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She just nodded, her face a mask of guilt.
“I meant every word. Now lay back and get some rest. We’ve a long drive ahead of us.”
“Why would you bother?”
He turned to stare at her, raised brow, silently chiding her for her disobedience. She bit her lip and looked down.
The truth was, he usually made every decision logically. But this he couldn’t explain.
Her eyes were soft and contrite. “I don’t mean to question you, but yes, you’re right. I owe you and I didn’t stop to think enough. I never thought you’d really care...but when I hear myself say it, it sounds lame. I am more sorry than you know. I don’t expect you to forgive me, so don’t worry. Can I just ask that if you want to spank me that you try to avoid the bruises? But if you’d rather not, I understand. I’ve earned it.”
“I’ll answer this, then you’ll stop with the questions and rest. And you’ll obey.” As she started to speak, he stopped her. “Nod, Raine. Take a deep breath and just nod. Don’t disappoint me. Listen, then you’ll sleep. I’ve a place that’s remote and beautiful this time of year. We’ll be alone there, and we’ll sort this out. That’s all you need to know now. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” The word held a vast quantity of remorse, but she’d said the one word he wanted to hear.
“I ‘bother’ with you, as you say, because I’m a Dominant. Because you need what I can give you.” But Liam was painfully aware that wasn’t the only reason, just the one that made the most sense and would be more likely to win her cooperation. “By the time we’re ready to face...others together once more, you and I, I promise that you’ll not forget what it means to be truly owned. And you will never mistake my kindness for weakness again.”
She looked like she had a hundred more questions, but she held her tongue, laid back, and tried to rest. She curled into herself, and he couldn’t help but notice that she shivered. The November morn was nippy, and with her wet hair and bare feet, the lass had to be chilly. He turned the heater up, questioning again why she mattered. But the answer remained the same. This damaged girl needed someone to care for her, take her in hand. For some reason, he wanted to be that man—and it wasn’t because he pitied her. Because he didn’t want to lose at the infidelity game again? Maybe… But he could picture her now naked and waiting for him in their bed, her big blue eyes welcoming him before she spread her legs and invited him into her lush body, or kneeling before him, head bowed, offering him her submission...
Liam jerked his gaze back to the narrow mountain road.
When she finally fell asleep, he placed a call to Adam, the caretaker of the cabin he’d inherited last year. He hadn’t visited the place in years. Best of all, Hammer would never find it.
He made the necessary arrangements to have everything ready for their arrival, and Adam assured him that he and his wife, Ngaire, would collect some clothing for Raine, as well as lay in food and provisions. He hung up, checking that task off his mental list, then he allowed his thoughts to drift back to the morning as he drove steadily onward.
Hammer’s incomprehensible behavior still had him shaking his head. And the conflicting rage and protectiveness Raine had instilled standing before him both bruised and dazed stunned Liam. Then, not surprisingly, his thoughts turned to the moments he’d claimed her in the dungeon and again in his bed…followed by the memory of his crushing disappointment. Waking to find her gone from his bed and hearing her cry out in passion from Hammer’s... Fuck!
His past come to haunt him all over again.
Why in the hell hadn’t he just walked away from her and Hammer and the whole sordid saga before it had come to this? After all, he’d had ample opportunities to leave. It wasn’t as if the man had asked for or wanted his help. Hammer’s assertion that Raine had only used him to get her boss’s attention flitted through his thoughts. It was possible. Probable even. But Liam knew without a doubt that Raine felt something when she was with him. She might love Hammer, but her responses when she’d been with him had been all innocent gasps, clinging arms and legs, sugary-spun kisses, and welcome. He didn’t have much certainty about anything right now. But two things he did know: Raine wanted him, and he wasn’t ready to let her go.
By the time he pulled up in front of the lodge a few hours later, she was waking. “We’re here. Stay where you are, and I’ll fetch you inside. We’ll get you warm soon.”
