Page 28 of The Gilded Cuff
He did his best not to laugh, but she was feisty attitude always amused him. It was too much fun.
“So I shouldn’t tell Wes you recently purchased a membership at the Gilded Cuff? He was there last night with his sub Corrine.”
Hayden took the bait. “Don’t you dare tell him!”
“Are you threatening me?”
A soft inhalation on the other end of the line made him chuckle.
“Your new friend is here. Safe and sound, sleeping in my bed at this very moment. I’m not following the rulebook too closely. I know she’s innocent of the ways of a true D/s relationship. I’m just giving her a taste and taking some pleasure of my own.”
“Promise me you’ll be good to her, Emery. I like this girl. She’s different. You hurt her and I don’t care who you are; I’ll take you down. Doesn’t matter to me if you are my brother’s best friend. Got it?”
Emery was momentarily distracted by the sight of Sophie’s restless turning in bed, the covers sliding over her body beneath the sheets. His groin tightened in anticipation.
“I got you, Hayden. As long as she’s here, she’s safe. But she has agreed to be my submissive. So if you interfere, we’ll have a problem.”
Hayden sighed. “Fine, deal. And you can’t tell Wes about me joining the club.”
The line went dead before he could say a word. He was getting ready to slide it back into her purse when it rang again. He didn’t bother to look at the caller ID again, thinking it had to be Hayden. He answered it but before he could speak a woman started talking.
“Sophie, thank God. I hadn’t heard from you all night. How did the club go? Did you find Lockwood and get him to agree to the exclusive interview?”
The phone cracked in Emery’s hold as he squeezed it. He didn’t say a word.
“Hello? Sophie? I know you don’t like me calling when you’re facing deadlines, but the paper can only give you a week. I told you that when you begged me for this story. If you can’t get the Lockwood interview, it’s done. You’ll need to move on to a new subject if you want your next paycheck. I’m sorry, but that’s the way it’s got to be,” the woman said.
“Don’t worry. Ms. Ryder will get you an exclusive interview.” He didn’t care that his tone was cold enough to frost the entire island. He didn’t give the woman a chance to respond. He hung up on her, then put the phone’s ringer on silent and returned it to Sophie’s purse.
His rebellious little reporter, determined to expose him. And he, the fool, was so hungry for her that he’d bargained his story for her surrender. Like a wolf lured by a hint of a crimson cloaked girl in the woods, he was desperate to devour her innocence. So he’d bargained for her. His story, her surrender. Only, she wasn’t just surrendering her body; she was giving him something else, something softer yet stronger. Intangible. He could almost feel it curling around his cold heart, trying to warm him. Every survival instinct he had warned him to stay away. Even if she dared to fall for him, he’d not suffer the same mistake. He could and would remain distant. He would take his pleasure, slake his lust, and teach her to open herself up to the realm of passion she’d denied herself, but he would not go further.
He picked his watch up from the nightstand and checked the time. Nine a.m. He had two hours before the Board of Lockwood Industries arrived. They had their primary offices in Manhattan, but Emery rarely visited them and worked almost entirely from his home office at the house in Weston. He grabbed his own cell and called Hans.
“Yes sir?”
“Schedule my jet to pick up the LI board from and fly them out here by eleven. Order our usual catering service to prepare a light brunch and have it delivered in time for the meeting. I need you to run an errand in town for me, too. Sophie needs some clothes. I’ll text you her measurements and the shop I want you to visit. Oh, and wake Cody up. I want to see him in my office at ten to eleven with two tennis rackets.”
Hans’s laugh echoed over the phone. “Let me guess: he’s going to keep Ms. Ryder occupied while you handle the board?”
“Something like that.” Emery couldn’t believe he was smiling again. In the past few hours he’d smiled more, laughed more than he had in years. He’d also worried more. It was one thing to have anxiety over yourself when you’d been kidnapped before. But Sophie? The thought of anyone getting their hands on her…taking her away. His lungs exploded with pain, and he gasped for a quick breath. It would be fine. He’d protect her. She was safe.Safe. And she would be even safer in his bed. His worries vanished as thoughts of Sophie—warm, wet and waiting for him—took over. Emery’s cock was suddenly hard enough that if he’d had her body under him at that moment he would have pounded her until the bed broke beneath them.
“I’ll schedule the flight for the board.” Hans hung up.
Emery set his phone on the nightstand and opened the drawer. It was time to start showing Sophie how to be submissive. The first lesson was about understanding who she belonged to. Inside the drawer a pair of delicate gilded cuff bracelets, perfect for Sophie’s wrists, lay nestled on a black velvet cloth. He’d had the cuffs for a couple of years, hoping someday to have a woman to give them to. Yet, not a single woman he’d met before now had seemed…worthy of them.
He didn’t really delve much into the D/s lifestyle. He didn’t spend hours lecturing his subs on proper postures, or punish them for small things. For him, the true allure was control of a woman in bed. He never wanted to see Sophie bow her head to him when they were outside of it. He wanted her fiery, rebellious, completely free, save for those gold cuffs. Those had to be around her wrists. Proof to the world of his possession.
As though somehow aware of his thoughts, Sophie stretched, murmured something, and nuzzled her pillow. She didn’t wake up even as he knelt next to her on the bed, brushed the hair back from her face, and peeled back the covers. He positioned one gold collar around her right wrist and clicked the clasp shut. Longing and hunger grasped hold of him. He clicked the second cuff around her left wrist. Fire licked at his veins, and an ache tore through his chest. The sight of the gold around her skin, marking her as his, was too much.
He put his knees on either side of her hips, keeping her pinned beneath the sheets. Sophie woke just as he grasped her wrists and moved them up by her ears.
“Emery, what—”
He took her mouth hard. She gasped against his lips, wriggling, but she couldn’t move much. Her arm muscles tensed beneath his hands as she pushed, and then went limp. Sophie sighed into him, kissing him back. Her momentary struggle and surrender made him tense with the prolonged desire to claim her. She’d released her death grip on her mistrust and given him the submission he craved. The soft silk of her hair spilled out over the pillow, strands tickling the backs of his palms like condensed sunlight. Her plump, satin lips were perfect for kissing. So damned perfect.
Emery ground his hips into hers, trying to soothe his cock, which was so stiff it was ready to punch through his pants. He slid his hands up to her wrists then connected his palms to hers. She responded, lacing her fingers through his, squeezing gently. His throat tightened and his eyes burned.
The simple connection—so sweet, so innocent—bound him to her, like a shimmering web spun between them, unbreakable and inescapable. He lifted his head a few inches, needing to see her eyes.
