His to Master and Enjoy [The Billionaires and Their Playgrounds 2] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) (10 page)

Migraine? She was a liar, and not a very accomplished one. Her body language gave her away, and he strode across to her and roughly cupped her chin in his fingers, contorting the shape of her pretty little mouth. Leon then angled her head, forcing her to look him in the eye. “Put. The. Dress. On.” He spoke slowly and authoritatively so there could be no misunderstanding.

“Please don’t make me, Leon. I’m begging you, please don’t make me.”

All the fucking trouble he’d gone to, and yet she treated him so dismissively, disrespectfully even. No Caparelli man would ever tolerate such behavior from a woman, and feeling growing anger surging within him, he bared his teeth and said, “I insist you put the goddamn dress on.”

“Leon, please be reasonable, I—”

“I insist again.”

Catching him unawares, she suddenly pulled away, and seemingly unafraid to hold his gaze, stared right back at him. Her wide green eyes looked sad and frightened, and yet they sparked with confrontation. “If you insist. Then I refuse you, because I have to,” she screamed.

Leon wasn’t about to let her talk to him like that. Keeping as calm as the situation allowed, he strode to the door, then quietly clicked it shut. He then turned and rested his weight against it.

Finding it hard to control his rage, he jerked an insistent finger in her direction. “You’re going nowhere, lady. Either you take off your clothes and put on the dress, or I’ll do it for you.”

Clearly distressed, and for a reason he didn’t yet understand, she shook her head and whispered, “You don’t have to do this.”

“I do. Let’s get one thing straight. This relationship is based on me being the dominant partner and you being my submissive.”

“I know and I–I like it that way, but—”

“Am I asking you to do something so unreasonable?”

“No, not normally, but—”

“Good, then I’m gonna count backward from five, Paige, and the deal is this, as I start counting you start undressing.

“Five.

“We’ve shared some great sex together. Mind-blowing sex. I thought we were connecting. I really did, but now for some crazy fucking reason that I don’t even pretend to understand, you’re refusing to wear a designer dress that I had specially made for you. Such blatant disrespect will not be tolerated.

“Four.”

She was trying to hold it together, but the first signs of tears made her beautiful green eyes appear glassy.

“There’s things you don’t know, Leon. Things you don’t understand. Things I don’t want to explain and relive, because…” She wiped the tears away with the back of her hand.

“Tell me.”

“No, I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because I wanted to tell you in a time of my own choosing.” She sobbed. “I know I should have confided in you already, but I couldn’t find the courage, because I’m scared I’ll lose you if I do.” In obvious distress, she held a hand to her mouth. “And I couldn’t bear that.”

Christ Almighty, he knew he came across as a compassionless, selfish prick, but in reality nothing could be further from the truth, and it broke his heart to see the woman he now knew he was falling in love with appear so defeated and broken. What was so fucking important that she acted this way? He genuinely believed that once he extracted this secret, however dark, it would only serve to strengthen their relationship.

“Three.”

She breathed in a ragged breath. “You like beautiful things, don’t you, Leon? Perfection turns you on. Caparelli cars are so fucking perfect, aren’t they? You know the perfect wine for the perfect meal. You wear perfectly fitting suits for your perfect job, which allows you to mix with all the beautiful, perfect people.”

He shook his head. “What the hell are you talking about, woman? Sure I like beauty, what man doesn’t? It would be a sad fucking world without any beauty in it. Goddamnit, I’m fast losing patience with you, Paige.

“Two.”

“You just don’t get it, do you? You think I’m perfect, too, don’t you?”

“You are. You’re a stunningly beautiful woman. Why do you find it so hard to believe that?”

“Because I’m not, I’m not, I’m not,” she screamed.

He’d tried using a carrot to encourage her to open up. He’d even appealed to her female vanity by telling her how achingly beautiful she was. The speak-softly approach hadn’t worked.

Time for the stick.

