Just For You, Sir (Doms of Decadence) (12 page)

“Do you seriously think I’m going to…wait,
what do you mean, not your kink? Do you seriously mean…?” Her face went bright red and she felt suddenly very naïve as he winked at her.

“To each
his own,” he said. “And yes, I seriously expect you to call out if you need me. I don’t want you going to the bathroom alone while you’re still having dizzy spells.”

She glared up at him and he ran his finger over her cheek. “Di
sobey me on this and I will…” he trailed off.

“You’ll what?” she asked, curious. Spank her? Tie her to the bed? Instead of scaring her as the thought should, she felt her
pussy get wet with excitement.

“Well, I’ll think of some punishment.”

Leaning down, he kissed her on the forehead. When he stood up, Jacey felt a stab of disappointment. Her lips tingled, wanting his touch.

“Get some sleep, baby. I’ll be back to check on you later. And call out for me if you need me.”

He left the room before she could reply. Jacey closed her eyes with a disgruntled sigh, wondering how she would ever sleep. In less than five minutes, she drifted off.

Derrick stood outside Jacey’s room, willing the erection pressing against his pants to die down. She was ill, for God’s sake. He had no business fantasizing about tying her to his bed, her arms and legs spread wide while he feasted on her pussy.

He certainly had no business nearly threatening to spank her. Was he trying to terrify her
? Although she might be a submissive, she’d been scared by her ex and he needed to take this slow. He certainly didn’t need to be pushing her when she was ill.

However, he couldn’t hold back from
wanting to know more about her. Like what she was doing living on the streets? If her ex was the father of her baby then she hadn’t been separated from him as long as Derrick had thought.

Derrick reminded himself
that she was ill, fragile and pregnant. She deserved his care and consideration, not an interrogation. He also needed to keep his hands to himself for a while, which was why he’d resisted taking her mouth in a deep, satisfying kiss.

Instead, he was slumped in the corridor, trying to cool his desire. Grabbing hold of his cock, he squeezed it through his pants. Christ, he was never going to get any work done this way. Moving to one of the guest bathroom
s, he walked inside and turned on the water.

Stripping, he stepped inside, welcoming the chilly water against his overheated skin. He grabbed his erection in one hand, leaning the other hand against the side of the shower as
he pumped his hand up and down his cock. Closing his eyes, he brought up the image of Jacey’s naked body, her lips plump and swollen from his kisses, her pussy moist and waiting for his touch.

His balls tightened, a burning sizzled throughout his body and he moved his hand faster, squeezing down on his dick as pleasure raced through him, blinding him with ecstasy. He opened his eyes as sperm shot out of his cock. Leaning heavily against his hand, he took in deep, cleansing breaths.

He was right to keep his hands off her, he was in control of his needs, not the other way around. Jacey needed care and attention at the moment. There was no way he intended to lose her.

No way
would he make the same mistakes with her as he had with Cara.

“Does the name Jacey Reynolds mean anyth
ing to you?” Evan asked.

Steph
an frowned for a minute, wondering if his brother had finally lost what was left of his twisted mind. “No, what possible interest could this woman be…” he quickly sat up, losing his irritation as his brain kicked into gear. He clenched the phone hard in his hand.

“Reynolds was Jacinta’s mother’s maiden name.”

“And we have a winner.” His brother let out a superior cackle and Stephan took a deep breath to calm his temper, reminding himself that he needed his brother. “And Jacinta could easily be shortened to Jacey.”

“So she’s using this name.”

“Looks that way. I did a bit of digging into who the man was in that photo with her.”

Steph
an’s temper reared its head again at the memory of Jacey huddled against the other man. She was his, damn it. He forced his free hand to unclench as he took a deep breath.

“And? Who was he?”

“Derrick Ashdown. He owns his own company, recruits investors then builds multi-million resorts and hotels. Very rich.”

Stephan blew out a breath. “What the hell is she doing with him? How did she meet him?”

“Looks like it might have been accidental. They both came across Cece’s accident. But how they met is irrelevant. What is interesting is that he checked her into hospital a few days ago.”

“What? What’s wrong with her
?” Stephan didn’t know how Evan got his information and frankly he didn’t want to know. If his brother ever got caught he did not intend to go down with him. He needed to keep his reputation pristine if he was going to run for Governor.

“Looks like a case of bronchitis.”

Stephan snorted. “Jacey never was strong.”

“There’s one more thing
, something that could change everything. She’s pregnant.”

Stephan froze.

“How far along?”

“
Twelve weeks.”

Stephan dropped the phone.

***

Jacey climbed from the bed with a yawn. She stretched, feeling better than she had in a long time, even before contracting bronchitis. Amazing what sleeping in a comfortable bed and having plenty of food and little
to no stress could do for a woman.

While she was r
ubbing her eyes, she miscalculated as she walked around the edge of the bed and slammed her toes into the wooden bedpost leg of the bed.

“Aww, shoot. Oww, oww, oww.” She hopped around on one foot, holding her throbbing toes with her hand. Tears welled in her eyes.

“What happened?”

She glanced up as Derrick rushed out of th
e master bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist.

“What is it?” He rushed over and picked her up in his arms, sitting with her on his lap in the armchair.

“Nothing,” she gritted out between clenched teeth. “Just stubbed my toes.”

“
Let me have a look.” He didn’t give her time to answer, just brushed away her hands to inspect her toes. “Can you wiggle them?”

“Yes, they’re fine. I’m sorry for making such a fuss,” she said, embarrassed that she’d brought him running over some sore toes.

