Legally Bound (12 page)

Donavan let out a slow, steady breath. Though he
didn’t like what he was hearing, it was better than the alternative ending his
own imagination had conjured up.

“Did you know Eve worked two jobs to put herself
through law school? All the while, she lived in this one bedroom shack,
studying mostly on her breaks and on the bus ride to and from her apartment
each day.”

He searched his mind and recalled seeing Eve once
in the middle of the night at the college library, her nose stuffed in legal
text. At the time, he remembered thinking she was just an anal perfectionist
who didn’t know how to relax. Now he realized she was forced to study in the
middle of the night.

“No, I didn’t know that,” he murmured.

“She’s fought for everything she has, Donavan.
Her career means everything to her. She unintentionally associates it with all
the things she has now that she didn’t have before—safety, consistency, freedom
from the life she lived as a girl.”

“It’s understandable,” he agreed. “But, that
doesn’t change the fact that she is a submissive.”

“I accept that. You accept that. Eventually, Eve
will learn to accept it too but it’s going to take a lot more than a few nights
of pleasure with Eden’s most notorious and sought after playboy to break
through the walls of her past. I’m sorry if that sounds harsh, you know I love
you to pieces, but it’s the truth.”

Donavan flexed his jaw. He couldn’t argue with
Caitlyn’s logic. If Eve was going to make peace with her past, she would need
to surrender absolute control in an uncomfortable situation and feel one
hundred percent safe with her partner while doing it. What she needed was a
complete exchange of trust over body and mind. That type of trust wasn’t often
earned in one weekend of kinky sex with a friend.

“Where is Eve now?” Caitlyn asked, drawing him
out of his own thoughts.

“In the room. She’s fine, Cait,” he added, noting
the deep concern etched into her features. “I would never do anything to hurt
her. You have to know that.”

“Of course I do. I’m more concerned about inadvertent
consequence.”

“If it puts your mind at ease, I do believe she’s…enjoying
herself.”

“Oh, I have no doubt. I’ve heard the rumors.” Her
rose painted lips curved into a smile. “I just hope you weren’t too hard on her
for the collar thing.”

“Not as hard on her as Evan’s going to be on you
when I tell him what part you played in this little conspiracy.”

He watched her shudder yet the glint of a smile
twinkled in her blue eyes. Caitlyn was another very independent female. As a
psychiatrist she had a professional element about her but underneath she was a
true submissive. She reminded him of Eve in many respects. They were both
prideful, intelligent, sassy women. The type of women good Doms desired to conquer
yet yearned to protect.

With wide eyes, Caitlyn began ringing through his
purchases which gave Donavan time to reflect on the new information and what he
was going to do with it. He should go back to the room, hand Eve the key, and
let her leave before things got any more complicated between them. Caitlyn was
right when she called him a playboy—long term commitment had never sat well
with him. Eve deserved more than a weekend fling. Where he was in his life now,
he wasn’t sure he could offer her more than that. But could he let her go now?
Not likely.

“Looks like Eve has a wild night ahead of her,”
Caitlyn said, handing him a large scarlet colored bag. Donavan accepted it and
arched an eyebrow.

“You’ve no idea how wild.”

****

Eve loved a hot bath. In her downtown apartment
complex, her morning ritual customarily started with a quick dash through a
lukewarm shower because of the peak hour and countless neighbors using the same
water supply. Eden, however, seemed to have an endless reservoir of heat in all
aspects.

With a sigh, she slipped lower inside the kidney
shaped whirlpool until a thick cloud of foamy suds tickled her neck. Bubbles
hissed as she stretched one leg out and lifted her toes to toy with the shiny
swan-neck faucet.

This is the life, she thought, turning her face
into the rolled up towel beneath her head. If only she could stay in this
moment forever.

Her chest rose and fell and with each breath more
and more tension seeped out of her limbs into the steaming water. It hadn’t
occurred to her just how strenuous an early afternoon romp with Donavan could
be. Every muscle in her body was sore and sated with a heavenly ache. Even the
mark of his palm still burned on her ass cheeks. It would take at least a week
before she was able to sit again without the tenderness reminding her of his
sweet domination. Even longer to eradicate it from her memory.

Though the water was near scalding, Eve shivered.
There wasn’t a drug powerful enough to dull the memories of Donavan’s love
making. From this point on he would forever be branded into her mind as the
first man she had ever submitted to. And, he would be the last.

The decision came to her in half slumber while
lying in his arms earlier. It was obvious to Eve now that she was indisputably
a submissive no matter how hard she tried to deny it. Regardless of her past,
somehow Donavan had broken through the tough outer shell she’d formed around
herself for protection all these years. In some ways she was grateful. He had
forced her to confront a part of herself she had always been too cowardly to
face alone. Only now, when she stepped outside the sanctuary of Eden’s walls
and back into her real life, she would know exactly what she was giving up.

Donavan wouldn’t miss a beat when this was all
said and done, Eve thought frowning as she sank a fat sponge under the water then
rang it out and pressed it to her neck. He would make an easy transition back
into his routine of countless women and no-strings-attached nights of pleasure.
Although in one way it stung her to think of him in the arms of another woman,
it also made her decision to leave immediately after the gala far easier.

She slopped the wet sponge onto the ledge of the
tub and sank back against her make-shift pillow. As long as her secret remained
safe and her professional reputation was intact, it didn’t matter who the next
woman was to grace his bed sheets. At least that’s what she told herself.