“One.” His booming voice echoed around the bedroom, leaving her in no doubt he was going all the way with this.

However, his totally uncompromising attitude had exactly the opposite effect to the one he’d envisaged. At this late stage in the game of submission, he’d expected her to fold, to crumble, to beg one final time before inevitably submitting to his will. It hadn’t quite worked out that way.

Instead, Paige suddenly stopped crying, and an icy calmness enveloped her. “Okay, Leon, you insist I put the dress on, then that’s exactly what I’ll do. You win.”

“I always do.”

Christ Almighty, he knew that women were unpredictable at the best of times, but Paige’s transformation was dramatic. The pitiful sobbing creature had vanished, only to be replaced with a woman exhibiting less emotion than a Stepford wife.

“You wish to see me without my clothes, then so be it. But be careful what you wish for, Leon.” The fear in her eyes had gone as she rotated her skirt one hundred and eighty degrees, and then unzipped it before lowering it to her ankles and stepping from it. “I have beautiful legs, don’t I, Leon? Long and silky smooth.” Keeping her eyes focused firmly on him, she wiggled her toes. “And cute little tootsies, too.”

“Perfect. You’re perfect.” What was the problem? This was how the script should have panned out in the first place.

She slowly lowered her panties and stepped from them. “And my creamy, smooth pussy. Doesn’t get any better than that, does it, Leon? Makes your cock go hard whenever you see it, doesn’t it?”

“Always.”

She undid the top button on her blouse before pausing. “Say, boss, have you ever noticed I always wear long sleeves while at work?”

He shrugged. “Work is work. Practical is often best.”

Without saying a word, she undid every button.

“You haven’t actually seen my breasts, have you, Leon? Or my arms. Think about it, Mr. Caparelli, sir. When you fucked me on the hood of your prized automobile, you might have ripped my panties off, but I was fully dressed from the waist up, and yesterday when you fingered me to delicious orgasm after orgasm, it was the same again.”

Something clicked in his brain as the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle slotted into place. “Paige, remove your blouse for me, please.”

Still keeping her steely gaze focused solely on him, he watched her curl immaculately manicured fingers around the edges of her blouse. “Okay.”

As she started the achingly slow reveal, he shouted, “No, stop.”

He watched her close her eyes, then slowly nod her head, and he saw undiluted disgust distort her beautiful features.

“Huh, you’ve twigged, haven’t you, Leon? The penny has finally dropped, and now just like any other man, you’re not so keen to see what’s hiding inside the exquisitely wrapped package.”

He walked toward her, halting only when mere millimeters separated their bodies. The atmosphere between them fizzed and sparked like an electromagnetic storm, and he was acutely aware that his breathing was fast and shallow. “Don’t ever make the mistake of underestimating yourself, Paige. And don’t ever make the mistake of underestimating me.” His words failed to conceal his irritation. “I’ll take your blouse off.”

As he peeled the cream silk material from her shoulders, leaving her with just a bra, a deep sadness welled up inside, and he took a long slow breath to help quell the emotions that threatened to rise to the surface and burst from him.

When he lifted his gaze to her beautiful face, Paige’s eyes were scrunched tightly shut, but even so, teardrops managed to squeeze from the gaps and run silently down her cheeks. She covered her upper body with her arms, wrapping them around herself like a protective shield.

Oh dear God, what has happened to this girl?

“Let me see,” he whispered. Leon had never felt such overwhelming compassion before, and he felt like a total shit for forcing Paige to put herself on show like this.

He heard the frightened breath hitch in her throat, and he knew she didn’t want to comply.

“Please, Paige.”

With her eyes still scrunched tightly shut, she removed her bra and then slowly revealed herself by spreading her arms wide. Her hands shook, and his heart went out to her. On the inside of her right forearm an angry looking scar ran all the way from her wrist to just below the crook of her elbow. By the width of the ugly-looking gash, he guessed a large amount of skin had been removed. The horrific looking scar had a knobbly, raised appearance that was anything but beautiful.

