging her for answers.

  Her delicate wrists grasped his forearms, grounding him enough to regain some control. Snatching his hands from her shoulders, he began to pace the narrow hall, hoping no other guests would be witness to his lack of control.

  Kat stepped in front of him, halting his strides. “Jax, she left twenty minutes ago. You could go after her, racing along the mountain roads to catch up, and maybe kill yourself. Or you could let her cool off. I got the distinct impression you two knew each other before this weekend. I can’t give you her contact information, but you already have it, don’t you?”

  “Yeah.” He scraped his hands through his disheveled hair, throwing it into further disarray. “But I’ll be leaving tonight regardless. There is no reason to stay the weekend.”

  “You sure? There are a few submissives here without a permanent weekend partner. And you’d have a day and a half with one of them for training.” Kat looked at him, a knowing gleam in her eye.

  “No! I don’t think I could even touch another woman after Lara.” This
was the closest Jax had come to tears since Jenny’s breakdown. He hated feeling so open, so vulnerable, but there was nothing to be done for it.

  He loved her.

  Kat waggled a finger at him. “I knew it, Jaxon Greene! You’ve fallen head over ass for Lara. And she’s not one of your simpering, fawning, empty-headed anorexic girls either!” Throwing herself at him, she wrapped her tiny arms around his midsection. “I’m ecstatic! You’re going to invite me to the wedding, right?”

  He gaped at her, rendered completely speechless. And for a writer, that was quite a feat. “She left me, woman! Why the hell do you think marriage is even in the cards?”

  Smirking at him, she swatted the side of his head. “He’s got a PhD, but can’t figure this out. You fucked up, big-time. Figure out what you did. Grovel, beg, whatever, but fix it. And tell her you love her. No pussyfooting around it. Then screw her silly, and keep giving her orgasms until she relents.”

  “Kat, you are going to keep some crazy Dom on his toes. I see a lot of punishments in your future.” Jax grinned, tousled her hair, and went to pack.

  Chapter Thirteen

  It had been the longest two weeks of his life, but he’d finally received the bubble-wrapped beauty for which he’d been waiting. It was time to get Lara.

  Jax had counted the days—no, the hours—since he’d last seen her, and spent every one trying to figure out how to win her back. She had no use for flowers and chocolates, and her logical brain wouldn’t see the value in either. It had to be something…more. All he knew was he couldn’t sleep without her scent on the pillow next to him.

  Four days, six hours, and ten minutes after she’d left him, Jax had a moment of clarity. Objects would not be enough for a woman like Lara.

  He wasn’t thinking big enough, his mind hampered by fear. He loved her, but was terrified he couldn’t be the dominant she needed, that he’d break her like he broke Jenny. But you didn’t break her. Jenny’s descent into depression was not preventable by anything he was capable of doing.

  The only thing he could control was how well he loved Lara. Jax felt revelatory. Whether things would fall apart in ten months or ten years, Lara was his in ways Jenny never had been, and he needed to show her.

  Maybe Kat’s wedding assumption wasn’t too far off the mark. Jax picked up the phone to call Gabe once again. He was about to do something he’d not even done for Jenny. Lara was about to get collared—and not just for play. This one was for keeps.

  Two weeks, and no word from Jaxon. In all reality, she hadn’t expected to hear from him. She had given her notice to Waterman and the timing was perfect. She would leave right before the new semester began. She’d taken the last two weeks of winter break off, except for emailing back and forth with her lab assistants and other students, making sure they were aware of her resignation. And Taylor Pharm had officially hired her.

  Her resignation had wended its way through the faculty grapevine, she was sure, which was one of the biggest reasons she’d stayed off-campus. She knew the other professors would assault her with nosy questions masquerading as genuine concern.

  She’d snuck into her office on Sunday, her last day as an employee at Waterman University. Hauling an oversized box in with her, she went through her files and books, packing up everything she had accumulated in her five years there.

  When the box was finally overflowing with the remnants of her professorial career, she looked out her office window. It was dark outside. She had been packing up for longer than she thought.

  Though the building was access-restricted on the weekends, Lara never liked being the only one around at night, especially when school wasn’t in session.

  A door slammed on one of the lower levels, making her jump. The box slipped from her hands, dumping papers, books, and various other items to the floor.

  Calm down, woman, it’s probably another professor. They’re the only ones with keys. Lara took a deep breath, chastising herself for getting all worked up over nothing. She knelt to gather up her belongings, groaning in frustration when two of her files fell and paper scattered across the floor. Not willing to stay and sort out the papers alone in her office, she scooped everything up and threw it into the box, disarray be damned.

  Plopping the box on the desktop, she turned to grab her coat from the hook by the door, only to find she was no longer alone in her office.

  Her scream was cut off when she realized the man was not a danger to her, at least not physically. Emotionally, he was a time bomb waiting to go off.

