What She's Looking For by Trent Evans Page A

experienced with Terry. Fleeing what
those feelings could bring out in a man. And here she was, sitting in a
restaurant with Parker, discussing whether or not she would submit to him,
whether she would consent to being owned by him.
    More disturbing to her was the fact
that she wasn’t as alarmed as she should be by such an idea. Her weeping pussy
and stone-hard nipples didn’t seem alarmed at all, in fact. Was this something
she’d really have the courage to do? More importantly, did she trust Parker?
Could she trust any man after Terry? After the betrayal and humiliation
at his hands?
    The waiter returned with Parker’s
meal. Despite her initial visions of being fed at Parker’s fingers as she knelt
by his chair, he instead shared his meal with her, scooping some of his food
onto her empty plate. She wondered if it was a more subtle way of exerting
control. Parker being the one to decide how much she ate, without going too far
with it. A way to help her inner feminist save face.
    Screw that, Ash. None of your
feminist friends would be okay with a one bit of tonight’s events.
    She found that she really didn’t
give a fuck.
    They finished and the waiter took
the dishes away, Parker offering Ashley the last sips of his wine. He beamed at
her as she drank.
    “I believe in the power of choices,
Ashley. So I’m giving you another. It won’t always be this way though.”
    Blinking, she wondered if it was
the wine or her fluttering heart that was making her feel lightheaded. She was
really doing this!
    “I’m taking you home tonight. If
you come inside with me tonight, you will do everything I say.” He leveled his
piercing gray gaze at her again. “ Everything .”
    She nodded. “I understand. I … “
    How could she tell Parker that the
deepest, most shameful part of her feared the choice? Didn’t want the
chance to refuse. Wanted what it might mean to be deprived of it. She knew it
was wrong, but the elemental being didn’t care. The instinctual, primitive
spirit had its own agenda.
    Excitement. Danger. Fear.
    Alive.
    She shook her head, and Parker took
her hand again, his clutch gentle as silk. It amazed her, the subtleties he
could convey with his touch.
    “A choice, Ashley. Like coming to
dinner tonight. I leave it up to you.”
    He stood and buttoned the charcoal
suit. She’d never seen him in anything so formal, but the impeccable fabric fit
him as if he were born to it, the cut emphasizing the breadth of his shoulders,
the narrowness of his hips.
    “Ashley?” He held out his hand to
her.
    “What about my car? I’ll get towed.”
    He winked. “I know the owner of
this place. He won’t mind.”
    * * *

Chapter Ten
     
    A shley’s hands shook as if she’d just
polished off ten espressos. She sat on the bed, pressing her hands into her
lap, willing them to still. She felt like a frightened animal, trapped in a
spacious, beautiful cage — but a cage, nonetheless. A cage she’d willingly
stepped into, allowing the gate to be locked behind her.
    “Last chance, girl.”
    She looked up to see him leaning
against the doorjamb, hands in the pockets of his dark slacks, the suit coat
open and the tie undone. His smile was easy … and deceiving. She could see the
underlying tension in the set of his broad shoulders, the way his eyes never
left her. He was as nervous as she was, she was sure of it. Somehow knowing
that made her feel a little better, a little easier.
    “Just like we talked about earlier.
When you walked through that door, you agreed to do everything I say.”
    His inscrutable gaze bored into
hers, the tension in the room palpable. Both of them anticipated what she’d do
next. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say, what she should say. So
she just went with instinct. What the fuck, right?
    “I know.” She felt ashamed at the
quaver in her voice. “I want to do this. I need to do this.”
    “You have to trust me. That’s what
this is all about. Can you, Ashley?”
    Her heart was