Restrained Box Set: Boston Doms Books 1-4, page 13
“Elizabeth, you look lovely,” Nicholas said. He extended his hand and
raised an eyebrow at Candy. She stood and toddled over on heels that were so high that she matched him for height. “Candy, this is my brother’s girlfriend, Elizabeth Bennett. Shake her hand, dear.”
Candy gave Elizabeth a wide smile. “Nice to meet ya,” she said with a thick New York accent. Around her throat, Nicholas’s diamond collar glittered. The thin silk of her low-cut gown barely hid tight nipples, and Alexander shook his head as Candy struggled to sit back down in a dress cut so high, it was practically obscene.
“Really, Nicholas? You could not have dressed her a bit more conservatively for the evening?” he whispered in his brother’s ear once they were all seated once more.
“Hey, let me have my fun. Just because you’ve got a woman with some fashion sense and intelligence…”
Alexander took Nicholas’s jacket from his chair and draped it over Candy’s shoulders. “You must be chilled, Candy. Keep that on for dinner, will you?”
Nicholas grimaced as Candy looked to him for approval. “Do what he says, dear.”
Wine arrived, poured by white-suited waiters. The conversation was sparkling, Elizabeth fitting in perfectly with the two Fairhaven board members and their wives, who joined them at the table. One of the wives, a small Asian woman named Sun who looked about ready to give birth, addressed Elizabeth. “So what do you do for a living?”
“I’m an accountant,” Elizabeth replied.
“You count ants?” Candy asked.
Elizabeth swiveled her head towards Alexander, eyes wide, an expression of pure and total disbelief on her face. He shook his head sadly. Yes, his brother’s current conquest was exactly that dumb. He turned to whisper in her ear. “You see what I had to deal with last Friday?”
“I take back every mean thought I had about you. And her,” Elizabeth whispered back. She reached for his thigh under the table and gave it a squeeze. “No, Candy,” Elizabeth told her. “I do taxes. I make sure companies pay their bills properly.”
“Then why’d you say you counted ants?” She looked over at Nicholas. “I don’t understand, sir.”
Nicholas glared back at her. “I told you not to call me that in public,” he growled, low enough only for Candy and Alexander to hear. “Let it go,
Candy.”
Alexander rested his hand over Elizabeth’s. He was about to lean over and kiss her when her entire body stiffened, and she gripped his thigh so hard he wondered if he’d bruise. “Elizabeth?”
Her entire face paled as she stared past him. Through clenched teeth, she hissed out a single word. “Carter.”
Alexander followed her gaze. An angry little man of sixty strode towards them. Graying hair, beady brown eyes, his hands balled into fists at his sides.
Quickly, Alexander pulled out his phone, tapped the screen, and engaged the voice recorder. Nicholas pushed to his feet and joined his brother, forming a protective Fairhaven wall around Elizabeth.
Carter glowered at the two men. “Excuse me, gentlemen. I need to talk to Miss Bennett.”
“Not a chance. Didn’t you get a copy of the protection order?” Alexander asked. “Elizabeth has nothing to say to you. You can address all of your vitriol to her lawyer.” He flicked his gaze to Elizabeth. Stuttering breaths rasped as she trembled and stared at something—or perhaps nothing—across the room. Alexander angled his body so he could lay his hand on her shoulder.
“I could hardly be expected to know she’d be here tonight. But since she is, I need a few moments of her time,” Carter said.
“I don’t think so.” Alexander gestured to one of the tuxedoed security guards around the room. They were unobtrusive, but their stance and their earpieces gave them away. “How much did you donate to the governor’s pet causes last year, Carter? Five hundred thousand?”
“Seven-fifty,” Carter spat.
“Oh, what a pity. Nicholas and I together donated more than two million.
Not to mention the money we’ve pledged to his re-election campaign. And as it is his ball, I think I know who will be allowed to stay and who won’t be.”
Alexander smiled, but he ached to punch Carter in his pinched jaw. Or throw it in the man’s face that Fairhaven Exports would soon be suing them. But that was for the lawyers.
