Page 8 of One Night with My Lawyers
“No, no,” Shane chides. “Words are cheap. Show him, Ms. Byard. Give him your panties.”
“But my hands are tied,” I say stupidly.
Shane laughs softly. “That’s quite a conundrum.”
A familiar excitement spirals through me. I think he expects me to wriggle free, but I don’t think I can manage it. I stand up and tug at my skirt between my fingers, but the hem eludes me. I try to undo the button, but I can’t pop it out with one hand.
Theo leans back in his seat, a smile touching his lips.
Oh.I see what Shane wants me to do.
I walk over to Theo, my knees wobbly. His blue eyes are dark with lust. He’s looking at me like he wants to devour me, and Ilikeit. “Will you help me, Mr. Keppel?” I whisper.
“Happy to.” He lifts my skirt, revealing my hunter-green lace panties. His gaze scorches me. “Very nice,” he rasps. His thumb rests just for an instant over my hipbone, and I wonder if he’sgoing to touch my pussy. If he slides his finger between my folds, he’ll find out exactly how turned on I am.
“Look at me.”
I make myself look into Theo’s eyes. My heart hammers in my chest. I don’t understand it. I’ve been tied up. Whipped. I’ve had my nipples clamped. This light touch—this is nothing,and yet.My pulse races, and I feel like a giddy teenager.
Theo slowly rolls my panties down my hips. “Step out of them,” he orders. His first order.
I move my feet as directed. Theo looks at the scrap of lace in his hand for a long instant, and then a truly wicked smile crosses his face. He holds them out to me. “Thank you,” he says, his voice as smooth as silk. “You should take these to Shane now.”
My hands are tied behind me. It’s obvious what he wants me to do.
I pluck the panties from his fingers with my teeth. I walk around the coffee table back to Shane. It’s a simple thing, but I’m on fire. My nipples are hard, my pussy is soaked, and if one of them so much as breathes on my clit, I will explode.
I wait in front of Shane like a dog with a ball, panting with excitement and ready to play. Another smile ghosts over Shane’s face. He takes the panties from me. “Thank you, Ms. Byard. Tomorrow at seven.”
Ms. Byard. I giggle. I just stood in front of this man with my panties dangling from my mouth. The formality of his address feels ridiculous. “If we’re going to do this,” I tell them, “You should call me Addie.”
6
THEO
The sun streams through the window. I get out of bed, pour myself a cup of coffee, and confront the thought that’s been echoing through my mind since our negotiation with Addie last night.
I’ve made a mistake.
She didn’t want to go to dinner.We’re not dating,she said, her voice hard.You don’t have to feed me. You don’t have to pretend.
I wouldn’t have been pretending.
IlikeAddie. Fine, yes—I recognize I don’t know her, but I’ve read her book, and I really enjoyed it. Conceited though it sounds, I thought it gave me some insight into the woman.
Wrong.
What did I think would happen last night? Did I really think the moment Addie met us, she’d instantly take a liking to us? God, I sound like I have my head stuck up my arse. Did I really believe that sex would lead to dating? Yes. Call me a fucking fool, but yes, I did think that. I don’t do sex without emotions—I can’t compartmentalize that way.
I want to get to know Addie better, but she doesn’t want that. She’s made it explicitly clear what she wants. Domination and sex.
And I have to respect her limits.
Shane is better at keeping his emotions in check. I’m not surprised. He doesn’t talk about his childhood, but every once in a while, he'll say something that makes me realize it wasn’t easy. The assholes at Weddell Burke didn’t help. Shane doesn’t have walls around his heart; he has a fortress.
Addie, too.
If I had any sense of self-preservation, I would walk away. Except I’m doing no such thing. My stupid cock is in charge, and it has zero interest in disengaging. All it remembers is the curve of her ass. The unyielding black straps digging into her soft skin. The sound of her moans. The look of unmistakable pleasure on her face.
