She scrambled for the phone, at least glad Silas had put it within reach. She nearly groaned when she swung her legs over the end of the couch so she could get up and head for the kitchen as she talked to Drake.
“Hello?” she asked breathlessly.
“I’ll be home in twenty minutes,” he said shortly.
“O-okay,” she said, gripping the phone tighter.
Even as she talked, she was digging into the bags and searching for the right skillets and warming the grill on the professional-grade stove.
“Dinner will hold for a few minutes, I take it,” he said.
“Yes, of course,” she said hastily. “I can have it ready whenever you’re ready to eat.”
“Good. Then what I want you to do is go into the living room and undress. When I arrive I want you standing at the end of the couch, your belly leaned against the arm, legs slightly apart. And then when I tellyou, you are to lean forward and put your hands down on the couch so that you are bent over the arm.”
She hesitated, a puzzled look creasing her forehead. “Okay,” she said quietly.
“Your punishment, Angel,” he said, evidently picking up on her confusion. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about this morning.”
She nearly dropped the phone but managed to get a grip before it smashed onto the floor.
“Be sure you’re ready and that you’ve heeded my every instruction or I won’t be pleased,” he said in a silky voice.
“I won’t disappoint you, Drake,” she said in a low tone.
He hesitated this time and then he said, “I know, Angel. That I know.”
And then he hung up, leaving her to stare at the phone.
She closed her eyes, refusing to focus on the fact that he was going to punish her. She had to get a start on dinner so he wouldn’t think she hadn’t already done so. This whole day had been nothing but an epic clusterfuck.
She thought briefly about heeding Silas’s advice and telling Drake of all that had occurred the minute Drake came through the door, but then she frowned. What a coward she was being. At the very first opportunity she was trying to get out of trouble, when it was her own damn fault.
No, she’d get dinner well on its way to being prepared, and then she’d go into the living room and do as Drake had told her. She wouldn’t wimp out the very first time their relationship was tested, or at least the first time she disobeyed him. Somehow she thought that would disappoint him far more than the fact that she’d disobeyed him.
With five minutes to spare, she had everything prepared and on the stove, the sizzling sounds of food cooking and the inviting aroma filling the air. All that was left were the steaks, and she wouldn’t put those on until they were ready to eat.
Knowing she now had less than five minutes until Drake arrived, shefled to the living room, ignoring the twinges of pain in her knee. If she hadn’t spent all afternoon napping on the couch and had been moving around, her knee wouldn’t even hurt. But after so many hours of inactivity, of course it was going to protest the sudden movements.
She hastily undressed and then carefully folded her clothing and put it on the coffee table. She didn’t want it to appear as though she’d rushed through the process, even if that was precisely what she’d done.
She slid her shoes underneath the coffee table and then laid her bra and panties on top of her torn jeans and shirt.
When she was naked, she walked to the end of the couch and leaned into it, running her hands over the leather arm, and then leaned forward, testing how comfortable she would be when he asked her to bend over.
Okay, that wasn’t so bad.
She straightened and dutifully took her position exactly as he’d described and then closed her eyes, knowing the next few minutes until he arrived would seem like an eternity.
•••
Drake waited impatiently for the elevator doors to open and immediately stepped off, not even taking the time to hang his coat over the coatrack. He slipped it off on his way to the living room and tossed it aside.
His breath caught in his throat when he saw Evangeline standing just as he’d instructed her at the end of the couch, her bare skin glowing in the low light. Only a lamp was on in the far corner, lending an intimate air to the room.
He walked up behind her, unable to resist such beautiful temptation. He brushed her hair over one shoulder and pressed his lips to the curve of her neck. She shivered beneath his touch and tiny chill bumps danced across her skin.
“So responsive,” he murmured. “So fucking beautiful.”
