She stiffened but no matter how hard she tried; she couldn’t get her feet to follow the instruction from her brain to step away from him.
“Why have you never told me this?”
“It wasn’t of consequence.”
“Rex would never have discussed intimate details of our marriage with anyone.” She sounded out of breath as she battled to compute that the only two men who had ever managed to tap into the submissive inside her, had known each other.
“He didn’t but I saw you at a BDSM club in Los Angeles a couple of years before his death.”
“It was a special treat for our wedding anniversary. It was the first time I set foot inside a club.” She swallowed hard as his finger continued to explore her face.
“I’ve been a Dominant for more years than I can remember, my pet. You sent out a plea, a vibration of yearning that crawled from the depth of your soul to trigger the lust in my Dom’s heart.” He leaned closer to brush his lips over hers. “This is me telling you that you will submit to me, Paxton... and soon.”
Her tongue trailed a glistening track over her lips as he drew back. “I’ll never be forced into submission, Jared.”
“I have no intention of forcing you into anything, little one. I’m a Dom, a master in the craft to not impose dominance but to win submission. That, my pet, is the most prized subjugation any dominant could ask for.”
“I... er,” she blinked as she met his magnetic gaze, “I think we should concentrate on work.” She finally managed to uproot her feet to take a step back. “Besides, I see you as the kind of Dom who likes impact scenes. I’m not into pain.”
Well, not since Rex at any rate.He didn’t need to know that thoughts of submitting to his flogger had been keeping her awake at night.
“Hmm, that remains to be seen. However, it’s irrelevant in the scope of what we’re discussing. Submission isn’t about pain, Paxton, which I’m sure Rex taught you.” He ran his fingers through her hair and watched the silky strands fall to her shoulders. “You should know what’s important to any man dominating a sub, Paxton. We are all after the same thing.”
“Which is?”
“For a sub to train her mind and body to surrender all control to a Dom who wants to do nothing other than give her what she needs; to care for and protect her.”
“And that’s what you want— to care for and protect me?”
“Ah, my pet, my aim is to satisfy every one of your cravings so well that you’ll hunger for more... every day for as long as I feed your desires for my domination.” The grin that slanted across his lips was wicked and filled with decadent promises of intended debauchery. “If you want to continue the cat and mouse game, I’m all in but let me warn you, Paxton. When I catch you, be sure I’m the Dom you want because once I have you, you won’t have enough breath to use a safeword, let alone stop me from exploring the depths of your submission.”
His eyes flashed. “Now, Paxton... kiss me.”
The mellow tones of his voice reached all the way inside her to shake loose the recalcitrant submissive. She was still debating whether to give in to the pleasure he offered to control her when she pressed her body against his. Her arms slid over his chest to lock behind his neck; she reveled in the feel of rippling muscles under her fingertips.
“What kind of a kiss, Commander?” She breathed against his lips as she pressed against him. “One like this or—”
He fisted a tuft of hair and pulled her head back. “One thing I don’t tolerate in a sub is teasing, unless instructed. I told you to kiss me. You’ve been in the lifestyle long enough to know what kind of kiss a Dom is after.” His eyes narrowed. “Or should I put you through a refresher course first?”
“That won’t be necessary.” She pressed her open mouth against his. There was no slow build-up as Paxton went in for the kill with a kiss that was passionately demanding. She needed to reach that elusive part that kept him alert and aware— which instinct warned her was what closed his heart from emotion. She was greedy. If, and at this point it was a very big if, they took the chemistry that drew them together further, she wanted it all— body, heart, and soul.
Who are you trying to fool, Paxton? You know you want him.
The emotional submissive inside her had acknowledged that fact long ago. It didn’t mean she would ignore the warning bells blaring inside her head and jump feet first into what he offered. Jared Bates was more Dom than Rex had ever been. Paxton didn’t know if she would survive the emotional rollercoaster that a relationship with the powerful Dom would unleash inside her.
She knew herself well enough to realize that a relationship with him would develop into much more than sexual submission. Falling in love with Jared... she feared might change the woman she’d become since her husband’s death. Paxton had only loved one man in her life— Rex. She’d promised at his graveside she would always hold him in her heart.
She feared that a man like Jared might have the power to make her forget that promise.
Jared was pensive as he drove back to the Cobras’ headquarters. He knew how cruel Marco Boneiro was more than anyone else. His own team had no idea how far back his history went with the bastard. It was a memory that he had banned from his mind for many years, forcing himself to forget and build a life worth living. He had succeeded until he’d made the decision to resign from the CIA and start his own covert agency. He soon realized that living in a world that excluded the Mafia didn’t exist. He’d witnessed too many times how they manipulated and corrupted good people for their own gain.
He had blacked out his life up to the age of fifteen. That was when Jared Bates was born. He would forever be grateful for Willow and George Bates for taking a chance on the lost teenager when they adopted him. It was their integrity and passion for life that had made him the man he was today. George was a military man and it had been a no-brainer for Jared to follow in his footsteps. As a young man he’d been fascinated by reports of SEAL Team 6. They specialized in counter terrorism, special reconnaissance, hostage rescue and close protection missions, established during the Iran hostage crisis in 1979. It was what had driven him to train as a Navy SEAL. Within two years of qualifying he was classed as one of the best in the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, known as NSWDG, more commonly referred to as DEVGRU. At the age of twenty-eight Jared was appointed as the Commander of the Black Squadron, specializing in intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance. Two years later he was recruited by the CIA to head up a black ops group. This was the validation he’d been waiting for. It was a rite of passage.
He readily accepted the position since his marriage of four years had unraveled from being away from home so often. Marrying Bella had been a mistake. He was twenty-six at the time, tired and vulnerable after a brutal tour in Iraq. He’d given into the lure of a normal life. Unfortunately for both of them, he’d made the decision for the wrong reasons. Love wasn’t in the equation. He was unprepared to sacrifice his career, even when she informed him she was pregnant with twins.
“Now, I regret all the years I missed out on my sons’ lives.” His raw voice echoed in the Hummer.
He might have made the decision to join the CIA for the right reasons but with it came the same challenges. As a black ops commander, he was under pressure all the time which led to him and Bella pulling further apart. She had drowned her loneliness in alcohol in the years he was in the Navy. The divorce didn’t come as a surprise but Jared wasn’t prepared to leave his boys in the hands of a woman who was alcoholic. He’d been given full custody which Bella hadn’t opposed. As soon as the case had been finalized, she disappeared, cutting herself off from her ten-year-old sons without as much as a goodbye. To this day, she hadn’t bothered to make contact with them again.