“Does this hurt?” he said, pressing down on each of her toes.

She hissed.

“Sorry, baby,” he said immediately. “We’d better take you in for an x-ray.”

“What?” she gaped at him as he stood and carried her over to the bed, setting her down carefully.

“Just let me get dressed and I’ll run you into the emergency room.” Derrick turned away.

Jacey shook her head. “Derrick, I stubbed my toes. They’re fine. In five minutes I w
ill have completely forgotten that I hurt them. I do not need an x-ray.”

He turned to stare at her for a long moment. “Better to be safe than sorry.”

“Derrick, no,” she told him firmly. “No x-ray. I can’t, remember.” She placed her hand over her stomach. They rarely talked about the baby and she couldn’t help but wonder if he wanted to completely ignore the situation. He had no problem talking to her about any other aspect of her health, sometimes to an embarrassing degree.

He looked at her, his eyes filled with chagrin. “God, I forgot. Of course you can’t. But the doctor can look you over.”

“Derrick, look, see they’re fine.” She wiggled her toes, doing her best to hide any pain. She had definitely whacked them hard. “No doctor, please.”

“If they’re still hurting later or show signs of swelling or bruising, I’m going to take you in to get them checked.”

Jacey nodded. She knew the art of compromise.

Derrick’s cell phone rang then and he picked it up, moving back into the bathroom. Jacey stood, moving over to the
sofa by the fireplace. Derrick had installed a television above the fireplace to keep her entertained. He’d even brought up a small refrigerator and had it stocked with drinks and snacks so she didn’t have to go up and down the stairs.

He’d thought of everything.

And yet… there was something missing. He no longer seemed to be attracted to her. She’d become a patient, a project for him and it seemed he’d stopped seeing her as a woman.

“I have to go into the office, love, there have been some problems with one of our projects and I need to oversee some things personally.”

“Sure, no problem,” she said brightly, trying to ignore the fact that he never called her baby anymore. It was always love or Jacey.

“You going to watch a movie?” he asked.

“Maybe,” she said with a smile.

“Well, don’t walk around too much on those toes.” He glanced over at the bed. “Maybe I should change the bed for something with soft edges.”

“Don’t you dare,” she replied, looking at him in outrage. “I love that bed. I’m just clumsy, I’d probably smash my toes against an air mattress.”

He smiled at her. “We’ll see.”

***

Jacey stepped into the large living area of Derrick’s house, glancing around in interest. She hadn’t had a chance to do much exploring since she’d arrived
eight days ago from the hospital.

With Derrick out of the house she
was taking the opportunity to stretch her legs. Plus, she was curious about Derrick’s house. It wasn’t snooping, she reassured herself. After all, she wasn’t going to open up drawers or cupboards. She just wanted to get out of that bedroom for a while.

It wasn’t that Derrick hadn’t done everything he could to make her feel at home. But she was feeling a lot better now and she was starting to wonder if she wasn’t outstaying her welcome.

Derrick hadn’t mentioned anything, of course, he was just as hell bent on looking after her now as he had been when he’d first brought her here.

But he hadn’t to
uched her. Not sexually, anyway. And when he had, his touch had been fleeting and brief, almost as though he was afraid of catching something from her. It was a big difference from the man she’d spent the night with. Then he’d barely let her out of his arms.

And
he hadn’t kissed her once. They slept in the same bed, but they could have been at opposite ends of the house for all the closeness they shared. Although he’d remained conscientious about her health, he’d lost that stern edge to his voice. Surprisingly, she actually missed that side of him.

Had she done this with her inability to open up and trust? Maybe. Or maybe he
just regretted bringing her home with him.

Stepping outside, she lay down on one of the poolside loungers, luxuriating in the feel of the sunshine on her skin. Laying one hand on her stomach, she came to the conclusion that it would be best to leave. Soon.

Derrick didn’t need her hanging around like a bad smell, keeping him from his work and probably from socializing as well. A stab of jealousy hit her at the thought of him with other women, but she had no right to feel that way. He wasn’t hers. Which was best, for both of them.

***

“Jacey?” Derrick called out, thinking she must be in the bathroom when he didn’t find her curled up in the sofa or in bed.

“Jacey?” He knocked on the
bathroom door. When there was no reply, he opened the door. Empty. Panic unfurled and he pushed it down. He’d only been gone four hours. She must be in another part of the house. She knew he didn’t want her wandering up and down the stairs by herself. Although she was a lot better, there was still a slight wheeze to her breathing and he didn’t want her testing her lungs. If she had a coughing fit halfway down the stairs or felt dizzy she could fall and be seriously hurt.

“Jacey, where are you? Answer me now.” He grew increasingly concerned as he wandered through the house. Then he saw that one of the
French doors in the living room was open. Stepping outside, he immediately saw her on one of the chaise lounges.

“Jacey, what are you doing out here?”

“What? Huh?” She sat up, looking confused. “Derrick? You’re back quick. Did you forget something?”

“I’ve been gone
for four hours,” he said, unable to tone down the sternness in his voice. “What were you doing sleeping out here? You could have gotten burned.”

“My skin doesn’t really burn.” She stood up, swaying slightly.

Derrick immediately scooped her up in his arms. “You’re dizzy. Bloody hell, do you know what could have happened if you’d had a dizzy spell on the stairs? You could have broken your neck!”

“Derrick,” she said softly, placing her hand on his cheek. “I’m fine. I just stood up too quickly.”