thought thrilled her. “Then later at the vineyard, at
the reception, you lifted me up onto the rock like all the other girls, for our
picture to be taken.”
“I remember, but what was so special about that?”
“You were the only guy there brave enough to treat me like
one of the girls. It was nice. Better than nice and…” She shrugged. How could
she put into words something so indefinable as belonging? “I know it’s going to
sound crazy, but I felt at ease.”
“That’s not crazy. I understand perfectly.”
His somber tone gave her the courage to put it all out
there. “That was when it happened. That night I started having dreams about
you.”
“What kind of dreams? Sexual?”
She wanted so badly to put her hand on his knee. To touch
him and feel the heat and power that radiated from him, but decided against it.
Not until she was done telling him this much of the truth. “Not at first. In
the beginning I would dream up scenarios where you’d take me places. Fun places
that I used to enjoy as a child.”
“Like where?”
“The candy store or the zoo. Then one night I imagined you
taking me to the fair where you played a game of bean-bag toss and you won me a
stuffed animal and for a long time that’s all I dreamed about until…”
“Yes?”
“Until you said no to me.”
The leather crunched as he sat back. “I didn’t say no to
you. I said no to Ethan, who said no to his wife. It was Colin, she said no to
you.”
“But I—”
“You should have asked me directly. I don’t like a woman who
hides.”
Her cheeks burned and she whispered, “I wasn’t hiding and I
didn’t make this decision without thinking it through first. Colin and I talked
about my problem at length. She was the one who mention exposure therapy, and
after I told her how I felt about you, she talked to Ethan about it. He told me
you’d say no.”
“So there wasn’t one Dom I tried to pair you with you would
have considered?”
“No.”
Ted didn’t want to explore how great that “no” sounded to
him. She said it with such conviction he couldn’t help the surge of male
satisfaction that swept through him. And as he looked down at her bowed head
and pink cheeks, that pleasure increased.
He knew why she’d been having those kinds of dreams. On some
subconscious level, she must have figured out that he was the type of man who
could connect with her inner child. A child who had to grow up too fast because
of one reckless bastard’s abuse.
“What kind of stuffed animal?”
“W-what?”
“What kind of creature do I win for you in your dreams?”
“A dragon. A rainbow-colored dragon that has big green
eyes.”
“Every time?”
“Yes.”
“Look at me.” When she did he came forward and rested his
elbows across his spread knees and clasped his hands together. “I think my
princess needs a dragon to slay the beasts that haunt her.”
She didn’t say anything to that, she just bent and rested
her forehead against the bridge of his hands. The ebony silk of her hair
rippled like water over her shoulders, leaving the fine expanse of her back
exposed to him. He let her hold her position this way for several moments.
Content to feel this kind of connection with her until she shifted forward in
an attempt to get closer to him.
“No, Jo, back as you were and straighten.” He waited until
she did as he told her, then he said, “I think I want to take you upstairs. Not
to my room, we’ll go to one of the spare rooms on the second floor and see if
we can ease some of your skittishness around me. But first, let’s talk about
last night.”
The flat of her palms rested on her thighs and he didn’t
miss how she rubbed the perspiration off them.
“Why weren’t you this nervous around me at the club?”
“There were other people doing the same things and…”
Hm. Falling in with a crowd was an important note to make.
“And?”
“I made a pact with myself before I went into the club to
meet
the reception, you lifted me up onto the rock like all the other girls, for our
picture to be taken.”
“I remember, but what was so special about that?”
“You were the only guy there brave enough to treat me like
one of the girls. It was nice. Better than nice and…” She shrugged. How could
she put into words something so indefinable as belonging? “I know it’s going to
sound crazy, but I felt at ease.”
“That’s not crazy. I understand perfectly.”
His somber tone gave her the courage to put it all out
there. “That was when it happened. That night I started having dreams about
you.”
“What kind of dreams? Sexual?”
She wanted so badly to put her hand on his knee. To touch
him and feel the heat and power that radiated from him, but decided against it.
Not until she was done telling him this much of the truth. “Not at first. In
the beginning I would dream up scenarios where you’d take me places. Fun places
that I used to enjoy as a child.”
“Like where?”
“The candy store or the zoo. Then one night I imagined you
taking me to the fair where you played a game of bean-bag toss and you won me a
stuffed animal and for a long time that’s all I dreamed about until…”
“Yes?”
“Until you said no to me.”
The leather crunched as he sat back. “I didn’t say no to
you. I said no to Ethan, who said no to his wife. It was Colin, she said no to
you.”
“But I—”
“You should have asked me directly. I don’t like a woman who
hides.”
Her cheeks burned and she whispered, “I wasn’t hiding and I
didn’t make this decision without thinking it through first. Colin and I talked
about my problem at length. She was the one who mention exposure therapy, and
after I told her how I felt about you, she talked to Ethan about it. He told me
you’d say no.”
“So there wasn’t one Dom I tried to pair you with you would
have considered?”
“No.”
Ted didn’t want to explore how great that “no” sounded to
him. She said it with such conviction he couldn’t help the surge of male
satisfaction that swept through him. And as he looked down at her bowed head
and pink cheeks, that pleasure increased.
He knew why she’d been having those kinds of dreams. On some
subconscious level, she must have figured out that he was the type of man who
could connect with her inner child. A child who had to grow up too fast because
of one reckless bastard’s abuse.
“What kind of stuffed animal?”
“W-what?”
“What kind of creature do I win for you in your dreams?”
“A dragon. A rainbow-colored dragon that has big green
eyes.”
“Every time?”
“Yes.”
“Look at me.” When she did he came forward and rested his
elbows across his spread knees and clasped his hands together. “I think my
princess needs a dragon to slay the beasts that haunt her.”
She didn’t say anything to that, she just bent and rested
her forehead against the bridge of his hands. The ebony silk of her hair
rippled like water over her shoulders, leaving the fine expanse of her back
exposed to him. He let her hold her position this way for several moments.
Content to feel this kind of connection with her until she shifted forward in
an attempt to get closer to him.
“No, Jo, back as you were and straighten.” He waited until
she did as he told her, then he said, “I think I want to take you upstairs. Not
to my room, we’ll go to one of the spare rooms on the second floor and see if
we can ease some of your skittishness around me. But first, let’s talk about
last night.”
The flat of her palms rested on her thighs and he didn’t
miss how she rubbed the perspiration off them.
“Why weren’t you this nervous around me at the club?”
“There were other people doing the same things and…”
Hm. Falling in with a crowd was an important note to make.
“And?”
“I made a pact with myself before I went into the club to
meet
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