Red, White and Sensual (6 page)

“You will think about your actions and rectify them before the next time I need you to accompany me somewhere. Petty relationship issues are not my problem, there are many people that would love this job, Sierra. Remember that.”

Then he turns and begins walking out, and my emotions get the better of me and I snap.
“Petty relationship issues? You know nothing!”

He stops and
turns, his eyes wide with shock and fury. His expression is so thunderous, I step back.

“I ask that you pack your things and leave,
I won’t tolerate this kind of disrespect.”

I gape at him and tears stumble down my cheeks. Before I even realize what I’m doing, I turn and begin lifting up my dress.

“Miss Walters, what are you doing?” he snaps.

I close my eyes and keep lifting until my dress is up around my waist. Then, I grip my panties and lower them. I hear his hiss and wonder if it’s because I just exposed myself to him, or if he can see the scars. I stand like that for long moments, my legs tremble and I can hardly breathe. My chest constricts as I wait to see what he’ll do.
I can’t believe I’m doing this. I can’t believe I have my panties down and I’m showing him my backside.

I hear him move and I expect him to go to the door and demand that I leave for exposing myself to him but instead, he steps forward. A moment later I feel the softest touch of his finger as he traces the
fading, purple scars on my backside. They’re ugly, I’ve learned to accept that but I’ve never shown them to someone else before. I don’t even know why I am now.

“What
happened?” he whispers.

I close my eyes and drop my dress,
and then slowly I turn. I expect to see pity on his face, but he isn’t showing anything at all. His face is perfectly blank.

“It’s a long story and…”

“What. Happened?” he growls.

I stare at him for long moments, unsure if I should tell him. Ben is obviously involved with him and I don’t want to risk a war happening over something that has nothing to do with this job and my being here.

“Look, this has nothing to do with my work. I just wanted you to see why I got upset that you called it petty…”

“I won’t ask you again,” he snarls. “What happened?”

“Marcus…”

“
Now
, Miss Walters.”

I close my eyes and tears continue to run down my cheeks.

“He was a dominant. We met, we dated and I fell for him, it wasn’t love but it was getting there. He began showing me the dominant way of life and at first, I loved it. Then he started getting angrier, tying me up for longer, whipping me for everything and it became a form of abuse. He used to whip me daily, but one time…he saw me out with my best friend, who’s a male, and he flipped. When I got home that night, he acted normal, he was sweet and loving, I didn’t know at that point that he’d seen me. I let him tie me up, I had no idea he was angry at me. It was the biggest mistake I ever made. He whipped me so much it scarred me but he was careful not to make it visible to anyone else, it’s why it’s on my backside. He left me tied up for nearly two days, bleeding and in so much pain…”

I look up at his gaze and it’s so wild I want to step back.

“Look, I know this isn’t your problem and the way I behaved tonight was out of line. I understand if you want me to leave, but I just wanted you to know that I’m not the sort of person to react like that over nothing. Benjamin scares me to a point that I can’t make my own legs move. I will pack my things…”

Suddenly Marcus is in front of me and his hands are on my cheeks. I gasp at the contact and try to wiggle back but he holds my face firmly in his hands.

“Did you take this further?”

“
I didn’t give his name, but I called the police. They wouldn’t really listen to me because I let him tie me up, I let him…”

“No,” he ra
sps. “Don’t you ever say you let him hurt you. Being a dominant is about knowing when to stop, it’s about control, it’s about having your submissive trust you and respect you. He wasn’t practicing it correctly, it was of no fault of yours.”

I feel my eyes widen and I
struggle to free myself from his grips. Marcus is a dominant, of course he is, how could I not know that? I stumble backwards and the fear in my eyes has him rushing forwards.

“No please,” I gasp. “Don’t.”

“Sierra, what he did isn’t what it’s about. Being a dominant is about knowing what your woman wants and giving it to her. It’s about allowing her to submit and to trust you.”

“No!” I cry. “It’s about abuse and a power trip.”

“No,” he says, stepping forward. “It’s not.”

I scurry past him and grip my suitcase. “I’m leaving, I’m sorry to have wasted your time. I won’t bother you any longer…”

“Sierra,” he says in a firm tone. “Stop it.”

“You’re a dominant Marcus, I can’t…I just can’t…”

“I’m not like him, I assure you.”

“It’s all the same!” I cry. “I lost every bit of self-respect and control I had because of him. I can’t be in that sort of environment again.”

He cuts me off when he grips my arms and hurls my body up close to his. I cry and squirm but he doesn’t let me go. I shove at his chest, desperate to be away from him. Before I realize what’s happening, his lips are on mine. I never saw it coming, I never suspected he would do something like this, so I slump in complete shock.

He moves his lips gently, stroking mine with his own. Electric bolts run through me, bolts I never thought I’d feel again after what Ben did. Unable to contain the emotion flooding me and the desire pooling low in my belly, I reach up and grip his head, deepening the kiss.
His tongue slides over mine, teasing and flicking it so gently I can hear my own whimpers becoming desperate. His hard body is pressed against mine and I can feel his erection against my belly.

When he finally pulls back, I’m panting and my eyes are wide. What the hell just happened? He runs a finger over my bott
om lip and his eyes meet mine. “You fascinate me, Sierra, and I want to show you that it’s not what you think. I want you to trust me. I want you to let me show you…”

“Show me?” I whisper.

“Let me show you, that what he did was wrong…it’s not how it goes…”

“No,” I cry, pulling back. “No, I’m not here to be your sex slave
, sir, I’m here to be your PA and that’s what I’ll be.”

