Bound by Fate (8 page)

Tears burned in my eyes.
Why are you
making me fall in love with you?
I wanted to scream at him.
Do you take
some sort of sick pleasure over the fact that you will never love me back?

The cake was suddenly too sweet. I pushed the
plate back and crossed my arms protectively around my body. Victor gave me a
questioningly look. “Dove...” he began, but I refused to meet his eyes. I knew
that if I did, I would shatter into a million little pieces.

“Can we leave, Sir?” I asked in a small
voice.

“Of course.” I could tell he was confused. He
slipped a credit card into his check and by the time the waiter returned with
his card we were almost out the door.

We did not say one word to each other on our
walk home. At every alley we passed, at every dark corner I could find, I
imagined myself running toward it, getting as far away from Victor as possible.
I was stupid to think there were people in this world who didn’t think about
anything but themselves.

I didn’t dare look at him, but I could feel
Victor’s questioning gaze on me. I refused to look at him. If I did, I just
knew my heart would break. Victor left me in silence all the way back to the
hotel room, but as soon as he closed the door, he turned around and took my
shoulders in his firm grip, forcing me to face him.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” He grabbed
my chin, pushing my head up. I still had my eyes lowered towards the floor.
“Look at me, damn it!”

I glanced up at him. “I—it’s nothing,” I
stuttered. I tried to slip through his grip to make a dash to the bathroom; I
thought childishly that if I locked myself up in there he would eventually give
up and go away.

I wasn’t quick enough. He had me pinned to
the wall within seconds. The gentle Victor I had seen the past few days was now
gone. He was back to being that overpowering, dark figure that I had met on my
first day at the mansion. This part of Victor still scared the crap out me. The
grip he had on my arms was painful, but I did not want to make a sound against
him.

“Dove.” His voice was terse. “Tell me what’s
wrong. Now. That is an order.”

I tried thinking of an excuse, but I wasn’t
able to put any thoughts into words. Instead, I burst into tears. I felt like a
fool standing there crying in front of him, but it was too late now. When I had
finally composed myself enough to start talking, I decided to say the first
words that came to my mind.

“I don’t know why you’re being so nice to me.
W-why are you taking me to fancy dinners, teaching me how to dance, when our
relationship is nothing more than a work contract? None of this makes sense to
me.”

He looked at me wordlessly. What in the world
could he be thinking right now? All of my fears, doubts, and anxieties that I
had built up within myself were finally breaking free. I couldn’t stop now.

“I don’t even know if I deserve any of this.
For all I know I was a horrible person in my past. I always wondered why no one
came looking for me. Was I so bad that they ended up just dumping me out in the
streets and forgot all about me?” I shook my head. “I feel like everyone I get
close to will just betray me in the end.” I knew I was babbling, and I wasn’t
sure if my words made sense to him, but it was starting to feel good to let
everything out. I guess I would deal with the repercussions of speaking out to
him later. “I-I’m so damn tired of being alone.” There. That was it; the icing
on the cake. That was what it all came down to. I didn’t want to be alone
anymore, but I was so scared of being hurt again.

He pulled me away from the wall and into his
arms. He began stroking my hair, and as I leaned my head against his chest I
could both feel and hear the beating of his heart. It wasn’t as slow as it
usually was. Was he angry with me?

“Please don’t punish me for saying that,
Sir,” I whispered to him.

I could feel Victor shaking his head. He
chuckled softly. “I’m not going to punish you, Dove. Relax. Who you were in the
past doesn’t matter to me. And it isn’t good for you to dwell on it either. You
are who you are right now and that’s all that matters.” He paused and pulled
away from me so that I was looking up at his face. “That contract you signed is
to protect us both. I didn’t intend for it to invoke fear in you or for you to
have anxieties over our relationship...” He held me tight in his arms as though
he were afraid he would lose me. “You’re not the only one who’s tired of being
alone.”

Tears started falling again from my eyes. I
turned my face towards his shoulder and cried long and hard. He waited
patiently as he rubbed my back and kissed the top of my head as all of my
emotions poured out in one tearful burst.

