Because You Are Mine (Because You Are Mine #1)(56)
The stark anticipation she’d experienced when he’d told her to get into the backseat began to mount again as she reached for her clothing.
Chapter Ten
Ian didn’t say anything on the rainy drive home, and Francesca was too keyed up to push any conversation. It was as if something had happened back there in the car that she couldn’t understand. Some sort of nameless, thick tension seemed to fill the air between them. She would have thought it was the low pressure from the storm but knew it didn’t exude from rain clouds.
Ian was the source.
When they arrived at the hotel and pulled beneath the entrance canopy, a young, energetic valet greeted Ian by name. Ian gave him some directions about returning the car to the rental agency in English and then handed him the keys along with a wad of cash.
“Thank you, Mr. Noble,” the valet gushed appreciatively in heavily accented English. “Never worry that the car will be returned very fast. I’ll see to it myself.”
“You don’t have to worry. The car will be returned very quickly,” Ian said distractedly as he took Francesca’s hand.
“Yes, as you say. ‘You don’t have to worry. The car will be returned very quickly,’” the young man repeated aloud, and then several times under his breath.
“I won’t give it another thought, Gene,” Ian said with a small smile. The short conversation with the valet seemed to lighten his mood a tad. He noticed her raised eyebrows and curious expression when they got on the elevator. “I told Gene I’d try him out in my mailroom if he learned English. He has an aunt and uncle in Chicago and a big American dream.”
She smiled as they stepped off the elevator. “Watch out, Ian.”
He glanced sideways at her as he used the card key to the suite.
“You’re exposing your soft spots.”
“You think so?” he asked unconcernedly as he held the door open for her to enter. “I think I’m being very practical. I’ve observed firsthand what a hard worker Gene is. He scrambles to please when others shuffle.”
“And of course you always want those who are most willing to please you.”
“Yes,” he said, ignoring the sarcasm in her voice. He’d led her to the bedroom suite and now turned to face her. “Are you struggling with that, Francesca?”
“With what?” she asked, confused.
“With entering into an agreement where the primary goal is to please me.”
“I do this to please myself,” she said, lifting her chin.
His amused gaze ran over her face. “Yes,” he murmured, touching her jaw with gentle, blunt-tipped fingers. She shivered. “And that’s what makes you so special. Because pleasing me does please you.”
She frowned. Something about what he’d said encroached on that uncomfortable topic of domination and submission.
He smiled and dropped his hand. “I would prefer you didn’t struggle so much with the basics, lovely. There’s nothing shameful about your nature. In fact, I find you exquisite. You really have no idea why I had to have you at all costs, do you? There’s a quality in you that only a man like me can see . . .” He tapered off when he noticed the bewilderment on her face. He exhaled heavily. “Perhaps time is what is needed in your case. That, and practice.”
She blinked when she saw the gleam in his eyes.
“Please undress and put on a robe. Brush your hair, but then restrain it at the back of your head. Sit at the corner of the bed. I’ll be with you momentarily. We need a few things for this very important lesson.”
You really have no idea why I had to have you at all costs, do you?
Ian’s words kept echoing in her head as she did the things he’d asked, plus brushed her teeth. Sitting and waiting at the corner of the bed definitely ratcheted up her anxiety. She wasn’t pleased, necessarily, that she was so eager to please Ian sexually, to give him the type of pleasure he could give her, but she was honest enough to admit it was true to herself. She had no right to mentally cast aspersions on Ian for his preferences when she herself possessed equally dark desires.
Her thoughts were cut short when Ian walked into the room wearing only the black pants, his torso and feet bare, and carrying a small plastic bag. She watched him, growing breathless at the vision of his near nudity. Would he ever allow her to touch and caress and pet all those sleek, bulging muscles and smooth skin? His nipples were tiny and almost always erect, as far as she’d observed. He set down the bag on one of the chairs at the end of the bed. He took out something with straps she couldn’t identify, along with something she did recognize: the leather handcuffs. He stepped toward her, the items in his hands.
“Why do I have to wear the handcuffs for this?” she asked, disappointment filtering into her tone. She’d thought she was finally going to get the opportunity to touch him.
“Because I say so,” he said gently. “Now stand up and remove the robe.” She came down from the corner of the bed and untied the robe. The air felt a little chilly on her naked skin. Her nipples pulled tight as she tossed the robe on the end of the bed.
“It’s cool, but I think what I have in mind will be making you very warm very soon. Turn your back to me,” Ian said.
Once again, she had to resist a strong urge to gawk over her shoulder and see what he was doing back there. “Put your wrists together at your back,” he instructed. Her clit pinched in excitement when she felt him buckle the restraints around her wrists, binding her arms behind her back. “Now turn around.” She let out a small gasp when she saw the white jar that he held. Heat rushed between her thighs. She was becoming conditioned to that little jar of cream. Her body responded just upon seeing it. Ian paused, seeming to notice her reaction as she eyed the emollient.