What the fuck?
"Who the hell was that?" Dallas demanded as he sprinted up the steps to where Jane still stood, smiling as he approached.
Her eyes gleamed with mischief. "Him? Oh, he was just the workman I told you about." She took his hand. "Come inside. Out here, I have to kiss you like a brother, and that's really not how I want to kiss you right now."
Once they were inside, she pressed him against the wall and kissed him so hard and so deep that he almost--almost--forgot that he wanted to ask her why the workman was fondling her rear.
He managed to keep his wits though, and after he congratulated her on an excellent show, and she told him that she'd been nervous but had calmed once the taping started, he slid straight back to the topic of the asshole.
"He's a friend, and you're not allowed to be jealous." She hooked her arm through his. "Come on. I have something to show you."
"Not allowed to be jealous?"
"Not when it would take a supercomputer to calculate the number of women you've been with," she said, bypassing the main stairs and heading through the kitchen to the set of stairs that descended to the garden level.
"Women I've been with?" he repeated. "Are you telling me you've been with him?"
She stopped on the stairs. "You're jealous. I think I like this side of you."
"Jane."
"Fine." She rose up onto her toes and kissed him again. "He was here helping me with the project I told you about. And I promise you, no clothing was shed in the process. Now come on. I want you to see it."
The stairs opened onto the level where the servants' quarters used to be located. He hadn't been down there in years, and for the most part it looked about the same. A narrow hall painted white to make the space brighter despite the minimal natural light. And then rooms on either side, each one opening onto a small, dormitory-style room where the servants used to live back in the days when the house was first built.
His parents had used those rooms for storage.
He and Jane had used them for play.
Dallas had no idea what Jane used the rooms for these days, just as he had no idea why she'd brought him down here now. But they must have reached their destination, because she was standing in front of the very last door on the right, holding the key in her hand and bouncing a little nervously.
"Close your eyes," she insisted, after leading him right up to the door. "Don't peek until I say so."
He did as she said, amused, and then listened as she unlocked the room and pushed the door open. She took his hands and guided him in, and then moved to stand behind him so she could cover his eyes. "Okay, open," she said and then pulled her hands away with flourish.
Holy fuck.
It was a boudoir. Hell, it was a porn set.
It was a fantasy playroom with everything from leather to silk, chains and ropes, toys and video. And already his mind was going to just what he could do if he had her against that wall with her wrists in those cuffs and a flogg
er in his hand, her beautiful skin red for him, and her sweet moans making him hard as he took her over the edge, down into that sweet space where pain gave way to pleasure.
And that bed with the deep purple spread and the headboard with all sorts of handy hooks and leather straps. How many times could he make her come? How loud could he make her scream his name?
"Do you like?"
She was still behind him, her hands on his shoulders and her voice tentative.
He took one of her hands and lowered it, pressing against his rock hard erection. "What do you think?"
He could practically feel the worry draining away from her, and she moved around him to stand in the circle of his arms. "I know we've talked about it, but I wanted to make sure you know that I mean what I say. Wherever you need to go, I'm there with you. You don't have to be afraid you'll push me too far."
Her words ricocheted through him, humbling him and exciting him. He wanted to believe them. Wanted to believe this would work. That it could be real and true, and that somehow they'd surmount every obstacle.
With a gentle smile, she reached up and cupped his cheek. "You're thinking too hard. Don't think. Just know. That you want me. That I want you. And this is right, Dallas. Us. Together. That's a place we've been heading all our lives, and it took us too damn long to get here."
"When did you do this? How did you do it?"