Page 81 of Clawed
She shook her head as though she couldn’t believe she’d admitted it, but there they were, two people who’d thought they were strong, who’d thought they could carry on without the other, when all the time, they’d been waiting for that one moment.
“Are you okay?”He squeezed her fingers gently.“I’ve been trying to stay close, but it hasn’t been easy with the police all over you.”
“I’m okay.”Though even as she spoke, she could hear the emotion cracking in her voice.“I’m glad you didn’t forget me.”
“Forget you?”He laughed at the idea.“You must tell me how that’s possible sometime.I haven’t been able to forget you for years.”
She shrugged.“It seems we need one another in some twisted way.”
Her smile reflected the melancholic gray of the sky, and his insides tightened at her sorrow.He’d done that to her.He’d taken the bright and nervous woman who’d walked into the surgery he’d shared with Fuller, and he’d reduced her to the edgy, despondent one holding back her tears at his side.Once upon a time, he’d have rejoiced in her transformation, but not anymore.Sitting there, he accepted he needed both her submission and her growth.She needed to bloom as a woman, and, if she’d allow him, he wanted to be the one who tended to those tempting blossoms.
“It was difficult to vocalize all the things I felt back at the house.”He paused, reflecting on his next words.Having practiced the key components in his head, he knew what he wanted to say, but he needed to ensure his words came over the way he intended.“Things didn’t work out the way I’d planned.”
“With the police, you mean?”She sniffed back her emotion and turned to face him.
“Yes, and with us.”His hand slid to her knee, his thumb stroking over her leggings.“I was so hellbent on getting you back to enact the revenge I felt you merited that I hadn’t expected the rush of feelings.”
“Feelings?”She seized on the word in an instant.“What feelings, sir?”
“Needing you.”He inched closer, wishing the center of the car would just disappear so he could hold her.“Wanting to know you and not just control you.”
Her brow rose, a tiny deed that might have been indiscernible had he not been paying such close attention.
“I want to fuck and dominate, yes.”He chuckled, the gesture relieving some of the tension his shoulders had been holding onto.“And I think you want those things, too.But I also want to look after you, little girl.To care for you, to support you, and help you become the woman you want to be.”
“Really?”She hitched in a breath, evidently unconvinced.“It’s just the Mark Lawes I know has been more about cuffs and spankings than listening to me and wanting to know me.”
“Yes.”He couldn’t dispute her logic.“I am that man, but you’ve changed me, little girl.Making me pay for my crimes, then making me question myself...”He hesitated, aware he was suddenly smiling.“You might be the first person who has ever held me to account.”
Her lips twisted at that.“Stands to reason, sir.”
“Don’t push your luck,” he scolded, though his tone remained playful.“I can still stretch you over this seat and tan your pretty behind.”
“And I might like it if you did.”She shifted on her seat, her focus falling to his hand.“But I don’t know how we move forward, sir.The police are looking for you, and they’re still regularly updating me on their lack of progress.How can we even be together, let alone see where this thing might go?”
His pulse rushed faster at her intimation.Shewantedto see where their connection could go, and teetering on the edge of getting more than he’d even realized he longed for, that meant the world.
“We should go away somewhere and have some quality time together.”Although even as he suggested it, he had no idea how he’d pay for the endeavor.
But if there was one thing his conviction and sentence had taught him, it was that some things were beyond his control, but when the time was right, the things he most needed would come to him.Hannah’s affection proved the point.It had only flowered when he was ready to receive it.The money they needed would come.
“Where, sir?”She sounded despondent.“And how?I barely get any time alone these days.”
“Tell your friends you need some space.”He patted her hand, glad to be able to clarify.“Pack a bag and meet me when and where I tell you.”
“How will you let me know, sir?”Her hand rose and gently covered his, the feel of her warmth sustaining him.“I have a new phone, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea for you to contact me on it.Both the police and my friends are constantly checking in about the device.”She sighed, her eyes fleetingly falling closed.
“It sounds exhausting.”His tone was wry.“But then, I guess you’re used to the scrutiny by now...I gave you enough practice.”
“Well,” she glanced up through her damp lashes.“At least when you had me, it was sometimes sexy.”
His cock thickened at her impish smile.“Sometimes?”
“Yes, sir.”She fidgeted on the seat.“Sometimes, it was intolerable.”
“Mmmm.”He recalled those days with an all-too-tangible fondness.“And I can make it intolerable for you again, little girl—when you need it—but this time, you’ll have a say in the process.”
“Like a safe word?”Her eyes widened.
