Authors: Allyson Young
Madness (4 page)
* * * *
Olivia toured the clubhouse, the restaurant and pored over maps of the actual course with the manager. Clouds were moving in so she postponed the golf cart tour to another day. Maurice Phelps was delighted to meet her at last, he assured her repeatedly and tried to make her welcome. Instead, his smarmy manner only served to put her off, and she appreciated the opportunity to meet the bookkeeper alone in her tiny office. This side of things she understood. Her trained eye noted several areas to address and the older woman obligingly answered any questions she had. The anticipation of making some positive changes, from redecorating the clubhouse to modernizing the kitchen kept her mind focused and away from thinking about Cameron’s effrontery. It was only when Maurice caught up with her at the door to inquire about changes to the security system that she realized her contractor had dangled that prospect in
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front of Cameron, too. She told Maurice that she would get back to him and made a note in her planner to call Steve the following morning and instruct him to get a quote from the new security expert for the golf course. Olivia declined a meal with Maurice, citing tiredness, and drove back to the hotel. She would eat in her room once she bathed, she decided. She now had had enough of people for today.
The involvement in her new business venture had served the purpose.
She wasn’t thinking about that kiss.
* * * *
Cameron watched Olivia walk through the front door of the hotel, admiring her graceful stride and erect carriage. She was truly striking, and he longed to find out what she had been up to over the past twelve years. His pulse kicked up and his cock filled as his gaze slid over her breasts and down the length of her body to her rounded thighs, flexing beneath the linen dress she wore. He swore he could still taste her on his mouth. She went to the desk, probably to check for messages and he positioned himself so that she would have to stop and deal with him, rather than head either for the elevator or the lounge and restaurant. Olivia turned from conversing with the receptionist, a polite smile still on her face, when she saw him. He regretted how her face paled, but then saw her flush and her head come up. This woman had spirit, and he never wanted to break that. He knew he had high expectations, but was quite aware that if he didn’t take this opportunity with Olivia, there might well never be another. Seduction aside, he absolutely wanted to initiate Olivia into his lifestyle, explore her needs as it were. Her well-bred demeanor would preclude her making a scene in the lobby, and she might be persuaded to have a drink with him. That could lead to dinner, and afterward, well, he could hope.
Olivia fairly spat at him, “What are you doing here?”
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“I want to take you to dinner, Olivia,” Cameron answered calmly and quietly.
“No.”
“Are you afraid, honey?” he asked, knowing she would react to the endearment he often used in their former life. He was then totally taken aback by her honesty.
“I am, and equally uncomfortable,” she answered.
“Honey,” he assured her, “I’m a bit unsettled, too, but I can’t push this away. Dinner, Olivia. We can talk and maybe lay some things to rest.”
“I can’t, Cameron,” she nearly whispered. “Please don’t do this to me.”
“Olivia.” He used his Dom’s voice in an attempt to mesmerize her. “Look at me.”
He watched Olivia visibly draw the tattered remains of her composure around herself before she looked into his eyes. Whatever she saw there seemed to further frighten her yet call to her, too, for she didn’t try to move away. He was finding it easier to read her and he exulted.
“Dinner then. I’ll meet you in the restaurant.” He heard her say the words, and then she pushed past him to get to the elevator, careless of the impropriety.
“Half an hour, Olivia, or I’ll come to escort you.”
* * * *
Olivia was almost undone by how forthright Cameron was. She wanted to talk to him about that night she had seen him with Jennifer, to learn more of what lurked so deep within him, and, if she was honest with herself, within her. But it terrified her. She didn’t want to unlock something denied for over twelve years in case she couldn’t manage it, couldn’t cope. Damn the man, damn his high-handedness.
How dare he! She found that the fuming centered her and she was
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able to make it to her room without crying in reaction. She needed more time than he “allowed” to get ready, to prepare herself. He could darn well wait. All the same she found herself rushing through her shower and hurrying to find a suitable outfit for dinner. She chose a severe, fitted suit in taupe, softened only by the cream silk camisole showing at the lapels. Something that would keep him at a distance, speak about her professional self. She used makeup sparingly and added simple gold jewelry and eschewed scent all together. The thick band of her wedding ring and its accompanying large diamond engagement ring seemed to reproach her silently. She drew her hair up again and fastened it around her head in a severe style. There, no mixed messages. Olivia checked the clock and saw she had but a few minutes to spare. She sat on the bed and calmed herself, breathing and focusing her thoughts, trying to remember all the social lessons she had learned over the years. So, she was going to learn some things about Cameron tonight. She would take the knowledge and examine it privately, she told herself, and perhaps it would affect her, perhaps not. It would be quite similar to a class at a university or maybe a self-help group. She laughed bitterly. Her world had suddenly turned upside down, and she hated the lack of control. Taking another deep breath, running the ball of her thumb over her diamond for luck, she grabbed her bag and headed out for dinner with Cameron.
