The woman rose from the table. “My name is Lucy. How may I help you?”
“Where’s Jordan?”
“Ms. Jordan left; her trial period was over.” Jordan had told her she would be leaving at the end of the week, but somehow she had thought she would be leaving early tomorrow morning when they left. She hadn’t even said goodbye to her. Sawyer felt sad to have missed her; she had begun to consider her a friend.
“Oh. I’m sorry I missed her. I’ll just pour myself a cup of coffee.”
“Allow me.” The woman efficiently poured her some coffee. “Would you like any breakfast?”
“I was just going to make myself a piece of toast.” The woman moved around the kitchen and then a plate of toast with butter was handed to her.
“T—thank you.” Feeling uncomfortable, she sensed this woman had no intention of getting friendly with one of R.J.’s guests. Not wanting to sit in the large dining room, she went outside to eat her toast by the pool.
It seemed like Kaden and Briana had the same idea; they were sitting at one of the tables. As she drew closer, she saw that Briana looked upset while Kaden’s face was an expressionless mask behind his sunglasses.
She wanted to retreat when she saw them, but didn’t want to appear intimidated. Instead, she sat down on one of the lounge chairs, setting her coffee on the small table next to it. She leaned back against the cushions as both of them continued quietly talking, ignoring her presence.
It wasn’t long before Megan, Alana and Justine came outside wearing skimpy swimsuits. The women jumped into the water, screaming playfully, trying to draw attention to themselves. Alana and Megan actually removed their tops, throwing them to the side of the pool.
Disgusted, Sawyer was about to get up and go back inside the house when Alana got out of the water. Picking up a towel, she dried her body off before dropping the towel down on one of the empty lounge chairs. Going up behind Kaden, she placed her arms around his neck, and pressed her bare breasts against his back. One hand slid down his chest until her hand landed on his cock covered by his swimsuit briefs.
A knife stabbed in her heart as she watched Briana’s chair screech back from the table, leaving Kaden sitting at the table with his cock in Alana’s hand. Sawyer rose to her feet, determined to follow Briana’s example.
“Sawyer, come here.” Kaden’s harsh voice had her freezing in place; her disbelieving gaze flew to his. “Come here, now.”
Sawyer found her feet reluctantly carrying her toward Kaden. She couldn’t seem to tear her gaze away from him as she stopped a few feet away, unable to force herself to go any closer.
“Did you deliberately lock your door against me last night?”
Sawyer licked her dry lips. “Y—Yes.”
“I thought so. I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I can see you’re determined to disobey me.”
“Kaden, forget about her. Let’s go to my room.” Alana made no effort to lower her voice.
“Were you happy with your decision to lock me out?” His eyes dared her to lie.
“Nnn—no,” Sawyer admitted honestly.
Kaden reached out, taking Alana’s wrist in his hand and jerking her down in front of him. “Do not touch me again. I do not fucking want your hand or your tits on me again.”
“Okay, Kaden, I was just playing around.” The woman took a step back when Kaden released her.
“You need to pack your bags and get the fuck out of here, Alana. I’m tired of dealing with you.” The woman left, running toward the house without even bothering to cover herself.
“I don’t play games, Sawyer. I outgrew those years ago. Do you want me in your bed or not? I’m done dealing with your on and off switch, and before you open your smart-ass mouth, you better think twice because, depending on your answer, you’ll either be staying here with a number of security or leaving on the bus tomorrow with me sharing the bedroom with you.”
Sawyer stood in shock at his ultimatum. She knew she would be safe here for the next couple of months, safe from Rick and her building desire for Kaden, yet…
“Well?” he snapped, the cold glare of his sunglasses making her answer harder. “Which one are you going to do?”
“Go on the bus.” Sawyer lowered her gaze from his.
“You understand, Sawyer, just how our relationship is going to work? I expect you to obey me in the bedroom at all times, and when we’re not, then you will continue to obey me in matters that I consider important.”
“How will I know the difference?”
“You find out the difference when my paddle is on your ass,” he said unrelentingly.
Sawyer almost changed her mind about leaving. The only reason she didn’t was her body craved his. Surely this first rush of excitement would soon be over. She remembered her first and only sexual relationship, and how it had quickly ran out of steam.
Her relationship with Kaden should fizzle out about the same time as their deal expired. She could spend the next two months exploring the country and enjoy a kind of sexual relationship that she’d thought never to experience.
“Okay.” Sawyer made her voice firm and controlled her speech until she didn’t stutter her reply.
“Now, you can go upstairs. I’ll send your lunch and dinner upstairs.”
“But I thought we could go out again today before we’re cooped up on the bus,” Sawyer protested.
“Why should I spend my day pleasing you when you didn’t spend the night pleasing me?”
The bastard kind of had a point.
“Have you finished your breakfast?”
“Yes.”
“Then there’s no need to stay any longer. You can return to your room. I’ll see you tonight. Oh, and Sawyer, I haven’t forgotten you disobeyed me about shaving yesterday.”
Sawyer nodded before leaving.
Going back to her bedroom, she heard Alana yelling from the room down the hall and R.J.’s voice soothing her anger.
Sawyer threw herself down on the bed, landing on an object she hadn’t seen. Pulling the box out from under her, she opened it to find a small reading device. She spent the next
few hours downloading samples and books, enjoying her surprising present from Kaden.
She only took a break from reading when Lucy brought her lunch. She read while she ate and then dozed off with it still in her hand.
She woke just as it started to get dark. Jumping out of bed, she took a bath, using another of the bath bombs. If she didn’t quit going through them so fast, she would have to sneak them out of the other bathrooms. When she finished, she rubbed the body lotion on her body.
Going into the bedroom, she was going to slip on one of her gowns when she stopped. Instinctively, she knew how Kaden wanted her when he opened the door.
***
Sawyer stood by the bottom of the bed and held her breath as the door opened. His ruthless expression did not change when he saw that she was naked. The door closed with a snap behind him.
“I see you finally did as I requested.”
Sawyer nodded her head, unsure that she would be able to control her stutter. She had never felt more nervous in her life; butterflies were having a field day in her stomach.
Kaden came to a stop in front of her. “This isn’t going to stop me from punishing you for disobeying me twice.”
“I—I know.”
“Take off my clothes.”
Sawyer took a step forward. She was about to reach out when she hesitated. “May I touch you?”
“Yes.”
Sawyer could tell from his pleased expression that she had approached him correctly.
She reached out, unbuttoning the blue shirt that he had left un-tucked from his jeans. Meticulously pulling the shirt from his shoulders, she was about to let it drop to the floor; however, she caught herself, folding it and placing it on the chair next to the bed. She unsnapped his jeans after he voluntarily took off his expensive shoes. Kaden was such a contradiction, being a complete hard-ass rocker with the tattoos, while having expensive tastes in clothes.
Sawyer unsnapped his jeans, pulling them down his hips and off each leg. She again folded them, placing them on the chair next to his shirt. Sawyer went back to stand in front of him, waiting nervously for his next command.