“I didn’t leave. They asked for me to be removed.” She sat with another disgruntled plop and glared at him. “I told you, I was difficult.”
He regarded her with a steady look, his voice as bland as his simple inquiry. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why were you being difficult? Did you not like the adults, the other kids? Did they make you eat gross vegetables?”
“I like all veggies and everybody,” she returned without pause.
“Alessa.” A delicate shiver shook her at his warning tone, so at least he was getting through to her on some level.
“Fine. You want details? Let’s see, I was around five, so I don’t remember much except missing the little girl I’d played with in my first home. In the second place, the kids were older, around nine or ten, and didn’t like me bothering them.” She shrugged and glanced away to add, “I’d get bored by myself, so I’d pester them, I guess. I don’t recall their names, but the parents grew tired of their kids’ constant complaining and told me it’d be better if I went to someone who had kids my age. Good enough?” she finished, looking back at him.
Attitude dripped from her, but the disquiet in her whiskey eyes gave her away. “I remember when we danced at the weddings and thinking you were shy and quiet. Did you come across this belligerent with your foster parents?”
She shrugged. “Like I said, I could be difficult.”
Had anyone ever stuck with her? Sean could see a clear picture of her past, a lonely girl reaching out the only way she knew how. The neglectful foster care system had let her down as much as her poor choice of men. “So, the next home, were there kids your age?”
Alessa stood again and turned her back to him, but not before he saw the rigid set to her jaw. Walking across the room, she stopped in front of his law degree hanging on the wall. “I went to Florida State as well. Did you grow up in Tallahassee?”
“No, here in Miami. You didn’t answer my question, Alessa.”
Shaking her head, she kept her back to him when she replied, “Let’s talk about something else.”
“Okay. What do you want to discuss?”
Her shoulders lifted with her deep inhale, then she blurted the last thing he wanted her to say. “You mentioned introducing me to someone who could tutor me into giving up complete control. What if I said I wanted it to be you?”
Nothing like handing me my fucking dream on a platter. Sean willed his rapid heartbeat to slow down as he took a moment to think her offer through and ponder where it came from. There were numerous reasons why he should turn her down: they would still be thrown together at social gatherings of their mutual friends afterward, which could be awkward; Dax and Krista would kill him if she ended up hurt; it would cross an ethical line he’d never violated before; and it would test his own control to give her a taste of what she claimed to want.
“You’re not saying anything.” Alessa’s shoulders slumped before her back went rigid and she pivoted to face him.
And there, etched on her pale face, was the one reason he couldn’t turn her down. She’d already braced herself for his refusal, for him to be the next person to turn his back on her. Enough people had rejected her; he couldn’t be another in a long line of inconsiderate jerks who hadn’t cared enough to give her what she needed.
“Does this mean you’re through testing me and you’ve concluded you can trust me?”
Her brows dipped in that cute frown again and he continued to find himself amused by her quirks and drawn to the woman they exposed. He could see she hadn’t expected him to catch on to what she was doing.
“What do you mean? You’re the one who’s testing me,” she returned with a defensive glare, a hint of pink staining her cheeks.
“Let’s see, I surmise you so rudely skipped our second appointment because you were waiting to see if I mentioned your visit to any of our mutual friends. Tuesday, my questioning brought up the past, and you suspected I saw beyond what little information you revealed. You thought to push me today by arriving late, and with attitude. How am I doing?”
And just like that, the shy, insecure Alessa returned and sought to flee instead of taking the risk of getting hurt again. “I can see you’re not happy with me.” She started for the door. “Thank you…”
“If your request was another test, I’m happy to say I’ll pass this one as well. Yes, I’ll tutor you however far you want to go.” And he’d begin by enforcing his rule, something his palm had been itching to do since she’d walked in with attitude written all over her. Since they were running past noon, he knew Barbara would have left for lunch already and they had the entire suite to themselves.
Perfect.
CHAPTER 6
A lessa’s heart leapt into her throat and her body grew warm under Sean’s penetrating gaze from across the room. Her request had been another test, one she’d expected him to fail, which had been the reason for her irritable mood. The way she’d recoiled whenever he would mention finding someone suitable to tutor her negated the possibility of having better luck with another stranger. Then, last night when she’d been unable to sleep due to losing a patient, she’d come up with the idea of asking Sean. At least with him, her body responded in positive ways and she’d known him long enough that he wasn’t a total stranger.
Brushing her clammy hands down the sides of her skirt, she tried to hide their slight trembling as she pondered what to say and do now. She hadn’t expected him to agree, and floundered over what to do next. Pushing his chair back, he rose to his impressive height of just over six foot and moved with slow deliberation toward her. His next words caught her as much by surprise as him agreeing to her request.
“We’ll start with a test of my own.” He stopped in front of her and she resisted the urge to lean against his hard frame for support as he tilted her face up with two fingers under her ch
in. “Since you’re already comfortable with turning over sexual control, we’ll begin this temporary relationship there and expand on that first.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m comfortable with it,” she mumbled, wishing he hadn’t firmed his grip on her chin and prevented her from looking away from his direct gaze.
“But you have a few experiences in that area, which has broken the ice for me to move you along, starting with a discipline scene. Have you been spanked before?”
The blunt inquiry drew a gush of dampness between her legs, one more unexpected response in a long line of them, ever since he’d confronted her at Chains. “N-no. Why would I want to?” And why had her sheath heated, and her buttocks clenched from just the word ‘spanking’? She knew sexual discipline was something her friends enjoyed, and she could admit to a certain amount of interest their conversations around the subject had stirred up, but she’d honestly never imagined pain as something she would embrace.
Sean released her chin with a deep, low chuckle that curled her toes as he steered her over to the small sofa against the back wall. “You’re giving up control, remember? It doesn’t matter whether you want to or not. At this point, it’s about what I want. There’s the matter of your rudeness and attitude to deal with.”
He sat down but she resisted the tug on her hand with an uneasy glance toward the closed door. “But, here? What about your receptionist?” Oh, God, she’d never be able to show her face to the older woman again if she heard what he planned to do.
“Barbara has left for lunch. We’re alone in the suite. But make no mistake, Alessa. There will be times I’ll tell you to do something with others present, and giving up control means you either comply or walk away. Now,” he yanked harder on her hand and sent her sprawling across his lap, “quit stalling. Unless you have a different preference, red will be your ‘stop’ safeword, and if you say it, our agreement ends. Period.”