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Chapter Three
Cameron waited, with one eye on the clock. He had made a bet with himself that Olivia would deliberately be late, but not significantly so. He meant it when he had said that he would go find her and escort her to dinner. He had decided to start as he meant to finish, with him calling the shots. Olivia was a beautiful, intelligent woman, and she clearly had made her own way in the world, but he sensed something buried inside of her, something that had begun to unlock when he had kissed her. Something that screamed to be taken, to surrender, to let go. He hoped to do more than kiss her after dinner.
When she stepped from the elevator, on time nearly to the minute, he was absurdly pleased. He really didn’t want to have to impose his will on her for the simple things. He walked toward her, taking in her tailored suit and restrained hair. It was her armor, not who she really was, he was certain. He would dress her in jewel colors, in clothes that clung and showcased yet covered her lovely form. The fact that she had put this dinner on a professional note did not deter him. He wondered what she wore beneath the suit, and his body hitched with arousal. He needed to have firm control of himself during the meal, and it didn’t look to be any getting any easier.
Olivia didn’t know that Cameron had checked back into the hotel and made the necessary calls to his office to make time to seduce her.
Or that he then went in search of a man’s clothing store to outfit himself, followed by a trip to the pharmacy to purchase toiletries, adding a large box of condoms and some lube to his purchases. The side trip to the local hardware store for some cotton rope, and a Ping-Pong paddle from the children’s section would have caused her to
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turn her Beemer in the opposite direction and make tracks, had she known, he was sure. He regretted that his bag of toys hadn’t accompanied him on this trip, but he would make do, relying on his creative side. He smiled at her and took in the tiny shiver she made.
Not so controlled after all, honey.
“I’ve reserved a booth, Olivia,” he advised her, taking her elbow and guiding her toward the restaurant.
“That’s fine,” Olivia replied, and he felt her try not to stiffen in his grasp.
* * * *
They found their places in silence, silence broken only by the brief exchange with the wait staff. Olivia found Cameron “helping” her place her order, but couldn’t complain when it was what she would have ordered in any event. Still, she resented his presumption.
She resented his confidence and “lord of the manor” persona.
However, she would suffer through this, she cautioned herself, and then he would be out of her life again, and this time forever. And she would have her curiosity satisfied. She tried to ignore how darkly handsome he was, with his large frame filling out a very nice suit. His hair was still thick and black, a bit shorter than how he had worn it before, and she wondered if his chest was still as thickly covered as it had been. She had longed to touch that muscled chest she remembered, touch that silky-looking chest hair that ran down between his flat nipples and arrowed down past his belt. Olivia pushed the memory away and looked up to see him watching her with those light-blue eyes so startling in his tanned face. She couldn’t interpret his look, but it made the hair on the back of her neck rise and her stomach clench just like that smile he had given her when he had seen past her suit and coiffed hair. She shouldn’t have done this. She shouldn’t be here with him. She didn’t know herself anymore.
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“Tell me what you have done with yourself over the past years, Olivia,” Cameron invited. “Steve told me you are a widow. I’m sorry.”
Olivia looked away from him. She was afraid he would see too much. “I worked in finance for a while and then got married. Andrew died of liver cancer last year.”
Cameron waited but she didn’t expand further, holding back a total confidence with everything she had.
“Any children?”
“No.”
“What do you plan to do now, Livy?” he asked quietly.
She shrugged at his nickname for her. “I hope to get the golf course and club doing better. And of course finish the house.”
“Will you work in finance again, or is the golf course going to be your career?” Cameron persisted.
Olivia found her temper rising. She hadn’t come to be interrogated. They weren’t playing catch up. She tried to find the words to ask him straight out what he was, but couldn’t make them pass her lips. Instead, she answered him honestly.
“I don’t need to work, Cameron. I am quite wealthy in my own right now that Andrew is gone. But I needed a purpose and a focus. I am quite lost without him.”
