Tell Me You Want Me (Search and Seduce, #2)(27)

Enjoying this while I can…

“By all means, princess. I’d love your feedback.”

He parted his legs, his stance now wide, and crossed his arms. Looking at her and waiting. Which made it hard to think.

“Last training session, you bound me. Do you recall?”

“Vividly,” he said with a deep rasp that made her flush. Still she pushed forward.

“Well, you never showed me how to escape. Isn’t that something we should have covered?”

“If memory serves, you weren’t too interested in escaping.”

She bit the inside of her lip. Okay, he had her there. Still, in an attempt to keep this on some kind of level of “training,” she pushed for what she wanted.

“I must insist tonight that you show me how to escape binds. If that’s something you even know how to do.”

He chuckled. “Man, you say the sweetest things, princess. And yeah, I can show you how to escape. Don’t go blaming me when you’re free and still running my way, though.”

The look in his eyes told her he meant it, and she believed him. Because being tied up, bound, or even gagged wasn’t the problem. Once she was free, she was pretty sure she wasn’t going anywhere but closer to the sexy man before her.

This was her moment. To be adventurous and take a bit of the attention that she was craving from Dex. Because she was feeling stronger, happier, freer since her time in the woods. And she was starting to think he was the reason. Dex was the adventure. And she wanted to enjoy him.

Of course, she also wanted to give him pleasure. It was time to tackle the one thing on her list she’d avoided… The one thing she wanted to give…

Herself. Her body.

She shook with need.

She wanted to give over her control to Dex and live in that fantasy for one night. It didn’t mean she was giving over her control for long. Didn’t mean they had a relationship or anything. But she knew enough about herself to understand that giving him control would in its own way show how much control she finally had. And if it made his life easier training her, then she felt good about that, too.

“Well, why don’t I feed you first?” he said and walked to the table. She’d been too busy admiring the rustic cottage to notice two plates and a big bowl set in the center of the table.

“You want to feed me? I don’t have to forage for it myself?”

He pulled out her chair. “Not tonight.”

The bowl had a massive amount of pasta in it. And it smelled amazing.

“So you can cook?”

“I can boil water and open a can,” he said and dished it up. It was funny how gentlemanly he could be. Manners and kindness and grace. Things one wouldn’t expect when looking at a man like Dex. But he had charm, that polite southern boy thing that made his wild side all the more exciting.

He sat next to her and ate his own pasta.

She looked at him, then the food. “So, is this some kind of luring trick?”

He smiled. “You’re skeptical.”

“I’ve met you. There’s an ulterior motive here.”

“Oh, absolutely there is. I want you to up your caloric intake since I plan on running you low on energy.” He lifted his chin at the pasta. “It’s called carbo loading. So eat up, princess. Long night ahead.”

Now she was excited and curious about what he had planned. Hopefully a night of wild sex. But this was nice in a different way. Sitting at a table and having a meal with him hit something in her chest she realized she’d been missing. Family.

Obviously Dex wasn’t family. But she couldn’t remember ever sitting at a table with her parents and having a conversation or pasta. If she was honest, somewhere scribbled in her notebook of desires, she’d find “a home cooked meal and eye contact” on the list. It sounded stupid, but those were two things she’d always longed for but been denied.

“So,” he twirled his pasta, “tell me how you got into the boutique business.”

He was asking about her. Wanting to know her. She wasn’t sure if opening up like this was really wise, but she went with it since everything in his voice and how he looked at her was genuine.

“I expect a fair exchange,” she said.

He grinned. “Of course you do. What, you give me some details about you, and I do your chores? You have some windows you need replaced?”

“No, I want to know how you got into the search and rescue business.”

The question seemed to shock him. Did no one really ask about his life?

“Beauty before brawn,” he said.

“Well, I’ve always liked pretty things.”

He snorted and nodded and took a bite of pasta. He was going to make a crack about her upbringing or class or whatever, she could tell, so she moved past that quickly.

“I’ve also wanted something of my own. Something I could create and be proud of.” She twirled her pasta now, but it was so she could avert her eyes.

“You should be proud,” he said. “That’s a hell of a shop you have. All class and perfection. You did that.”

His words made warm fuzzies dance up her spine. She was so used to defending every move she made. Explaining and re-explaining her choices, decisions, and above all, why she’d left. No one took her seriously. Not her father and his weekly calls, trying to get her to come home. Not with the looks everyone had given her as she’d left town, like they were basically waiting for her to fail.