I was tired of being alone. I was tired of
being so damn confused. I wanted to end that all tonight.

Eventually no more tears came, and I was
reduced to only faint sniffles. Victor handed me a tissue, and as I wiped my
swollen eyes, he began unzipping the back of my dress, lifting it carefully
over my shoulders. The way the dress was made let me wear it without a bra, and
I shivered slightly as the cold air touched my bare skin and nipples. He took a
moment to massage my tight shoulders; I hadn’t realized how tense I had become
since we left the restaurant. I moved my head from side to side, stretching out
my neck while his warm hands worked my body. He then took off his own shirt and
immediately pressed his bare chest against mine, the warmth and strength of his
embrace suddenly empowering me. Victor’s lips pressed lightly against my
shoulder. He then kissed me softly on my cheek, and then on my lips. I
reciprocated, running my hands up his chest as I tested out my tongue. I
flicked it around his mouth a few times until he caught it lightly with his
teeth. He began sucking on my tongue until I started moaning loudly. He let go
and reached down to take off my panties.

“I don’t know what it is about you,” he
murmured as he took off the rest of his clothes. I sat down on the bed as he
pushed my legs apart and crawled in between them, rubbing his cock up and down
my body, around my breasts and on the tips of my hard nipples. I squirmed
underneath him, desire already raging through my body. “When I’m with you I
just want to fuck you all the time,” he whispered into my ear before he started
nibbling it.

I felt myself melting at his touch, my previous
mood temporarily forgotten as he caressed my body.

“Victor,” I told him, aware that I was saying
his actual name and not “Sir”. I don’t want to be scared anymore. “I want you.”
I want you to know all of who I am.

He smiled. He reached down to brush his
fingers along the lips of my wet pussy. “I can tell. Please, say my name
again.”

“Victor,” I whispered. “Victor, I want you
right now.”

“My God, Dove. The way you say my name...”
his voice trailed off as he glanced behind him at the expansive balcony
attached to our room. “I want to do you outside.”

“But...” I began, my mind suddenly freezing.

He looked at me mischievously. “Don’t worry;
it’ll be dark enough that no one will see, unless they’re trying hard. Even
then, I don’t give a damn, and you certainly shouldn’t either. Come along;
let’s see how quiet you can be while I fuck you as hard as I can.”

The thought of having sex with him in an open
area turned me on more than I could imagine. Public sex had always been an
arousing fantasy to me, and although this wasn’t sex in the stacks of a
library, or in the darkness of a movie theater, it sounded pretty magnificent.
 I followed him out onto the balcony, and gasped as the chill of the night
greeted my naked body. There were city lights from buildings all around me, and
down below, cars drove in and out of the streets next to throngs of people
strolling on the sidewalks. I could hear voices all around me, even some as
close as next door. It was exhilarating standing up there completely naked; I had
the sudden urge to throw my arms in the air and yell “here I am!”

Of course, I’m sure Victor would not approve
of that. I was about to get down on my hands and knees, to offer myself from
behind as Victor liked to do, but I stopped short. I turned around and gave him
a leveled stare. “I want to face you while we make love.” I stumbled at the
words “make love”. It was the first time either of us had ever mentioned it
that way. For some reason it just seemed right to word it that way. I walked up
to him and lifted my chin as I spoke, “And I want to be on top.”

My eyes hadn’t adjusted enough to see the
expression on his face. Was he angry, surprised, or turned on?

My body tingled with excitement as he
complied, settling down on the cold, balcony floor. He pulled me with him, and
I eagerly slid my pussy over his cock. I began moving my hips back and forth,
positioning my body forward a bit so that my clit rubbed up against the skin
right above his cock. I looked into his eyes and he stared right back into mine.
The moonlight glinted off our bodies, forming a sort of ethereal halo around
us.

“God, you feel so good. I’ve never imagined
anything feeling like this.” His fingers teased my nipples before sliding down
my side to rest on my hips.