She had the satisfaction of seeing him flinch a little and wondered at the dark look that flashed across his features. It looked like jealousy. It was crass to talk about money, but she wanted him to stop asking her things that might lead to sharing what her life had really been like. He made her wish it had been something different, and she hated him for it.
“Again, I’m sorry, Olivia.”
They busied themselves with the soup, and silence once again reigned.
“I apologize for my manners, Cameron,” Olivia suddenly said and wondered who had said it.
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“Have you been in the security business all this time or…?” She stopped. God, what if he had been in some other kind of occupation, something she didn’t want to hear about. What if he worked in one of those sex clubs? Olivia had researched those places the one time, right after fleeing for college, and her response to the pictures of those women in submissive poses had terrified her because of the arousal she had felt. She had avoided temptation after that.
Cameron smiled at her. “I branched out into security once I figured out that construction wasn’t my thing, really. It’s come in handy to know the trade, though, because my quotes are easy to give once I see the specs. Most folks don’t fire me!” Olivia felt her face color. “You were out of line, Cameron. How would it look if people saw me kissing the people I pay to do work for me?”
“I was kissing
you
, honey, if you remember. And I was out of line, but I don’t regret it. There was always something between us and if you are honest, you can’t deny it. I wish I had kissed you twelve years ago.”
Olivia jumped at the opening. “And why didn’t you?” Cameron brooded for a moment. “Because I thought it would lead to other things, things that I didn’t know if you could handle. And I didn’t want to do that to you. I was a whole lot younger then, Olivia, and couldn’t be sure. Now, I am.”
Olivia leaned as far away from him as the booth would allow.
“What do you mean you’re sure now? Of what?”
“Honey, I saw the look on your face the night I was disciplining Jennifer. I’ve never forgotten it. If it helps at all, I think I picked her because she resembled you.”
Olivia fought for control and for a response. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”
Cameron’s face darkened and his eyes were like blue ice chips.
“Don’t lie to me, Olivia. I won’t tolerate lies. You weren’t shocked or afraid. You were angry with me, and jealous even, of Jennifer. I just
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wish I had been aware enough to come and find you. But I didn’t then. I thought I was doing the right thing, but I was wrong. I’m not losing the opportunity now.”
“You are pretty damn arrogant, do you know that?” Olivia nearly snarled.
“You’re acting upset to deny yourself, honey, hiding from yourself,” he answered implacably. “I think I knew it about you then, but as I said, I wasn’t sure enough about myself to trust it.” Olivia pushed her bowl away with shaky hands. She wanted to flee and hide. With just a few words, Cameron had stripped her of all those carefully constructed walls she’d erected over the years.
Cameron continued, “I’ll bet the farm that you weren’t satisfied in your marriage either, no matter how good a man your husband was.”
“Stop it, stop it,” she nearly shrieked, remembering to modulate her voice at the last instant. “You don’t know anything.” He caught her wrist just as she slid from the booth and pulled her down to sit tightly against his side. His heat nearly burned her, and her knees grew weak. She had to get away, but she felt compelled to stay. She felt herself calm down as he placed his arm across her shoulders and stroked her arm gently. Except then the feel of his fingers against her skin and their soft motion began to make her stomach tighten and her vulva moisten, not to mention the throbbing state of her breasts. Everything that she had denied for so long was now shrilling for attention. She hadn’t seen a ring on his left hand, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t married or that he wasn’t in a relationship.
She wanted to ask him, but held the unknown as a little bulwark against the pull of this man.
“But I want to know everything, Olivia, and I’m going to. I promise you I won’t hurt you, at least not in a way that you won’t want. You’ll beg for it, honey. It’s what you need, and I so badly want to give it to you.”
“What exactly are you proposing?” she asked flatly. “I am not going to play games, Cameron. Just tell me now.”
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“I want you to spend the night with me, and probably tomorrow. I want you to trust me not to hurt you but to awaken your whole sexuality. You can call it an experiment, a fling, whatever you want, but…”
She cut him off. A fling. That sounded like a man looking for a tryst while on a business trip. She winced at how that thought pricked her. “And if I want more?”
Cameron paused and she laughed bitterly. “So, you get to have sex with me, teach me things that you like and hope I’ll like, and then you go away. Again. Where does that leave
me
, Cameron? What if I discover a part of myself that I didn’t know I had or have denied?
Then what? You are simply irresponsible in your attitude, and I’m not going to allow that.”