“Don’t pretend you didn’t feel what we just shared. Don’t pretend that you haven’t felt the fire since you first ran into me.”

“You’re getting married!” I cry.

He meets my gaze. “That’s the least of my problems.”

I stare in horror. “No, I won’t…”

He steps forward and I step back.

“Here’s the thing, Sierra,” he whispers, stepping closer. “I always get what I want, and I want you.”

“That’s not why I’m here,” I say in a small voice.

“I know why you’re here, I also know you felt what I felt. Let me show you how beautiful it can be to let someone take control.”

“No,” I say
, shaking my head as he stalks closer once more.

“Yes, Sierra.”

“I don’t know you, not only that but you’re the Speaker of the house for Christ sakes. I’m not going to be a mistress and I’m certainly not going to be a submissive.”

“And yet, part of you so desperately wants to….”

“You’re wrong,” I whimper.

He strokes a thumb over my bottom lip. “No, I’m not. You just don’t realize it because you’re so afrai
d. I won’t push you, Sierra, but with time, I know you’re going to admit you feel the passion I feel when we’re near each other. That kind of passion doesn’t just happen for no reason.”

With one last heated look, he turns and leaves the room and I crumble to my knees. The problem is, I don’t know if it’s because of desire or fear.

CHAPTER 6

The next morning my head hurts and my body hates me as I move from the bed. I’m achy and sore, even though I’ve done nothing to
warrant it. I dress slowly, painfully, not wanting to hurry the process of having to see Marcus again. What can I say? What will he say? I just don’t know how this is going to end. I have to end it though. I really do. When I’m fully dressed, I order my breakfast and make my way to the office. Just breathe, it will be fine.

When I get in, Marcus is sitting at his desk. He looks up at me and his gaze grows hooded. God damn him for looking at me like that. I say
nothing, I just rush into my office and shut the door. Breathing a sigh of relief, I turn on the computer. A moment later, Marcus walks in. He doesn’t knock, he just swings the door open and stands in the door way, staring at me.

“Did you think about what I said last night?”

I glare at him. “You’re not serious?”

“Of course I am
, I want you. I want to teach you, to show you, to taste you, to suck you, to fuck…”

“Enough!” I cry, throwing my hands up. “You’re getting married, does that matter at all?”

He stares over at me, his face goes suddenly hard. After a moment it softens, I don’t know if he even realized a flash of anger and a little pain showed on his face at the mention of his soon to be wife.

“She’s not my problem.”

“Then why are you with her?” I snap sarcastically.

“Life isn’t always easy, Sierra.”

“No shit,” I grumble.

He shoots me a glare and then walks in further, he stops at the foot of my desk and stares down at me with so much sex and desire in his eyes
, it has me turning away, unable to hold his gaze.

“You feel this, I know you do. I am not the kind of man to push,
heck, I’m not the kind of man to chase a woman, but you…”

“You don’t know me,” I whisper.

“I know enough, and I know what I feel when I see you. I just have to lay eyes on you and…”

“
Mr. Harrison, please, I just need to do some work.”

He chuckles softly. “I love how your cheeks flush when you look at me, how you squirm in your chair, and you really want me to believe you don’t feel a damn thing looking at me? Ok
, sweet girl, we’ll play it your way a little longer.”

Then he leaves the room and leaves me panting with…is that desire?

~*~*~*~

The week goes extremely fast, which I’m thankful for. By Friday, I’m looking forward to having a weekend off. Marcus is the perfect picture of mental health right now. One moment he’s as professional as he can be, when we’re in meetings he speaks to me like he speaks to everyone else. Then, when the day is done, and we’re at dinner, he calms down and purrs his words in that sultry, sexy voice of his. Even though I know he’s trying to seduce me, for whatever reason, I can’t help but chat with him when he starts a conversation.

We just have this kind of connection that allows us to talk so freely with each other. There’s never moments where we run out of words. I hate how I feel about him, I hate that it’s creeping up on me so quickly I can’t halt it. So when I head off to campus on Friday afternoon, while Marcus is in a meeting, I feel a slight amount of relief. I need to clear my head, I need to put myself back in a sensible frame of mind so I’m able to deal with Marcus next week and pause this sexual attraction that’s going too far, too quick.

When I arrive back at school
, people swarm me asking me questions about Marcus. Is he hot? Is he smart? Is he nice? Is he mean? I answer as many as I can before rushing to my room, I wonder if it will be like this every time I come back? When I get to my room, I slump down and sigh. What a week, and I’ve got six more left. I shake my head and walk further into the room, feeling an instant comfort wash over me.

“
Girl!”

I smile at the voice outside my
door, I guess Quinn found me after my text message from the car, saying I was nearly back. I open the door and he barrels in, wrapping his arms around me and swinging me around.

“Quinn!”

“Tell me everything, I haven’t heard from you all week.” He says, putting me down and grinning at me.

And just like that, my wall breaks and I begin sobbing. It takes Quinn a moment to react, he’s no doubt confused. He leaps onto the bed beside me and wraps and arm around me.

“What happened?” he asks gently.

“God, it’s so complicated Quinn.”

“How?”

I tell him everything from seeing Ben, to my last night with Marcus. With wide eyes he blinks at me and the pulls out his phone and dials.

“Raine, get to Sierra’s room now!”

I roll my eyes and swipe my tears away. Five minutes later Raine comes rushing in.

“What’s happening?”

I sit and silently groan as Quinn tells Raine everything I just told him. Her eyes widen and she sits beside me.

“Marcus wants you to sleep with him?”

“Not only that, but
he wants her as his submissive,” Quinn adds.