I continued moving my body up and down his
cock, enjoying the heat that began to rise up from my pussy towards the rest of
my body. “I want to get closer to you,” I said to him. “As close as possible.
I’m trying, but I don’t know how.” He didn’t respond as he continued to let me
control our lovemaking. I glanced up as the night life in the city continued on
around us; everybody in this entire city was oblivious to our moment of passion
out on the balcony.

I came quickly, the feel of having sex on top
of Victor brought about a new, pleasurable feeling that I had a hard time
controlling. I moaned loudly as he thrust deeper inside me. My entire body was
throbbing as Victor came quickly afterwards; he grabbed tighter onto my hips as
he pushed his release into me as far as he could. I then collapsed next to him,
resting my head near his as I pressed my body against him. I leaned close to
his face and kissed him next to his mouth, as light as a feather. He gave me a
somewhat distant smile before we both turned our heads to stare up at the
glowing moon and stars that hung in the sky above us.

Later, we curled up in each other’s arms in
the warmth and comfort of our bed. His arms were wrapped around me as I rested
my head on his shoulder. My eyes were heavy as I felt a blissful sleep wash
over me.

“Don’t press me about our relationship
anymore until the end of the contract. Then we can renegotiate.”

My eyes snapped open. I was shocked and
slightly hurt by his words. My first instinct was to move away from him, but
his arms were heavy around me, trapping me on the bed. Where would I go,
anyway? My head began to throb as I tried forcing my tears away. I was
beginning to suspect that there was much more that I didn’t know about this
man.
What are you trying to protect?
I asked him silently.
Are you
trying to protect yourself? Why?

There was more to him than his cool demeanor
and stylish good looks. Someone or something hurt him in his past, and I was
determined to figure out how to get him past that pain. I closed my eyes and
tried to find the sleep that had abandoned me. It turned out to be a restless
night after all.

Our last night in Paris came too quickly. We
headed out to a fancy party that included some of the more elite people in
society, or so I was told from Victor. From what I could gather, the party was
part business, part pleasure, and a little bit of showing off.

“You’re going to be my trophy on my arm
tonight,” he said as I stared in shock at the boxes of jewelry he handed to me.
“So, I want you to look the best you’ve ever been for me. Pick out something to
wear from there.”

There could be hundreds of thousands of
dollars worth of jewelry in my arms and I was about to drop it all on the floor
with shock! “Did you say...trophy?”

“You’re going to look amazing next to me,
Dove. You’re going to look like you belong naturally at my side. Go ahead and
start getting dressed.”

I was pleased with the fact that he thought I
was ready enough to mingle with high and mighty business people like him, but I
was also way too nervous about screwing up. The odds were that I would make at
least one mistake that would leave me blushing for the rest of the night.

I looked down at the extravagant, emerald
green silk dress I wore as well as the adornment of jewels on my arms and neck.
Earlier that day, Victor had sent me to a hairdresser where she pulled my hair
up into a fancy bun with a few curls framing my face. I had on more makeup than
I’ve ever worn before, and I desperately hoped I wouldn’t get my red lipstick
all over my face. Well, at least I look the part of a socialite. It was amusing
to think that I was being used to display Victor’s wealth and status, since it
would be unseemly for a man to be seen wearing as many jewels as I was dressed
in.  I looked in the mirror, imagining him wearing my dress and jewelry.
Much to his confusion, I practically doubled over on the floor with laughter
from the thought of it.

There was still some tension left between us
from a few nights before when I had broken down in tears, but I tried my best
not to bring anything that happened that night back to attention. I figured
that I would wait until we were back in California to go over the contract
again with him. Maybe I would have a clearer mind by then. Maybe the romantic
illusion of being in Paris clouded my better judgment of falling in love with a
guy like Victor.

As we walked out of the hotel, I was
beginning to feel a little bit more apprehensive. He made it clear to me that
this was my “debut” at his side. If it went well then I would be expected to be
at his side at social events more often.  If it ended up badly, well, I
didn’t even want to think of how furious he would be if I embarrassed him in
front of these important people.

The party was held at a chateau on the
outskirts of Paris. There were already a ton of people there when we showed up;
many of them lingered outside by a large fountain with a stone sculpture of the
goddess Venus at the very top, pouring water out of the vase.