Carter leaned closer to Alexander and Nicholas as two security guards converged. “Listen to me. Fairhaven Exports is one of our clients. Miss Bennett is under a strict confidentiality clause. One she’s apparently violated by associating with the two of you. We’re going after her for everything she’s got. You don’t want to get caught in the middle.”
Alexander held up his hand to stop the two security guards from interrupting. “That sounds suspiciously like a threat.”
“You’re goddamn right it is,” Carter replied.
“Then may I introduce you to the governor’s security detail?” Alexander nodded, and the two men took Carter by the arms.
“Sir, you’ll need to come with us. Threats towards our guests are not permitted. Do you have a plus-one?” The taller of the two guards tapped his ear. “We have an incident. Escorting a guest from the premises for threatening the Fairhavens.”
Nicholas blew out a breath once they’d hauled Carter away. “I’m really going to enjoy taking that piece of shite down a few notches.”
“As am I. Elizabeth?” Alexander turned back to her and brushed his hands down her shoulders. “Are you all right?”
She looked up at him, her face paler than he’d ever seen. “I need some air,” she managed.
He had her up and the cloak wrapped around her in a single breath. She practically sprinted for a set of glass doors leading out onto a balcony that wrapped around three sides of the room.
Heat lamps built into decorative columns kept them warm, despite below freezing temperatures outside. Elizabeth gripped Alexander’s forearms and tried to force air into her lungs. “Can’t breathe.”
Alexander pressed her fingers to his neck. “Feel my heartbeat, Elizabeth.
Focus on it. Listen to my voice and take slow, deep breaths.” He kept up a steady stream of words, holding her with his eyes, his arm around her, and his voice. Several minutes passed before her breathing evened, and she sank against his chest.
“Sorry. Second attack this week. I thought I was past them.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. Are you all right now?”
Her nod and small smile drew back the curtain of fear that had closed itself around him. “How did you know how to do that?”
“A Dom must be able to calm his sub quickly. I’ve never had a woman panic during play, but Nicholas has. We’ve both had training.”
Elizabeth straightened and stared out over the city skyline. Her voice, when it came, held a tinge of sadness. “Carter’s going to keep making trouble for you. Hayes is even worse. Pastack is the only halfway decent one, and he’s so old that he barely comes into the office any longer. For all I know he’s not even involved.”
“Carter can make as much trouble as he wants.” Alexander spared a glance inside the ballroom. His brother had his phone pressed to his ear, while Candy examined her nails. “Nicholas is likely talking to Ben right now.
I recorded Carter’s threat, and the two security guards heard it. There’s nothing else to be done tonight but try to enjoy our evening.”
“I’d really like that.”
Nicholas met them at the door. “The security detail has Carter detained in the basement. The police are on their way. Violating the order of protection—
at a party—won’t get him more than a couple of hours in jail, but by the time they process him and he gets in touch with his lawyer, it’ll be 2:00 a.m.”
“Good. We’ll be home by then, and I’m not letting Elizabeth out of my sight this weekend.” Alexander brushed a kiss against her cheek. “We’ll stop by your flat tomorrow and pick up some clothes for you. You’ll stay with me for a few days. All right?”
Elizabeth grimaced as she nodded. “Okay. I can get my neighbor to watch River.”
Nicholas rested a hand on her shoulder, earning a glare from Alexander.
“Once we bring the Feds in on Monday, you’ll be legally protected. No more lawsuit, nothing they can do to you. Alex will make sure you don’t have to deal with those arseholes this weekend.”
She shivered. “I know. I…I did my job. I always thought Carter was a misogynist, but he was never mean. Merely dismissive. This isn’t like him.”
“Which is why I’m keeping you close,” Alexander said with a tender kiss to her knuckles. “Let’s get back inside. I believe dinner is about to begin.”
Alexander kept his hand at the small of Elizabeth’s back. He’d meant what he’d said. She would be safe. She was his, and he always protected his own.
