Dare to Submit (6 page)

“Well, if you don’t get back to your usual grouchy self—as opposed to your silent and seriously grouchy self—soon, I’m coming out there to see for myself.”

“I hear you. And there’s nothing to worry about.”

He listened to her catch him up on her life, and finally they said good-bye, him promising to
get his head out of his ass soon.
God, he loved the little brat, he thought with a grin.

He put his phone back in his pocket just as Max arrived, settling into his usual seat. “I have to say, for a man who insists he’s not going to renew his membership, you’re here all the time lately.”

Max knew exactly why Decklan was here, so there was no point in answering.

“If she does show, at least tell me you’ve got a plan?” Max said, pushing as usual.

“I have no fucking clue.”

“Well, I hope you get one.” Max slapped him on the back. “I see Emmy giving me the eye. I’m going to go remind her who’s the dom,” he said. “You ought to find a sub and do the same.”

“Have fun,” Decklan said, ignoring the suggestion. He wasn’t in the mood. Hadn’t been for a long time, but especially since
that
night. Since Amanda.

He glanced around the room, familiar with all the spaces and places in the club. The St. Andrews cross on the wall was occupied, a dark-haired female getting pleasure from absorbing pain. His gaze slid onward. A group of men sitting and talking, their subs at their feet. A quick look confirmed she wasn’t one of them. His emotions were already frayed tonight, and if he found her with someone else, he couldn’t promise himself he’d keep a handle on his temper.

He ordered a Glen Livet on the rocks and tried to put his night with her in perspective. Chemistry. They’d had that in spades. But there was something more to her. A strength combined with a vulnerability he didn’t see often. They’d clicked in bed and out. He’d had fun with her, a word he never associated with sex. And most important, the thing that unnerved him the most, she tempted him to want her
touch
. To free her from the restraints so he could feel her soft hands on his cock, her nails at his back, and her arms wrapped securely around him.

Shit. He shouldn’t be here. Didn’t need that kind of intensity and seriousness in his life.

She wasn’t here again, something he took as a sign. Definitely time to go.

He stood, pushed back his chair, turned, and saw Amanda paused at the threshold to the main room. His breath left on a whoosh of air, the unexpected sight of her, when he’d all but given up, a shock to his system.

Over the last few weeks, he wondered if he’d exaggerated the memory of her affect on him. No such luck.

Her head bowed, hands clasped together, she was clearly working up the nerve to enter. And every muscle in his body tightened at the sight.

She finally lifted her gaze and glanced around the room, her stare lingering on various places and people, just as he’d done earlier. And then she looked toward the bar. The sounds around him, the people, the lights, everything dimmed. There was only her.

Whatever
it
was,
it
was still there.

He’d waited for this moment, and now that it was here? Decklan had never backed away from a challenge. He wasn’t about to do so now.

SIX

B
reathe, breathe, breathe
, Amanda told herself. But the very sight of Decklan was both a relief and sent her into panic mode at the same time. His dark eyes slid over her, and for a brief second, she feared he was going to dismiss her. She’d unravel if he did.

Then he slowly walked across the room. All the air left her lungs. She hadn’t imagined one thing about him or the intense physical attraction he inspired. Today he wore the same type of outfit, black denim and a black tee shirt that hugged his masculine, well-defined body. She had no doubt he worked out, and she still wanted to feel those hard muscles beneath her hands. If he’d let her.

He strode up, so close she was enveloped in his delicious scent, and all her strategic female parts went on red alert. Her nipples suddenly ached for his hands, his mouth, his teeth.

“Tell me you came here for me,” he said, not beating around the bush. At all.

She could deny it and prolong the inevitable, but why bother? “I came here for you,” she admitted.

“Any reason to stay?” he asked.

She shook her head.

A low growl of satisfaction escaped his throat, and he grasped her elbow. “Let’s go.”

When he began his dominant male routine, she fell in line. It was part of what attracted her to him, beyond his stunning looks. He wasn’t afraid to be himself, to tell her what he wanted from her, and damned if her body didn’t respond. In fact, her sex was throbbing right now.

Add to that she knew there was a heart inside of him, a man who’d lost his parents at a crucial age, who, like her, held himself apart, and their bond was formed.

The club was located on the east side of Manhattan, discreetly set inside a townhouse where nobody would think twice about what was going on there. Since she hadn’t gone into the locker rooms, she hadn’t changed into her attire. Leaving was as simple as stepping out the front door.

As soon as they walked outside, the summer heat wafted up from the sidewalk, blanketing her in stifling temperatures.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Just walking. For now.”

She nodded and noticed he slowed his longer pace to match hers. They weren’t far from Fifth Avenue, and he turned there, heading toward Central Park South, which was nearby.

It was heavy and humid, typical Manhattan in the summertime, which explained why so many locals departed for the beaches. She didn’t mind the steamy weather, happy to be with the man she’d been having erotic dreams about for weeks. She was also aroused and had been from the minute she’d looked into his hot gaze. His hand, which now rested on her back, merely increased the burn. The silence between them was as thick as the air and just as electrically charged.

She searched for conversation, for a way to get him to open up a little more, but came up empty. If she pushed him for information about himself, he’d likely do the same to her. She sighed, swallowing back frustration that her life wasn’t her own. But she’d chosen things this way, and if it meant taking care of Brad the way he did for her, she was okay with that. But she still intended to make the most of whatever time she could grab with Decklan. She deserved at least that.

So much remained unsaid. So much would have to stay locked up inside her.