A stream of warm breath tickled her ear only
seconds before two large hands covered her breasts. She knew instantly who
owned those hands and sucked in a sharp breath. In twenty-four hours Donavan’s
touch had burned its mark into her memory—the strength of his fingers…the
subtle calluses on his palms…the firmness of his grip.

“I swear to God these tits were made for my
hands,” Donavan softly murmured against the crook of her neck. “In fact, I’m
beginning to think your entire body was made for me to do with as I please.” He
squeezed her nipples between his fingers and Eve’s pussy clenched. She was
beginning to think he was right.

“Oh?” she asked. “Is that what you think?”

“It is.” He explored the slope of her neck with
his mouth and a quick trembled danced through her. “You disagree?”

“I believe that you think every female body on
the planet was made for you to do with as you please,” she returned,
breathlessly.

“Now that’s not entirely true.” The water rippled
as he kneaded her breasts harder now and raked his front teeth over the soft
skin where below her pulse went wild. Her toes curled against the porcelain and
her back arched, lifting her breasts half an inch out of the water.

“After all,” he continued. “I’m not a man without
standards, Evelyn. Thankfully, you just so happen to reach every one of my
requirements with room to spare.”

“That’s not saying much,” she half teased.

“Cheap shot, counselor.”

After giving her nipples one last glorious
squeeze, Donavan rose from his crouched position and circled to sit on the edge
of the tub. The tanned flesh of his forearms drew her gaze. Oh, he looked good
like this. This wasn’t the neat and tidy lawyer she was used to seeing. He wore
no tie, the two top buttons of his dress shirt were open revealing his
beautiful chest and the sleeves were rolled half way up his forearms. Gorgeous.

“Is that what you really think?” he asked,
halting her fantasy of having those arms around her again. He stared down at
her with those penetrating gray eyes. “Do you think that I have low standards?”

The weight of his tone startled her into a
sitting position. Half the suds were gone now, but the remaining ones sizzled
as she hugged her knees to her chest and pondered the question. She rested her
cheek against her knees and stared back at him while searching for an honest
answer.

“What I think about how you conduct your love
life doesn’t mean squat,” she told him.

“That’s a cop-out. I’ve never known you to
pussyfoot.”

At his challenge, she cocked her head. If he
wanted honest, she’d give him honest.

“All right. I do think you have low standards but
not without motive. In the last two years I’ve noticed that the women you
choose to take to bed, although beautiful, are often superficial and sometimes
absolutely tasteless. You have nothing in common with them other than the fact
you both enjoy a good romp and I happen to think that’s exactly why you choose
them. If you actually screwed someone with any substance at all you’d run the
risk of developing a real relationship and that scares the shit out of you.”

His eyes narrowed. “Does it now?”

“I think it does,” she answered, failing to be
intimidated.

“And why do you think that is?”

“I don’t know.” She chewed her lower lip. “Maybe
you’re worried there’s more of your father in you than you’d like to admit. If
those traits were ever to surface it’d be easier on you to cut ties with
someone who’s just a fling, rather than someone you honestly cared about.”

Eve noted the muscle in his jaw busily working
and wondered if she hadn’t said too much. Over-analyzing was second nature to
her, it’s how she kept ahead of the game all these years but she rarely shared
her observations. No one ever liked being under the microscope.

“Hmm. I see your point,” Donavan murmured. “So,
what exactly would you prescribe for such a cut and dry case of commitment phobia,
Dr. Morgan?”

“Um…” Caught off guard by his rationality, Eve
raised her head. “…Well, I suppose the first step would be recognizing the
pattern and then breaking it.” The validation in his eyes now had the words
flying out of her mouth faster and with more conviction. “Instead of seeking
out women you know you’re incompatible with, try to find someone who shares
your common interests, someone with substance and integrity. Someone you can
honestly see yourself moving forward with beyond just a few days.”

Slowly, tenderly Donavan cupped her cheek in his
vast palm and leaned towards her. Eve’s heart picked up speed as he closed in
on her but he didn’t kiss her. He brushed his warm mouth across her cheek until
his lips were next to her ear.

 “I couldn’t agree with you more,” he whispered.

He rose from the ledge of the tub then, and
headed for the shower leaving Eve to realize what she had just done. His
comment replayed over and over in her head—the tone of his voice, the emphasis
on his words all provoked a tightness in her chest.

In silence, she watched him strip out of his
clothes and then step into the glass cubical shower. If her stomach wasn’t tied
in knots, she would’ve savored the sight of his lean, muscular legs and tight
ass. However, the result of their conversation wouldn’t allow it.

Donavan wasn’t actually considering
her
as
someone he could see himself moving forward with for more than a few days, was
he? More importantly, did
she
see him that way?

Nonsense. He was just messing around with her as
payback for sticking her nose where it didn’t belong. Wasn’t he?

She rose out of the water and quickly wrapped
herself in a towel yet her gaze never wavered from the shower. Donavan’s back
was to her, his hands braced against the shower wall as he rotated his head
under the spray. Lord, he was beautiful. Not to mention intelligent and confident
and caring.

Carefully, Eve stepped out of the tub and onto
the bath mat.

Donavan was exactly the type of man she could
spend the rest of her life with and never experience a dull moment. At the same
time, he was a Dom to the bone and although Eve was beginning to accept that
being dominated turned her on, she wasn’t convinced embracing the lifestyle was
worth the repercussions it would have on her career.

“Eve?” said Donavan, poking his head out the shower
door.

“Hmm?”

“Don’t get dressed just yet. I have something
special planned for our last night together.”

Eve gave a nod and hugged the towel around her
tighter.

Yes, this will be our last
night together. It has to be.