The Donovan Dynasty: Bind Part 33

"Three years," he corrected.

She turned toward him. In the shadows of the setting sun, she added, "And the whole thing about being a submissive..."

"You hated this weekend?"

"That's not it. It's a lot of responsibility."

"And something that will evolve as we work on it."

"I left your necklace on the dresser."

"I see."

"It's a beautiful piece," she hastened to say. "But a h.e.l.l of a representation about our relations.h.i.+p that I'm not ready to make."

"Understood." That didn't mean he liked the sting of her rejection, especially after what they'd shared. "You know, Lara, I'm not going to force any of this. You came to me with a proposal. If you've changed your mind, I understand. I can drop you off and we can part friends. Think about it. If you still want to pursue it, I want this agreement signed before Tuesday's board meeting."

Chapter Ten.

An hour before the alarm clock rang, Lara gave up the battle and climbed out of bed. As she moved, her abdominal muscles protested the quick movement. In fact, her entire body carried reminders of the weekend. Her b.u.t.tocks hurt, from his spankings as well as his single tail. Her p.u.s.s.y was tender. Even her a.s.s felt a little sensitive from being reamed by his finger.

She paused for a moment, unable to decide whether a shower or a cup of coffee was the first order of business.

Shower, she eventually decided, since it would help with the soreness in her shoulder muscles. It seemed no part of her body had escaped his particular brand of torment.

And d.a.m.n it, she'd enjoyed it all.

She turned the shower spray on full blast and set the heat to as high as she could tolerate.

Last night, she'd hardly slept, and she'd awakened a dozen times. She'd tossed, turned, punched the pillow, tried to shove away thoughts of Connor. Even when she'd drifted off, thoughts of him had haunted her. She'd recalled his touch, the feel of his hand blazing across her bare b.u.t.tocks, the bite from the alligator clamps, the salty taste of his pre-c.u.m spilling into her mouth, the constriction of her v.a.g.i.n.al muscles as she'd sat in his lap and ridden him.

In the middle of the night, his words about their potential marriage had returned to haunt her.

And now, she had to face them.

Like Connor had said, if she were serious about moving BHI forward, she needed to commit to a plan of action with him.

She'd recognized that he was right. Once a course of action was set, it made sense not to deviate unless a compelling reason presented itself.

That meant signing their agreement.

So what was she willing to concede?

The whole submission thing? Living arrangements? The next few years of her life?

The weekend had shown her how difficult things might be, and not because she disliked him, but because she was starting to care about him. Watching television together, snuggling, oohing and ahhing over Indy's antics-particularly the ones that involved his kangaroo-hide bullwhip had been fun-more fun than she'd ever had with a man. For someone so rigid, he'd laughed with her, teased her. The way he'd interacted with her mother and his family had shown her how much respect he had for other people. His reaction to Suzy-Q's enthusiasm had been the magical ingredient that had really melted her heart.

Even now, she craved his touch.

She took a minute to consider the thoughts that had loomed so large last night. Other than her feminine fear of Connor and the power he would wield in her life, there was no reason for her to abandon her course of action. That didn't mean the threat he posed wasn't real. It just meant that she had to figure out how to deal with him, give him just enough for him to feel as if he had what he needed. At the same time, that meant she had to figure out how to protect her emotions.

That, she realized, would be the most difficult thing of all.

No matter what, Connor was determined not to fall in love. She understood, particularly after being around his family, understanding the dynamics, his very real obligations and the loss they'd all endured. But none of that made it easier for her.

The water ran cold before she turned it off.

Still, she had obligations, as well, to herself, to BHI, to her father, to their thousands of employees. And being with Connor for a few years would provide real, solid solutions. She could sacrifice for a while. Learn to compartmentalize the way he did.

With a new sense of determination, she dried off.

Connor's s.h.i.+rt was draped across one of the rods in her closet. Instead of putting on a robe, she reached for the s.h.i.+rt and fastened only the middle few b.u.t.tons.

Since it was still early, she waited for the coffee to brew then took her first cup out onto the patio, along with her phone.

There was a message from her mother saying she'd already contacted the board members and that they would be at the meeting. As Lara had expected, her mother had wasted no time.

But Connor hadn't sent either an email or a text. Though it didn't surprise her, it left her somewhat disappointed. She told herself that maybe he was waiting for her to reach out to him with a firm decision. She understood that he wasn't a man who liked to waste time. Then again, maybe he hadn't spent the entire night thinking about her the way she'd been consumed by him.

A small part of her wished she'd spent the night. None of these thoughts would be burrowing around in her brain. No matter what she battled, she knew he'd be there with her. And it was so d.a.m.n easy to give in to the temptation of turning to him.

The sun had lightened the sky enough for her to walk around the yard, deadheading flowers and watering the potted plants. She fed the few fish that remained in the pond then grabbed her empty cup and phone and went inside to finish getting ready for the day. All the while, she expected Connor to contact her, but he didn't.

She drove to a coffee shop for an extra-large, quadruple-shot caramel latte and a breakfast sandwich. After one sip, she knew she would have preferred one of Thompson's excellent coffees. Funny, until now, a latte had been her daily favorite.

At nine o'clock, she grabbed the report she'd put together after Friday's meeting with the VP of Technology and walked to the conference room for her regular Monday meeting with her father.

When he hadn't arrived by ten after the hour, she wandered down to his office.

Venessa, his a.s.sistant, said he'd just called to say he was running late. He'd breakfasted with one of his civic groups and gotten caught in conversation.

"Can we reschedule for ten o'clock?" Lara asked.

"He's leaving for lunch at ten-thirty. Does half an hour give you enough time?"

To grab an ibuprofen for the headache that was gathering, perhaps. "Just tell him to call when he arrives."