Dinner was passable: tiny pillows of pastry filled with a salmon mousse, lobster, bitter greens, and whipped potatoes. Elizabeth relaxed after a glass of scotch and a few well-placed kisses to her neck and behind her ear. Soon, she was laughing, and the rosy glow returned to her cheeks.
Throughout the meal, they exchanged stories. She told him about her first week in Boston, getting lost, discovering Mike’s Pastry in the North End, and subsequently gaining five pounds in a little over a month from an overdose of cannoli.
Alexander’s stories centered around his time in the Royal Army, including the attack that had left him with a scar that bisected his chest and the tattoo he had on his right arm. “When I recovered from the grenade attack, my division brought me to the tattoo parlor before I reported in to my commander. All five of us were inked that day.”
“Will you show it to me later?” she asked, trailing her hand over his bicep.
“Oh, most definitely.”
After the crème brûlée dishes had been cleared away and coffee served, an adjoining room opened up, glittering with white lights, and a ten-piece band started to play.
“I’m not a great dancer,” Elizabeth said wistfully. “Darren always said I had two left feet.”
Alexander wrapped his arms around her. “Elizabeth,” he said, kissing the tip of her nose. “I thought we’d already established that Darren is an idiot.”
He swept her towards the dance floor, holding her so securely that she couldn’t possibly fall. “Smile, chérie,” he whispered into her ear. “Tonight, I plan on showing you exactly who you are. I want that dress off of you, my silks binding you to my bed, and you begging for more as I taste you.”
Elizabeth shivered. She followed his lead, her feet landing lightly only centimeters from his. They waltzed around the dance floor, their bodies pressed together, moving as one. “What are you thinking?” he asked.
“That I haven’t locked myself in my own head since we sat down to dinner. That this party is stuffy and overdone, but being with you is refreshing. That I could talk to you all night, but I really want you naked.”
Flecks of gold shone in her eyes, and Alexander wondered just how far he’d already fallen, and how much further he could go.
“If it wouldn’t be seen as a snub, I would carry you out of here right now,” Alexander replied.
They danced off and on for an hour, and Elizabeth never faltered a single step. Her cheeks glowed. Alexander shed his jacket and longed to loosen his tie. When the tango began, she begged for a rest, and they moved off the dance floor.
A tall man with dark brown hair shorn close to his head hailed the two of them from next to one of the open bars. Alexander guided Elizabeth over to him. “Governor, may I introduce my companion? This is Elizabeth Bennett.”
“It’s a pleasure, Miss Bennett. Call me Marco.” The governor took her offered hand and shook it firmly. “I’ve heard rumors that you’ve tamed one of the city’s most eligible and cantankerous bachelors.”
Elizabeth laughed, light and musical, the practiced tone she’d used on the press all night. “I don’t think anyone tames him, Governor. Marco. If anything, I’ve brought out his cantankerous side even more. He doesn’t seem to like me out of his sight.”
“I can’t say I blame him. However, I would like to steal him away for a brief moment. Business and all.” The governor’s smile faded.
“Of course. I need some fresh air anyway.” Though her words were polite, Alexander noticed the tick in her jaw at being relegated to the sidelines. In that single moment, he knew. He’d fallen for her, and he might not ever let her go.
“Marco, Elizabeth has a head for business, and there’s nothing I wish to hide from her. You can speak freely.”
The governor raised a brow but then inclined his head as he gestured to a table far from the crowd.
“It’s coming up on the end of the year. I’ve sent several requests to your office this week inquiring as to the timing of your donation to my re-election campaign, and none of them have been answered.”
Money? This was about money? “I’m afraid I’ve been a bit distracted of late,” Alexander said. “All of the companies under the Fairhaven umbrella are undergoing a full financial audit. It’s something we do every few years, and it’s fallen on me and my brother directly to oversee it. I’ll get you a check next week.”
“Alexander,” Elizabeth said. The drape of her fingers tickled the fine hairs on the back of his hand. “Trust me on this. If the governor can wait, make your donation on January 1st. It’ll be a lot easier tax-wise when you file next year, and you’ll be able to contribute a bit more.” She leaned closer and pressed her lips to his ear. “You’re going to get a major settlement when this is through. The political donation in the next tax year will help offset your bottom line.”