I stopped to admire it. “I knew you’d like
that,” he said, his voice a harsh whisper. “But don’t act so slack-jawed at
everything, like you’ve just walked out of some backroad country. Act like you
belong here with everyone else.”

“I will,” I said, not sure whether or not to
fall back to calling him “Sir” rather than “Victor”. At times I felt like he
chose to forget our little moment of lovemaking that night.

As we began our path up the steps to the
white, French home, an elderly gentleman with a much younger looking woman
walked up to us, stopping us along the way. “Why Mr. Draper, it’s been a while!
You’re looking more and more like your father each day!”

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Victor
grit his teeth before turning towards the old man. Uh oh, this couldn’t be
good. I watched in the background with interest. “Ian Monaghan!” Victor
exclaimed, his voice sounding tight. “It’s been a while. How have you been?”

“Well, you know. It’s tough being so far away
from home, especially when I’m stuck in the wettest, coldest part of the UK.
Scotland is like hell frozen over. It’ll be good when I move my company to
someplace warmer.”

The young woman hit the man playfully on the
arm. “Mr. Monaghan, have you forgotten that I’m from Scotland?” she said
teasingly.

“Nope, not at all,” Ian said, giving me a
wink. I suddenly felt uncomfortable. “Who’s this lovely woman you got here,
Draper?”

“This is Dove. She’s been an acquaintance of
mine for a while now. Dove, this is Ian Monaghan, CEO of OceanBlue Airways.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I told the man
politely. To my surprise, he reached out, took my hand and kissed the top of it
lightly.

“The pleasure’s all mine,” he said. I jumped
as two strong hands squeezed my shoulders. I felt Victor’s body looming just
behind mine.

“Ian, you sleazebag,” the woman said, pulling
him away from me. I let out a breath of relief as Victor’s grip on me lessened.

“It’s a bit cold out so we’re going to head
in,” Victor said as he started to turn away from the peculiar couple. “Perhaps
I’ll see you later on then.” His voice was strained.

Ian gave us a small salute as he and the
woman continued up the steps to the house.

“Ugh,” Victor muttered to himself.

For a moment it seemed like he had forgotten
I was still standing there. “Are you alright?” I asked hesitantly.

“I loathe that man. He used to work for my
company while my father was still alive. He was one of the people who trained
me when I first started working there. He would suck up to my father while at
the same time belittling me in front of him in the hopes that my father would
give him the company some day.” Victor clenched and unclenched his fists before
finding my hand to hold. We started walking up the steps again. “Thankfully my
father was smart enough to see through his deceit and ended up firing him. He
now works for a sad airline company with terrible services located in the
middle of nowhere. And now he’s got himself a gold digger too, it looks like.”

“Karma’s a bitch,” I said. I wasn’t sure
where I heard those words before, but it seemed appropriate for the situation.

Victor surprised me by laughing. “Yeah, it
is.” He squeezed my hand.

After mingling with a handful of people,
whose names I had already forgotten, Victor pulled me into a corner. He looked
quickly over my head and cursed over my breath. “What happened...?” I began to
ask, but he cut me short.

“Could you get some champagne for the two of
us, Dove?”

I opened my mouth to ask another question,
but suddenly thought better of it. I was back to being his submissive. There
wasn’t anywhere in the contract that told me I could question my Dominant.
“Yes, Sir,” I said quietly.

I walked through a throng of people to get to
the bar, and the entire time I was praying that none of them would want to stop
me and ask questions. Too late. A middle aged man was idling around the bar,
and seemed to welcome my presence as I walked up next to him. “May I have two
glasses of champagne,” I asked the bartender shyly. Fortunately for me, the
bartender spoke enough English to know what I requested. The middle aged man
held his own glass of champagne; he leaned into my line of sight and gave me a
small wave with the glass still in his hand.

“I haven’t seen you around here before,” he
said to me jovially. I could tell the alcohol he was drinking was starting to
get to his head. I began to look for my escape.

