An odd pressure grew in my chest, expanding with each breath until my ribs ached with it.
Eva had dressed up for me.
Then, she shivered from the cold, lifting her hands to rub her arms through the fabric.Why the fuck wasn’t she wearing a coat?I flew out of the car and up the steps, only to stop when her eyes met mine, blinking back vulnerability, a far cry from the fierce woman I’d fallen in lo—whom I missed more than I cared to admit.
Visibly, Eva gathered herself, straightening her spine, her face blank, before transforming into a vixen, all practiced seduction and calculated heat, a role I’d never seen her play. It didn’t quite suit her—like ill-fitting clothes.
My cock hardened instantly, even as my chest constricted with understanding.
She thought she needed to seduce me, that her body was the only currency she had with me.
Blyat.
“Hi,” she said with a bold smile, and fuck, if I didn’t want to lick that red lipstick off her. I blinked, realizing that even with everything we’d shared, all the times she’d dropped to her knees in my office, I’d never kissed her.
Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes, and guilt threaded through my veins.
When I didn’t say anything, she wilted almost imperceptibly before straightening herself again. I hated that, hated that I’d had any part in destroying her confidence.
“Look at me, baby girl,” I said, and her cheeks flushed when she did. “You’re beautiful.”
Her expression smoothed into blankness. “Don’t call me that.”
I swallowed. I deserved that. I shrugged out of my large pea coat. “Put this on.”
“Oh, no, thank you,” she said, smiling brightly—falsely. “I’m fine.”
“Eva,” I growled. “I told you to do something.”
She set her jaw, and then, to my shock, she shrugged and reached for the coat. Instead of handing it to her, I slipped it on each arm. It dwarfed her, and satisfaction welled in my chest at seeing her wrapped in my clothes. And when she subtly sniffed the collar, closing her eyes and snuggling it tighter, as if my scent gave her comfort, dangerous possessiveness beat in my chest.
As I buttoned her up, she trembled. Uncertainty flickered across her face, as if she didn’t know whether to trustmy gentleness. I wouldn’t either, not after what I’d said to her when her secrets came tumbling out.
Eva opened her mouth then closed it, then opened it, and it was so fucking adorable, I wanted to sweep her into my arms and keep her.
Mine.
The thought should have terrified me. Instead, it felt inevitable. It feltright.
“Let’s go have dinner,” I said finally, curious to see where this was leading, fascinated by this drop-dead sexy side of her, even if my chest ached at what it meant.
“Thank you for the coat,” she finally said, a delicate blush staining her cheeks as I examined her instead of leading her to the car.
When she reached for her car door, I made a low sound in my throat, and she snatched her hand away from the handle as if burned. I opened it for her, holding it as she slid into the front seat of my car, her stockinged thigh peeking out from the wrap of her dress, high enough that I could see the lace of her garter.
Unable to hide my smile at her determination, I reached across to strap in her seatbelt, and she rolled her eyes. “You men, unable to believe I’m capable of taking care of myself, even though I’ve been doing it my entire life.”
I let my fingers slide over the lace of the garter on her left thigh, my entire body hard at the feel of her satin skin beneath my fingers.
“It’s not about trust,” I said finally, caging her in with one arm on the console, the other on the top of the seat behind her. “You shouldn’t have to take care of yourself when you’re with your Dom. That’s my job.”
“You’re not my Dom,” she snapped, “and you never were. You know what I had time to do while lying in the hospital,alone, abandoned by the men I’d trusted with my secrets? Research BDSM. And what you did to me wasbullshit.”
“So was spying on my team,” I murmured, my hands still on either side of her waist as I inhaled her scent.
Her eyes flew to mine, shocked and hurt.
I swore quietly in Russian then shoved myself away from her. “Let’s get dinner.”
