Temptation to Submit by Jennifer Leeland

civilized world that frowned on tearing a man limb from limb.
    He turned and stared at her. She wasn’t looking at him but was focused on providing information. Until he’d opened the door of his office and discovered that bastard’s hands on her, he hadn’t realized he considered Victoria his.
    When he’d said she belonged to him, he meant it. As fast as lightning, it had struck him, electrified him. She was his. But he wasn’t sure of her feelings. The weeks they’d spent working together had meant more to him than he could have believed.
    He didn’t know when it happened or how, but he wanted to take her home to his family, introduce her to his parents and his two siblings. Atticus’s family was close; his sister lived within three miles of the home where they grew up. His brother worked in the family business. Only Atticus had struck out, wanting to put his skills with numbers and his need to dominate to use on a bigger stage than his parents’ grocery store chain allowed.
    What would Victoria think of his rather traditional parents who still spoke Hindi at home? His sister would adore Victoria. Atticus smiled at the possibility of Sasha and Victoria in the same room. That much stubborn independence was sure to be entertaining.
    “You don’t have to look so damn pleased with yourself,” Victoria said, but there was a twinkle in her eye.
    She had crossed her arms, drawing his attention to her tempting breasts.
    He strode closer to her and gripped her elbows. “Did he hurt you?”
    He held her gaze, noting every detail of her green eyes and the dark circles beneath them. When he tightened his fingers on her flesh, she shuddered. He wanted to kiss her, to obliterate the memory of any other touch.
    “I’m fine,” she said and stepped closer to him. “I should have called out sooner, but he didn’t scare me until his hand was around my throat.”
    Atticus placed his hand at her neck and gently wrapped his fingers around the slender column. That asshole could have killed her. The thought caused his whole body to freeze in terror. “I should punish you for scaring the shit out of me,” he said, his voice hoarse. “I don’t know that I could spank you enough for the scare you gave me.”
    “Finch—”
    Her cell phone blared. Victoria jerked away and fumbled with her phone. Atticus saw the color drain from her face, and he knew the chance had passed, her secret still between them like a barrier of rock.
    “I THINK YOU’D better come home,” the hospice nurse, Nancy, told her. “She’s going fast.”
    This was it. Tori stared at Finch. Oh, how she wished she could fall into the spell he’d woven for her. But the phone ringing was a warning to her. She couldn’t have him. Regardless of his words, she couldn’t belong to him. If he knew how she’d lied all these years, he wouldn’t want her anyway.
    “I have to go,” she said, her throat tight. “It’s…an emergency.”
    Finch’s pinched expression tore at her heart. He thought she didn’t trust him. But as long as her mother lived, she couldn’t speak. It wasn’t just her secret.
    When Finch only nodded and started to turn away, she reached out. She wanted to drop to her knees and tell him everything. Instead, she put her hand back to her side and picked up her purse. The silence was painful, but Tori told herself it was for the best. Finch was a man who didn’t tolerate lies or deceptions. She’d been deceiving everyone for a long time. He could never forgive that.
    Tori avoided everyone and escaped the office. Her mother’s health had deteriorated, and Betty no longer had the strength to try to escape. The doctor had prescribed a pretty heavy dose of morphine that helped.
    As Nancy fixed herself some dinner and took a break from the vigilant watch over Betty, Tori stared at her mother’s face. The cancer had made her eyes sink and made her look like a skeleton. Her skin was like paper, thin and almost transparent. Her breathing was