The 30 Day Sub (5 page)

Cate rushed through the shower routine, wanting to
hurry up to get back to Torrance. What she was really looking forward to was
getting to that book! She’d completely forgotten about it, and the fact that
Torrance wanted to hear it too was mind-blowing. The water cut off on her
command and she grabbed her pajamas and slid them on. They were nothing fancy:
A pair of light pink bottoms with a matching camisole top. She wrapped her long
dark hair in the towel and after a few seconds took it down. The brush got
stuck in a few of the knots, but she was pretty sure she’d finished in record
time.

As Cate came into the living room she noticed there
were no traces of what had just happened between them. And as she looked
around, there were no traces of Torrance either. She spun around in a complete
circle. There were other doors down the hallway to the left of the kitchen, but
she wasn’t about to go searching for him. A door to the outside balcony caught
her attention and she headed out into the night. The lights were mesmerizing
and she looked down from the forty-third floor feeling
more
free
than she ever had in her life. Wind whipped through her wet hair
and she closed her eyes letting the feeling wash over her.

“Did I hurt you too badly?” Torrance stepped from
the shadows at the other end of the balcony and Cate jumped.

“No.” She paused.
“Master.”

“I don’t expect you to address me that way, right
now. In time, you’ll know when it’s appropriate and when it’s not.” He
motioned. “Come here, Cate.”

The cement was still warm from the sun as she walked
to him. His arms outstretched and she molded her body to his. The smoothness of
his skin against her face had her closing her eyes. Even though she barely knew
this person, the bond they shared over the experience she’d just gone through
was definitely strong.

No words were spoken as he held her. Minutes flew by
and a ringing had his arms falling. “Food,” he sighed. His hand grasped around
hers and she followed him inside.
“Couch, doll.
We’ll
watch some TV while we eat. Then it’s off to bed for some reading.”

Cate wasn’t sure why, but when she saw the big
couch, all she wanted to do was jump up and down on it. The moment she did, she
instantly regretted it. It wasn’t anywhere near as soft as she’d thought and the
bite on her ass had her wincing against the pain.

He walked over with the bags. “You’re not what I
imagined at all. You’re quiet, yet you’re absolutely silly at times. I like
it.” He laid the food out on the glass coffee table and picked up the remote,
turning on the large flat-screen television. An episode of
Chopped
flashed on the screen.

“Oh! I love this show.” Cate took the box of food
Torrance had handed her, absentmindedly. She reached for the remote and turned
it up. The basket opened, displaying different ingredients, and at the squid,
she cringed. Slowly, she lifted the lid on her to-go box and glanced down. She
froze, and looked back towards her lap. Had she seen that correctly?

She wasn’t sure what the hell she was looking at.
Her gaze went to Torrance, who was smiling at her. “What is it?” she asked,
curious.

“
It’s
calamari salad, and gourmet
stuffed Italian peppers with vegetarian risotto. It’s your new master’s orders.
He sent me a list that he wants you to follow.”

Her mouth opened and she wasn’t sure what to say.
Well, she knew what she wanted to say:
hell,
no,
she was not going to like it. Cate thought of herself as more of a
steak and potato kind of girl. This was far from it. She had nothing against
vegetarian or vegan food, but she didn’t like peppers, so that limited what she
actually got to eat.

Her eyes peered over to Torrance’s box. It looked
like more peppers with some kind of nuts or something spread over the top of it.
Torrance made a face that looked like the one she knew she probably wore.
“Don’t worry. I couldn’t let you suffer alone. Eat up, Cate.”

Well, she had wanted to go on a diet. Cate grabbed
her fork and looked down. The first bite was hard to stomach. She knew most
people would have probably loved the dish, and it wasn’t too bad, but it just
wasn’t her type of food.

The battle on the TV was in full swing and before
long she quit worrying about her food and just ate it. It was probably the
healthiest thing she’d had in…forever. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if she
started eating like this.

Torrance disappeared and brought her back a glass of
wine. She took it, gladly. “Thank you for everything. I know you didn’t
necessarily have to do this. It means a lot to me that you did.”

He nodded and grinned, but kept quiet. The wine
against her tongue was sweet, yet dry. She grabbed the coaster from the small rack
on the table and placed her wine glass down. Tor’s empty food box was lying
next to him.
 
She picked it up and took
it into the kitchen with hers. It took a moment to find the trash compactor,
since she was looking for a garbage can, but she soon located it.

“I’m off to take a shower. Finish your wine and I
will meet you in bed.” He got up and she watched the muscles flex in his back
while he walked to the bedroom. A sigh escaped her mouth and instead of sitting
down, she grabbed the glass of wine and finished it off as fast as she could.
After washing it out, she climbed into bed, noticing that the book and her
glasses lay on the far table. She grabbed her glasses and put them on, and
started reading the back of the book. The sound of the water shut off and she
looked up.

It wasn’t long before Torrance walked out completely
nude. Cate’s fingers gripped onto the book, hard.
Jesus.
That word must have repeated in her mind a million times
while he walked toward the bed and got under the covers. Oh yes. The man not
only looked like heaven, but it appeared he had been blessed by the gods
themselves. His cock could make any girl happy. She just hoped she was lucky
enough to be one of those girls at some point.

Torrance’s long arms wrapped around her sitting
body, and he pulled her closer to him. “Lean back, and read to me.” His head
rested in her lap and she complied, adjusting the pillow behind her. As she
began to read, she glanced down and took in the man who’d changed her life in
one day. Who was he really? Did he harbor dark secrets inside of himself? Most
people did. She just hoped they weren’t as dark as hers.