Venessa jotted a note to do so.

Back in her office, Lara's cell phone was blinking. There was a message from Connor informing her that Texas had a mandatory seventy-two hour waiting period for marriage licenses.

He suggested they pick it up today if they wanted to execute it by the end of the week.

Execute was never a word she would have put in the same sentence with the certificate of her marriage, and it summed up her confusion. A business arrangement where they lived separately made sense in her mind. But living with him, watching a movie, having s.e.x, sleeping in the same bed, sharing the same s.p.a.ce, made it so much more.

Telling herself she was being ridiculous, she replied that his suggestion made sense.

He immediately responded with an address on Caroline Street downtown, and he added, third floor. He suggested they meet at two o'clock, after the lunch rush, and added that April was driving him and they could pick her up, if that would be easier for her.

Lara was still considering his offer, thinking through her options of accepting the ride, searching for parking or hailing a cab, when she received an emailed invitation to be an administrator on his calendar.

She had a vague recollection of him making that suggestion over the weekend but that he'd remembered to have Thompson handle it surprised her. How Connor kept his millions of promises straight, she had no idea.

Realizing she was taking one more step toward him, she accepted.

As the template in front of her populated, she was shocked. He had a dizzying array of appointments, some of them with BHI compet.i.tors. He also had chunks of time blocked out for planning, budgeting and strategy. Some afternoons, he had meetings scheduled every forty-five minutes. The BHI board meeting was already on there, as was their upcoming appointment, and a few hours on Friday afternoon marked as personal and unavailable.

A phone call from Venessa interrupted her study. Venessa said that Pernell had decided to work from his country club rather than driving all over town. He suggested they meet tomorrow morning instead.

Any doubts that she was doing the right thing vanished.

For whatever reasons he had, Pernell was no longer fully engaged in the business. Maybe fear? Maybe lack of interest? Maybe a mistaken belief that things ran well without his input. It didn't matter where the truth was. He was impeding the ability to get business done.

She realized that she should have been pus.h.i.+ng even harder for him to retire, or at least semi-retire. "Actually, if you can, put a board meeting on his calendar for tomorrow at five."

"I don't see any conflicts," Venessa said. "But he doesn't always tell me if he has things in the evenings."

"Understood. Thanks, Venessa."

Lara reached her father's voicemail and requested he return her call. She said she would be in his office at four o'clock tomorrow for a private meeting, and she added that it was urgent.

Finally she messaged Connor to let him know she'd appreciate a ride this afternoon. That done, she waited for a feeling of relief.

It didn't come. Instead, she had the sensation she'd just stepped onto a rollercoaster.

"A genius is trying to reach you."

Music shattered the silence. All of a sudden, Connor's office sounded like the inside of a movie theater, with a decibel level to match. "What the h.e.l.l?" Connor demanded, looking over at Thompson.

"I think that's your phone, sir," the man replied with a grin.

Connor grabbed his phone from the desktop. He went to turn off the ringer, but it was already in silent mode.

"Has to be Mr. Bonds," Thompson said. "Right on!"

Around them, the action-adventure theme increased in volume. Connor realized it was now also coming from the computer's speaker.

"That's some s.h.i.+t," Thompson approved.

Having no other choice, Connor answered the call. Rather than all the noise instantly ceasing, the music coming from the computer gently faded. "I'm done using your prototypes," Connor said, instead of greeting his old friend.

"I'll take them," Thompson said.

Connor scowled and Thompson's expression sobered. "I'll be handling some filing in my office," he said.

Thompson closed the door behind him.

"What?" Julien demanded. "You don't like my theme song? It's gone through a lot of revisions. We're up to eighty-three percent of respondents saying it's very identifiable. Astounding number. Thinking about using it on a game, as well. Imagine, me as a video game hero. I wasn't happy with the jawline. They didn't quite do a good enough job."

"How the h.e.l.l did you know I wasn't in the middle of something pressing?" Connor demanded.

"That's not possible. I hadn't called you yet."

"There are things in the world other than you that are important."

A moment of silence followed. "There are?"

Having no other option, Connor sat back. "What gives?" Besides the fact Julien wanted to own a piece of technology developed by Donovan Worldwide. He insisted it would give his next generation phone an edge in the Holy Grail of electronics. Battery life.

"You tell me. There's only one reason you're going to Caroline Street with one Ms. Lara Marie Bertrand this afternoon."

Christ. Even Connor didn't know Lara's middle name. And wait... "How the h.e.l.l do you know...?" He trailed off as tension settled at the base of his skull. "The calendar program," he guessed.

"It's something, isn't it? We developed the initial app for a restaurant in New Mexico. Thompson agreed to beta test an upgrade for corporate use."

"And gave you direct access to my personal life."

"It's for your own good. I was planning a trip to Houston, so I thought I'd see when it was best for you."

"Instead of calling and asking?"

"And inconvenience both of us? What would be the point in that?" Julien countered. "But then I figured out you were getting married, so I wanted to talk about that. Hence the call."

"I never said I was getting married."

"You and Ms. Bertrand are going to the courthouse building today. There are a limited number of offices there."

"All civil," Connor countered.

"True. And I considered that, actually. But there's a seventy-two hour cooling off period in your state. Which means a logical time for you to get married would be Thursday or Friday. And you blocked Friday afternoon out for personal reasons. And...tomorrow, after hours, you have a meeting with the BHI board of directors."

"You should have been a spy."

"I would make a good one, wouldn't I?"

"Still, a.s.suming Lara and I are getting married is a big stretch."

"And Ms. Bertrand has been added as an administrator on your calendar. The only people who get that right are personal a.s.sistants and spouses."

He thought to ask if there was anything Julien didn't know. But the answer was obvious.