“So what do we do?”
“I think we let it rest for now. Maybe try again next year.”
She could tell Andie didn’t want to give up. Her new friend wanted to help her get her man. The problem was, he wasn’t her man. He had neve
r been. And probably he never would be.
“Okay,” Andie said. “I trust you. We have plenty of time.”
They changed the subject then, moving on to the upcoming ball. This would be Andie’s first Holiday Ball, and she had already made several menu suggestions. Her excitement was contagious and within minutes they were both making plans and creating lists for everything that needed to be done.
“There you are,” Lennox said sometime later, causing them both to look up in surprise at the man standing in her doorway. “Your Master has been looking for you,” he told Andie.
Andie looked down at her watch. “Shit. I’m late.”
Given that it was a long weekend, the students had left earlier in the day and most wouldn’t be back until Tuesday. There were no classes until Wednesday.
“You guys going somewhere?” Mariela asked, doing her best not to look at Lennox.
Of course, it didn’t work. Her body knew it had been a long time since they had been in a room together. She was acutely aware of his very presence, how he commanded the room, even with just three of them there. He was behind her, and she swore she could feel his presence.
“We’re going to drive up and down the coast. No set schedule or anything. I haven’t done much exploring of the west coast since I’ve been here and have been looking forward to it.” Andie hurriedly picked up her papers, told them both good-bye, and left.
She expected Lennox to leave after Andie did, so she was surprised when he stayed in her room. She still didn’t have the courage to look at him.
“Any plans this weekend?” he asked.
“No, nothing.”
She was hoping with the island empty and no one around that she might find an interest in dancing again. She was going to try anyway, force herself if she had to.
She turned to look at him. “I don’t have to ask where you’re going.”
“Oh?”
“I’m guessing you’re going to your normal Friday night hangout.” She wasn’t sure why she brought it up. Why now, after all these years of saying nothing?
“You’re mistaken, Marie.” He sounded angry. “In fact, I haven’t gone to my normal Friday night hangout in weeks.”
“Is that right? Do you expect a gold star?” She thought back and realized it was true—he hadn’t gone off the island for several weeks. Interesting.
“No, but I do expect you to talk to me with respect.”
She didn’t reply to that. She was curious about why he’d changed his routine. “Did you get tired of the anonymous thing?” She rolled her eyes at his glare. “Did you get tired of the anonymous thing, Sir?”
She was being a huge brat, she knew she was. Probably because deep down, she wanted him to take charge and do something, damn it.
“Did it ever once occur to you that Doms don’t like being with subs who are so blatantly disrespectful?” His voice was ice.
“Let’s face it,” she said. “I work at a BDSM academy. Most scenes I’m in, I’m working with newbie Doms who wouldn’t know they were being topped from the bottom if I told them that’s what I was doing.”
“I don’t doubt there’s truth to that. In fact, I believe a thorough session with a belt would do you good.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “You volunteering? Because we just might be the only people left on the island.”
“No, I’m not volunteering. Though I do think I’ll ask Master Nader to work on your lack of manners next week.”
“Not man enough to do the job yourself?” She snorted. “Sort of makes me wish I’d let you try to lift a hand to Susan. You probably couldn’t do it.”
“As fun as this is, I am leaving the island. I’m going to the cottage.” He turned to leave, but looked back over his shoulder. “I am man enough to do the job, but you aren’t worthy of my belt.”
She sat with her mouth dropped open in shock. How dare he? How fucking dare he? The longer she sat there, the angrier she became. She moved to where she could see the boat dock, and twenty minutes after Lennox left, she decided to do the one thing she never thought she’d do again.
She was going to go to Winnie’s cottage.
WINNIE’S JOURNAL
He’s going to do it! Lennox has agreed to train me as his submissive! He’s also taken to calling me “Winnie girl.” I don’t know why my stomach gets all tingly when he says it.
One of my concerns was that he’d expect me to be submissive all the time. According to Marie, some couples are like that. But when I brought it up to him, he said he wasn’t into that. That he only wanted a submissive in the bedroom. I think I can do that!
We’re not going to start training yet, though. He said he wanted to wait until we’d been dating for a few months before he introduced kink into our relationship.
CHAPTER
Seven
Mariela’s anger hadn’t abated by the time she pulled into the driveway of Winnie’s old place. Especially when she spotted Lennox’s SUV parked outside.
The wind from the approaching storm blew her hair into her face when she got out of the car. She paid it little attention. Even less attention than she paid the light rain that began to fall. Oh, yes, this storm was going to get worse, and not just the one outside.
She didn’t knock. Winnie had given her a key years ago. As quietly as she could, she unlocked the door and stepped inside, wanting to surprise Lennox. She didn’t find him downstairs though. Which only left the room upstairs. Damn it.
She didn’t want to go into Winnie’s old studio, but she took the stairs two at a time. The top landing opened into what had once been a beautiful studio but now looked more like a shrine.
“I didn’t think you ever traveled off the island,” Lennox said, from a chair facing the window.
Talking to his back only made her angrier. “What the hell is your problem?”
“Right now my problem is an obnoxious submissive who won’t mind her own damn business.”
She took a deep breath. “Mind my own business, how about you stay around to finish a conversation.”
“You came all the way here so we could continue our argument?”
She crossed her arms. “Yes.”
“Liar.”
“What?”
He slowly stood up and turned around. She’d thought he might have been drinking and half expected him to be drunk, but the man looking back at her was completely sober. Yet there was a wildness in him. His hair was tousled and his normally perfect shirt and tie were both askew. But it was his eyes. His eyes were raw and hungry. “I said liar.” He took a step toward her, and she felt the heat radiating from him. “Tell me why you’re really here.”
She would have taken a step back if she wasn’t afraid she’d fall backward down the stairs. “I told you, I wanted to finish our conversation.”
“We weren’t having a conversation, you were insulting me. I want to know why you’re really here and you’re going to tell me. Now.”
She had wanted to awaken the Dominant within him. She could see now she’d vastly underestimated what would happen when that beast