“You heard the woman, Marco. I’m sorry, but we’ll make the bulk of our donation on January 1st. To ameliorate the delay, I’ll add ten percent. Is that
acceptable?”
“Oh, quite,” the governor said. “I apologize for bringing down the evening with business, but a politician’s job is never done. I love this state too much to give it up.”
Alexander’s world tilted on its axis. He knew how the man felt. He couldn’t give Elizabeth up. He wouldn’t. Not if she’d have him. He rose and shook the governor’s hand. “It was a pleasure, Marco. We’ve had a lovely time, but, I’m afraid we must be going. Elizabeth and I have a…binding engagement to get to.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
A lexander tugged at his bowtie, loosening the knot and then winding the silk around his fingers. Elizabeth tracked his movements, remembering the silk and hemp rope he’d wound around her wrists the last time they’d played.
He’d been quiet, though he’d kept her tucked against him the entire ride.
Did he think she’d run away? Or could he sense her nerves? As the limo hit a pothole, Elizabeth couldn’t stifle her grunt of surprise. The noise seemed to snap Alexander out of his thoughts, and he brushed a curl away from her cheek.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m nervous.” Desperate for a distraction, Elizabeth slid the thin strip of silk from his fingers and let the soft material trail over her palm.
A possessive sound rumbled in Alexander’s chest. “Give me your hands.”
His voice sent warmth pooling in her belly. No longer the concerned boyfriend, his stare, his tone, and even the set of his shoulders said they were now about to play.
The silk strip wound around her wrists, and his deft fingers secured the knot as she trembled. She hadn’t paused a breath before obeying him, and as he guided her bound hands over his head, she stared up at him, waiting for his next command.
“You are mine tonight, Elizabeth. From now on, you will give me audible responses. What is your safeword?”
“Red.”
“Very good. Do you willingly put yourself in my hands? He stroked her
sides, lightly digging his fingers into her hips.
“Y-yes,” she stammered. The thin scrap of silk under her dress was already wet. He lifted her into his lap, and the bulge of his erection pressed against her.
A predatory smile quirked his lips. “I want you out of that dress.”
Elizabeth flushed. Not here. Not in the limo where she’d have to exit the car. “Alexander.”
“You have a cloak.” He reached around her, finding the tiny catch under her left arm. He flicked it open, slid down the zipper, and rolled the dress down to her waist. Her cloak fell open. “Shite. You look…exquisite.”
Under her dress, Elizabeth wore a fitted golden corset. It pushed her breasts up to form soft pillows, tapered at her waist, and ended below her belly. Alexander’s gaze roved hungrily over her body. He laid her down on the seat, guiding her hands to the grip bar on the far door. “Don’t let go.”
The dress shimmied down her hips, then landed on the seat across from her. Under the corset, gold silk barely covered her mound. Alexander ran his hands up her thighs. Velvet and heat and an itch she couldn’t scratch. His fingers danced under the silk at her hips, and she quaked with desire.
“Alexander,” she gasped.
“Yes, chérie? You want something?” He teased her inner thighs with tickling kisses. His hands on her spread knees kept her from writhing completely off the limo’s seat.
“Touch me, please.”
“Oh, but Elizabeth, you know that you are mine tonight. Mine to do with as I wish. Are you certain you want me to touch you?”
“Yes, please!” Two minutes and she’d already reached the point of begging. His teeth scraped up her inner thigh, and she cried out and shoved her hips towards his face.
“Hold still,” he commanded. “You will not move, Elizabeth. Do you understand?”
“Uh-huh, God. Please.”
Alexander grabbed the silk panties and yanked them aside. Two fingers plunged deep into her drenched channel, and Elizabeth screamed. Her hips bucked and caught Alexander in the chin. He withdrew his fingers and growled at her. “That is one, Elizabeth.”
So far gone, she didn’t respond to his words until he cupped her chin and urged her to meet his gaze. “Did you hear me?”