Tattoo removal?

But that was the least of Paige’s worries, because a second, far more unsightly and ragged scar ran diagonally across her chest, dropping down over her breast where he saw its destructive effect had destroyed half of her right nipple. He was no plastic surgeon, but putting two and two together, he figured the missing skin from her forearm had been used to repair the far more severe damage afflicting her chest and breast.

The severity of her injuries was unsettling, and finding it hard to take it all in, he took two steps back and cupped his hands over his nose and mouth, breathing deeply.

She opened her eyes. “Not pretty, is it? You couldn’t get much further from perfect. What’s your opinion of your perfect Paige now, Mr. Caparelli?”

“Do you really want the truth, Paige?”

She nodded. “Absolutely. The time for anything less has passed.”

The sheer sadness reflected in her beautiful green eyes touched his soul, making him want to rush across and take her in his arms. Her normally proud upright stance now sagged before him, defeated and despairing.

“Okay, the truth is that you disappoint me, Paige.”

“Huh.” She let out a little laugh, but it wasn’t one of joy or happiness. It was anything but. “I disappoint you? Well, there’s a surprise,” she added bitterly. “Still, when all is said and done, you’re a man, and therefore no different to any other. How could any human being with a cock and balls swinging between their legs fail to be disappointed with my appearance.” Clearly emotional, she waved her hands about in irritation. “No, no, no, let’s not give in to political correctness for once. How could any man with red blood coursing through his veins fail to be disappointed by my disfigurement?” She uttered the word disfigurement with such distaste and venom, he was left in no doubt the sheer distress her appearance caused her. “Well, now you know what the real Paige Palmer looks like, and because you were so intent on knowing the truth, her fairytale relationship with the handsome prince is now over. I only feel like half a woman anyway, so it wouldn’t be fair to expect you to find me attractive again.”

Total silence ensued for a good thirty seconds, before Paige took a couple of long deep breaths to compose herself. He watched some of her sparky pride return as she lifted her head and said, “Okay, the freak show is over.” She then bent down to pick up her bra, which lay on the floor by her feet.

“Aren’t you interested in the reason why you disappoint me, Paige?”

She shook her head. “Not really. How much humiliation can a girl take in one day?”

He grabbed hold of the bra and yanked it from her grasp. “Well, I’m gonna tell you anyway, and you’re gonna goddamn listen if it’s the last thing you do. Your memory seems to be real bad for a woman who hasn’t yet reached thirty.”

“What are you talking about, Leon, and give me back my bra.”

He threw the lacy garment over his shoulder. “No, you’ll wait until I’ve had my say.”

“If you must.” She huffed out an irritated
get on with
it
breath.

“I told you, never make the mistake of underestimating me or yourself.”

“And your point is?”

“You’ve done both. Firstly, you’ve done yourself a disservice by thinking I could never find you attractive the way you are now.”

“But—”

“Be quiet and listen. And secondly, and perhaps more importantly, you’ve disrespected me by naturally assuming my personality is so shallow, self-centered, and egotistical that a few scars would make me run for the hills to find a more perfect woman to replace you with.”

Paige finally seemed to grasp what he was saying, because her arms now lay limp at her sides, and the combative attitude she’d shown had disappeared. “You mean—”

“Yes, Paige, yes.” Irritated, he shrugged and gesticulated wildly with his hands. “The good Lord may be a clever guy, but he made one big mistake when he left out the logic center from the female brain.” He cupped her face in his hands and stared deep into her sad, confused eyes. “You’re still perfect to me, baby, and you always will be. Even if you had twice as many imperfections as you have now, you’d still be perfect in my eyes, and I’d still be proud to say, ‘You’re my woman.’ Get it?”

He thought she finally did, because she put a trembling hand to her mouth, causing her tears to flow again. “Really?” she sniffled.