  “Dr. Greene, what are you doing here?” She tried to maintain her distance, not allowing herself to open up to him again. But damn he looked good, if a little tired.

  The tight jeans encasing his legs brought back unwanted, but not entirely unpleasant, memories of their weekend. A kelly green T-shirt stretched across a chest she knew to be chiseled and speckled with curling black hair. The shirt only made his eyes look greener. Damn him! He knew she was a sucker for his eyes. The man should legally only be allowed to dress in loose-fitting, drab-colored clothing.

  Above all, it was the leather jacket draped over his arm that sent her reeling back in time. She smelled Jax and leather, the scent filling the small area of her office to make her dizzy and horny. Knowing her thoughts were headed towards dangerous territory, she slammed the door on her weekend memories, only allowing herself to regard Jax with the polite disinterest of colleagues from different departments.

  “You have something that belongs to me. I’m only sorry it took me so long to come get it.” His eyes glinted like emeralds.

  The nerve, to accuse her of stealing! “Impossible. I returned everything you lent me. Now, if you will please excuse me…” She gestured to the door, hefting her possessions into her arms. But the stubborn ass didn’t move. He stood sentinel in front of her door, blocking the way out.

  His whiskey-rough voice almost disarmed her. It took every ounce of her self-preservation to keep her knees from buckling in desire. “Kitten, put the box down and come here. Now.”

  Ah, God, he had to go and use her nickname. No, don’t cave! she told herself. He just wanted a weekend fling with you. Men like Jax don’t fall for plain, boring chemists.

  “Hell, no. You don’t own me, and you have no control over me. You had your fun, wasn’t that enough? Making me trust you while you used me? Yeah, asshole, I heard you on the phone that day in your room, talking about your stunning girlfriend.” She barely suppressed a sob, the pain from his deception fresh even after two weeks.

  The muscles in his jaw tightened, a sure sign of his anger. Probably pissed he got caught. Shocking a gasp out of her, he slammed and locked the door, trapping them both in her office. A quick flick of his fingers doused the lights, bathing the room in moonlight.

  A momentary flash of panic washed over her, only to be replaced by arousal. She could feel her panties dampen from the look on his face and the edge of danger sculpted there. Deep down, she knew Jaxon would never hurt her, but the small what if with Jaxon was sexy.

  I thought you didn’t trust him?

  Lara tried to shut up her subconscious, whose witticisms she was not ready to face. Her half-hearted attempt was interrupted by Jax storming over to her, and snatching the box from her hands. He dropped it on the floor and crowded her against the desk.

  “I have absolutely no idea what you think you heard. We will address your erroneous assumptions later. Now, I’m going to take back what is mine.” He bowed his head and traced his tongue along her neck to nibble the sensitive area behind her ear. As shudders wracked her body, any resistance she had against him began to melt.

  Gasping her words, she strived for coherence. “I…I gave back the cuffs. The robe was left in my room. That’s all you gave me.”

  His growled words sparked goosebumps across her body and her panties went from damp to soaking. “But you have one more thing of mine.” The look in his eyes told her everything she needed to know.

  Jaxon Greene was he
re…for her.

  Any protest she would have made was silenced by his mouth descending over hers. He stole her words and her mind. His tongue twined with hers, mimicking the penetration she needed. And boy was he up for it. The feel of his erection pressing into her stomach made her moan against his lips.

  Self-preservation impelled her to tear away her lips, gasping for air and sanity. It all hit her at once, how badly he’d hurt her. How much she loved him. It clicked—the empty ache she’d felt during the past two weeks was from his absence. She’d written it off to a smidgen of regret and a whole heap of nostalgia for leaving her professorship. Fuck! She burst into tears, not knowing how to cope with loving a man fundamentally flawed to the point he would use her to cheat on his girlfriend.

  Strong arms pulled her against his chest while one hand soothingly rubbed her back, the other stroking her hair. “Lara, do you trust me?”

  Although it went against every instinct, she could not lie to him. “Yes. Dammit!” She whispered the words, afraid of what they meant for her.

  Swift hands went to the buttons of her dress shirt, making quick work of them, before he turned her around to face the window, baring her to the still darkness outside.

  Pulling the shirt from her shoulders, the sleeves got stuck around her wrists. She expected him to pop the buttons, to tear the cuffs, but instead he fumbled with the fabric and pulled it back. The half-hearted attempt to move her arms clued her in to what the clever man had done. She was, for all intents and purposes, tied up by her own shirt, her hands rendered useless.

  The abrupt movements had stopped her tears, but she still felt emotionally vulnerable. If Jax used her again tonight, she didn’t know how she would be able to recover from it.

  Hands she had come to love, both for their ability to write and to bring her pleasure, fell upon her breasts, flicked open the front clasp to her bra and tugged it down to her hands. A quick swish of her skirt’s zipper, and she was bared to his gaze. His fingers returned to her nipples, rubbing and tweaking them, making her swoon.