But when her silky soft fingers slid trustingly into his, he was suddenly glad he had waited and not taken the choice from her. Somehow it meant so much more that she’d come to him willingly, no longer any hint of apprehension in her eyes.
He guided her into the living room and settled her on the couch. Suddenly remembering the small box in his pants pocket, he reached for it, still holding on to her hand with his other. He held it out to her wordlessly. He wasn’t a mushy, sentimental guy by any stretch and he always let the gifts do their own talking. It had always worked for him in the past.
But she stared at the wrapped package in stupefaction and then lifted her surprised gaze to his.
“Drake, what is this?”
The corners of his mouth quirked into a half smile.
“Open it and find out. Isn’t that what one usually does?”
Instead of tearing into it, as most women of his acquaintance tended to do, she stared at it in awe, touching the ribbon and the colored paper reverently. Jesus, had no one ever given her a gift before? No, he didn’t want to know the answer to that. It would only piss him off more.
“I’m afraid to ruin it,” she said huskily. “It’s too pretty.”
She was threatening to turn him into knots and he hadn’t even cemented that she was his and his alone yet. What this said about the future, he wasn’t sure, but he wasn’t entirely certain he liked it.
But he smiled indulgently, feeling something remarkably like relaxation settling into his chest. His cell was turned off—something he never did. And all his men had strict instructions, under threat of dismemberment this time, that he was not to be disturbed as he’d been last night. By God, he’d have things between him and Evangeline settled tonight come hell or high water.
Tentatively she began to unwrap it, careful not to make a single tear in the paper. She slid her fingernail under the tape and lifted until she was able to free the box with the paper completely intact. She fingered the ribbon a moment as if savoring the satiny texture, much as he had savored the same satiny feel of her skin.
With the box now sitting on her lap, she stared at it as if she had no idea what to do next. He could see her sudden inhale and the fact that she didn’t immediately exhale.
“Open it, Angel,” he said in a husky voice he didn’t recognize.
Her fingers trembling, she slipped the lid off and bit her lip in consternation when she found yet another box, this one a velvet jeweler’s box inside the other. She turned it over and gently shook until the velvet box fell into her palm, and then she turned it over, her thumb clumsily opening the front.
“Oh, Drake,” she whispered.
Tears sparkled in her eyes as she looked up at him, and there was clear distress. What the hell?
“You shouldn’t have. It’s too expensive,” she said in a panicked tone.
And yet her finger trailed over the delicate angel pendant on the gold necklace nestled in the box.
“Do you like it?” he asked pointedly.
“I love it,” she said without hesitation. “It’s the most beautiful thing anyone has ever given me.”
The ache in her voice gave him an answering ache in his chest.
“Then it wasn’t too expensive.”
“But Drake, you barely know me,” she protested. “You didn’t need to buy me a gift.”
“And you didn’t need to cook me dinner,” he challenged. “And yet you did.”
She looked flustered as if she had no idea what to say to that.
He knew if he waited for her to take the necklace out and put it on, they’d be there all night, so he took the box from her lap, removed the necklace from the trappings, and then instructed her to turn around.
She shifted immediately and once again, he was assailed by satisfaction that she heeded his commands without thought. This wasn’t a woman who could or would be just anyone’s submissive, and that made her all the more desirable to him. No, she was his submissive. He didn’t fool himself into thinking she was a natural submissive and would react this way with just any man. That she had chosen him, whether she consciously realized it yet or not, was something he would not take for granted, and he would most certainly cherish it for the precious gift it was.
When she turned back around, her gaze and her fingers lowered to the necklace that rested in the hollow of her breasts. He’d nearly laughed when she’d shockingly said it was too expensive. This was the least expensive gift he’d ever given a woman, and yet it was so appropriate that he couldn’t pass it up. And there was also the fact that he knew he had to tread carefully with Evangeline. She wasn’t a woman to be draped with gaudy jewelry and clothing from head to toe. She wasn’t a woman who needed those accessories to shine or enhance her beauty. Her beauty needed no such embellishments or distractions.