“Oh, uh... I’m with Victor Draper.”

The man’s eyebrows rose at the mention of
Victor’s name. “Oh, I see. Victor has got himself a new one to carry around.
Not so bad looking either.” Did he know I was still standing there listening to
him, or did he think he was talking to himself? I made a move to walk away from
him, but he put an arm out, stopping me. “What’s your name?”

“D-dove.” The bartender had already given me
my drinks and I was now standing there awkwardly, not knowing how to end the
conversation at all.

“Dove,” the man’s breath reeked of vodka as
he leaned closer to me. “And what is it you do, Dove?”

What do I do?
I fuck Victor Draper, I wanted to tell him. That would at
least make him stop talking. “I’m an artist. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need
to be taking these drinks back to Victor.” Before the drunken man got too
close, I was able to shimmy around him. I quickly walked back through the
crowd, not looking back, hoping that he didn’t have the nerve to follow me back
towards Victor.

When I returned with the drinks, I glanced
behind me, relieved to see I had not been followed. I turned back to Victor who
was a little further down the room and noticed a woman standing next to him.
She was very pretty, wearing a short, blood red dress that showed off her long,
smooth legs. The color of her dress contrasted beautifully with her dark hair
that draped like wet paint over her slim shoulders. She had her hand on
Victor’s arm in a familiar gesture, as the two of them seemed to be deep in
conversation. I stood a few steps away, suddenly feeling incredibly awkward and
not really sure how to approach them, or if Victor even wanted me to.

After a few seconds, the woman noticed me.
She walked over and took a glass of champagne from my hand. Did she think I was
one of the servers? My face turned red, but I didn’t protest. Wordlessly, I
handed the other glass to Victor. To my surprise, he wrapped an arm
possessively around my waist and pulled me close to my side, forcing the woman
to back up a bit to give us some room. “This is Annabel Harris,” he told me.
“Annabel, this is Dove.”

“I’m very pleased to meet you,” I told
Annabel, trying to keep my voice from sounding too wary. It was the first time
since that night at the dinner party at Victor’s party that I saw another woman
act familiar around Victor. I already wasn’t too fond of her.

The woman raised an eyebrow at me, assessing
me from head to toe. Okay, so now I knew she didn’t like me either. Fantastic.

“Anyway,” she said, turning her body back
towards Victor as though she was trying to leave me out of their conversation.
She gave Victor a sly smile and completely ignored me.

“What was it you wanted to tell me, Annabel,”
Victor’s voice was cautious.

“Oh, you’re going to hate me for this, Vic,
but I thought I should warn you.”

Vic
?
I grinded my teeth down hard.

“Warn me about what?” He sounded as though he
were coaxing a small child. Perhaps he didn’t have any high standards for her
either.

“I wanted to show you a certain someone who
had just arrived a few minutes ago.” She pointed to a tall woman in another
group on the other side of the room.  

Sure, she could’ve been pointing to any of
those people talking in the group, but I knew it had to have been
her
.
She was tall, and had light blonde hair that was braided and pinned around the
crown of her head like a halo. She wore a shapeless pale cream dress that
stopped just above her knees in a 1920s flapper style. She was absolutely,
completely, and utterly a beautiful woman and the sight of her cherubic red
lips and wide blue eyes was enough to make feel envious and awestruck. She
looked like an actress from one of those black and white silent movies.

“Wow, she’s gorgeous,” I couldn’t keep myself
from muttering.

“It’s been awhile, hasn’t it Victor.” Annabel
couldn’t mask the glee from her voice.

When Victor turned to the direction the woman
was pointing, his grip on me suddenly tightened. I had to hold back from
yelping in pain. Victor cursed profusely under his breath. Before I could say
anything he turned, steering me straight towards the exit. “We’re leaving.”

“Why?” I was practically stumbling down the
stairs of the chateau to try to keep up with his pace.

“I don’t want to be in the same room as that
woman.”

Curiosity got the better of me. I glanced
back at the beautiful, tall woman who was gradually fading off in the distance
behind us. “Who is she?” I asked.

“My ex-wife.”