Chapter
Five

For seven days Torrance didn’t touch Cate. He could
have sworn it was the longest week of his life. He opened his eyes on the
eighth day and stared at her sleeping face. Her lips were parted, and there was
a rosy tint to her cheeks. The angelic vision had his cock unbelievably hard.
She was molded to him, her arms locked around his chest. From the way he
cradled the back of her neck, he knew he was the one who’d pulled her into him.

This was definitely not how he expected things to
work out. What had he been thinking, moving her right in, and into his bed, no
less? She wasn’t his. He knew that. Hell, from the first day when he had staked
his claim on her, and told her she was his for thirty days, he knew that was a
lie. She didn’t belong to him one bit.

The training could have easily gone without any
sexual tension at all. It could have been by the book. Yet, he had moved right
in and possessed her. Why? Oh, he knew why.
The pain.
He was a sucker for it. He’d let himself get attached just enough, and when she
left, he’d feed off of it. It’d last for a few weeks, maybe a month, and he’d
move on. He was a sick fuck. He knew that. But what could he say? Losing her
would benefit him in the long run. It was wrong, and he couldn’t do that again.
Not to Cate. She didn’t need to get attached to him, any more than she already
was. This powerful, swept-away feeling needed to stop. He needed to move her to
the other bedroom and let her focus on her master’s orders. Even if he thought
they were bullshit.

Poor girl, with her new vegan diet … Torrance knew
she didn’t like it at all, and he couldn’t blame her. Some people took to it very
well, but Cate was like him. They’d grown up on Texas food.
Steak,
BBQ, chicken.
It was in their blood. Now he was making himself suffer
right along with her, and he couldn’t stand it. There was no way he could eat a
nice, juicy steak in front of her and watch her suffer alone. And the diet was
only the beginning––just one item on the long list of stuff her new master
wanted.

Cate lifted her leg and let it settle across his
stomach. She groaned in her sleep and he knew it was because she was sore. The
master’s strenuous workout routine he had her on was unreal. Torrance could
remember reading it and thinking
what the
hell?
This guy couldn’t be serious. Cate might have been slightly
overweight, but the curves looked good on her. Damn good. Just because the guy
was a health freak didn’t mean he had to turn Cate into one too.

Torrance’s lips pressed together and he suddenly
noticed his hand was moving across her thigh and toward her ass. Fingers
gripped into his chest and he silently cursed himself. This was going to get
hot and heavy fast if he didn’t put a stop to it.

He turned into her and the wetness between her legs
moved against his thigh. Torrance could feel his fingers grip into her back.
Fuck. He needed to get up.
Now
.
He started to turn when she lifted her head and
searched his face. The rejection she felt was evident from her expression. He’d
hurt her by stopping, but he just couldn’t continue. Not now, and not in the
future…especially if they were to make a clean break, in thirty days.

“Your list
awaits
. You have
quite the day ahead of you.” He crawled out of bed and walked into the
restroom. As he brushed his teeth, he couldn’t get those dark green eyes out of
his head. They almost seemed to be pleading to him. The tension between them
for the last few days had been downright steamy.
He’d almost
bent her ass over the sofa and fucked her senseless the third day, when he saw her
picking up their mess from the night before.
She’d been leaning over,
and the sun-dress she wore had given him a glimpse of her thighs.

Torrance had stalked from the room with more anger
at himself than anything. It didn’t make it any easier when she came into the
room and kneeled before him. When he’d asked what she wanted, rather curtly,
she’d asked if he was mad at her. The anger had left him in that moment. The
last thing he wanted was for her to think she’d done something wrong. Now,
today was starting out just as tense. He really needed to find a way to release
or he was going to explode.

Torrance left the restroom, and went to the closet, grabbing
his workout clothes. They’d have a quick breakfast, and then he’d hit the gym.
And not his gym, either. Cate would be there, following her master’s rules. If
he had to see her on any more of those machines, he’d lose all resolve.

He got dressed and began laying out the stuff for
bacon and eggs, with toast. Just as he began cooking, he heard a growling noise.
Cate walked into the kitchen and a moan came from her mouth.

“Oh, sweet torture.”
She
walked up the stove and inhaled deeply.
“Lucky bastard.
I think I’d kill a person for some real food.” Her hand reached for a banana. She
smiled at him and held up the fruit. “I’m just going to get a quick bite, and
hit the gym.” She looked at his clothes. “Are you going to join me after you
eat?”

His eyes went back to the food, longingly. “I forgot
you couldn’t eat this. I’m sorry.”

The way she waved her hand said it was no big deal,
but it was to Torrance.

“Truthfully, I think I’ve needed rules like this.
Maybe my new master knows what’s best.” Her lips encased the banana and Torrance
watched the action, mesmerized. “You know, Tor?”

“What?” His gaze came back up to meet hers.

“My
master,
and his rules.
The whole diet, and working out thing. Maybe it’s for the best. I’ve needed
structure for a long time now, and he’s making me do it. It’s probably a
blessing in disguise.”

Torrance shook his head, aggravated. He wanted to
tell her that her master didn’t know shit. But he couldn’t talk down about the
man she was going to. Besides, he was her master at the moment.

“Sure,” he snapped, flipping the bacon.

The banana peel slammed into the trash and he
watched her stomp to the gym. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
Fuck, something had to change.

But
what
?

Torrance finished up breakfast and looked down at
all the food. His eyes went toward the hallway and he smiled. He made both of
them a plate and placed it on the counter. Reaching over, he hit the intercom
button. “Cate, come into the kitchen.” Within seconds she came in, glaring at
him. Her face was flushed and she was already beginning to sweat. He’d seen her
work out. She sure as hell didn’t mess around.
 

Torrance lifted the plate. “Sit at the table and
eat.”

An eyebrow rose at him. “I’m not supposed to. My
master doesn’t allow it.”