She stared ahead and caught sight of a horse-drawn carriage. She remembered seeing ads for Christmas in New York City on television as a little girl, and she’d always imagined what it would be like to ride in one. She broke free from Decklan’s hold and ran toward the horse, a beautiful animal, shields over its eyes, its operator standing by its side. Behind it, a large covered carriage was attached, waiting for riders.

Decklan caught up with her, pulling her back as she got close to the large animal.

“I’ve always wanted to take a ride in one of these,” she said, feeling every inch the tourist. She didn’t care. She clasped her hands together and glanced up at Decklan. “Let’s take a ride? Please?”

Decklan took in the woman staring up at him, eyes wide and excited, and found himself unable to deny her wish. Which said something, considering he normally wasn’t the kind of man to indulge in frivolous whims or things like horse-drawn carriage rides.

“Okay.”

She clapped her hands together like a little kid, so unlike the seductress he’d originally met, and he liked that he was seeing another side of her. While she vibrated with excitement beside him, he discussed the trip with the driver, paying him for extra time, and soon he and Amanda were together in the far back seat of the carriage. The smile on her face as the driver put them in motion made the whole trip worthwhile.

“And we’re off.” She grinned and shifted next to him. As if he wasn’t well aware of her beside him already. His cock had been at full-staff since she’d shown up at the club.

She leaned forward, taking in Central Park at night. “Look at the building lights in the distance. It’s so beautiful.”

He’d never thought of the city as beautiful before, but with her by his side, he was seeing it that way for the first time.

“I take it they don’t have these in D.C.,” he said, still amused by her reaction to something New Yorkers took for granted. And since he’d grown up here, gone to college here, and worked just outside Manhattan, he considered himself a local. He didn’t understand Lucy’s fascination with L.A. He liked the busyness of Manhattan.

“No carriages in D.C.,” she said. “But even if there were, my parents wouldn’t have let me take one.”

“Why not?”

She shrugged and shifted in the seat. “It’s complicated, but basically my mother wouldn’t consider it ladylike. The horses and the carriage would be too filthy for her.” She wrinkled her nose, indicating what she thought of her mother’s point of view. “She worships perfection.”

“Then she must love having you for a daughter,” he said, the compliment the most genuine he’d ever given.

Her harsh laugh contradicted him. “That would be a no. I was … am … everything she doesn’t want in a child, especially a girl.”

“What the hell?” What she said couldn’t have startled him more.

She let out a long sigh, and he wondered if she’d talk or clam up. On the one hand, he wanted to know everything about her, which made him almost hope she’d deflect. Insight into what made her tick was dangerous. He was relaxed, mellow, his walls down, and he was enjoying the evening. It had become way too much like a date without the degree of control he needed to keep his distance.

Yet instead of pulling away, he slid his hand beneath her thick hair and cupped her neck. She moaned and leaned into him. His cock hardened at the sound coming from deep in her throat.

She responded to his subtle command, and without warning, she spoke. “She thinks I’m too big, too curvy, not delicate or ladylike enough. She says I should eat less and exercise more.”

“Bullshit.”

She flinched at his harsh expletive.

Too damned bad. He’d like to snap her mother’s probably scrawny neck for putting such ridiculous thoughts in her daughter’s head. And her body image issues and the need for dim lighting made sense from that warped perspective. And it was warped.

Her curves were the first thing Decklan had noticed. Gorgeous face second. Brain third and sweet personality, which he was just coming to know, fourth, but it was quickly becoming his favorite part of her.

Damn. None of this was good. But he couldn’t allow her to let those words remain in her psyche.

“I call bullshit,” he told her more clearly, intending to explain just what he thought when he looked at her.

“That’s nice of you, but I’m not finished. She also believes that I should marry a man of her choosing and stay home and raise his babies, not work.”

Jesus. “That’s a helluva lot of expectation heaped on one person.”

“I’m used to it.”

“I doubt that.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter. Because we don’t speak often.” She blew out a long breath and shook her head. “And I have no idea why I dumped all that on you now. That’s not what we’re about.”

“It’s not, huh?”

Her lips turned upward. “No, we’re about sex. And fun. And right now, this ride is fun.”

He didn’t argue.

Silence fell around them, the night sky cloaking them in darkness and the familiar sound of the horse’s hooves clicked against the pavement. Time passed in easy silence. Yes, he was aware of her in a base sexual sense, but something else hit him too. A feeling of rightness, making him uncomfortable. He preferred raw desire to this softness, this warmth. He didn’t know what to do with the unexpected emotions she brought out in him without even trying.

“I’d love to ride a horse one day,” she mused out loud.

A different, more wicked idea took hold. “How about you ride me instead?”

Her eyes opened wide, need reflected in the chocolate orbs. She ran her tongue over her lips, and a jolt of desire licked at him, heightening his need.

“I want that too, but not here.”

He agreed. Exhibitionism had its place. This wasn’t one of them. He’d only meant it as a tease. And it had worked. Her voice dropped, a slight tremor shook her frame, and her nipples puckered through the silk top.

“But I have to admit, sex in a horse-drawn carriage would be scandalous.” She grinned, her smile infectious.

“There are other things we can do though.” She slid her hand over the bulge in his pants, and his cock, already thick and ready, sprung to further life.

He hissed out a long breath. “Fuck.”

“We already decided that wasn’t possible in this carriage, but other things are. The way I see it, the driver’s up there … and there’s a blanket right here.” She pulled it over his lap. Her eyes held a wealth of passion in their depths, and when she licked her lips, he knew what she intended.

He covered her small hand with his and stilled all motion. “No more.”