His to Command

She jerked back. What the hell was she doing?

His jaw clenched and he tugged the phone from his pocket.

“What is it?”

As he listened, she paced to the window, escaping the delicious heat of him.

“You’re sure?” His gaze shifted to her. “Okay, tomorrow then.”

He hung up the phone and shoved it back into his pocket. “That was our driver. The freezing rain has gotten worse and the weight of the ice on the trees has caused a lot of branches to fall. Apparently, the road out of here is blocked.”

Oh, God, don’t say what I think you’re going to say.

“It looks like we’re stuck here overnight.”

* * *

Matt didn’t understand why Kate was behaving so strangely. She stared at him as if he’d done something horrible to her, but she was the one who had walked away from their relationship. And without a word of explanation.

The last time he’d seen her, she’d been dancing with a man—another Dom—at Ileana’s party. Later, Illy had told him Kate had left with the man. He’d been totally shocked. He never would have believed that Kate would behave that way. He figured Illy’d had it wrong, that Kate had just taken a cab home for some reason. Not that he understood why she’d do that, but it made more sense than her taking off with another man.

He had loved her, and he’d been sure she’d returned that love.

After the party, he’d called her. Days had gone by and she’d refused to answer any of his calls. He’d shown up at her apartment, but she wouldn’t let him in. Not long after that, she’d moved away.

He’d always wondered if he should have dialed things back a bit with her. Although she had clearly loved being dominated, the Dom-sub relationship they’d fallen into had become intense and he could tell it had unnerved her a little. He was more experienced than she was, and he’d felt guilty that maybe he should have pulled back a bit.

But memories of her in his arms, begging him to give her pleasure, had overwhelmed him every time. She’d thrown herself into the submissive role so completely.

Could that be why she’d had to get away from him? Did she blame him for going too far? Had she—reasonably so—expected that he, as the experienced one, would know how to balance things? Had he really been the one to cause their breakup? Sure, she’d been the one who’d walked away—and she shouldn’t have done it the way she had—but maybe it was the only way she could find the strength to leave him.

Or maybe she’d simply been attracted to another, more intense Dom.

His heart ached at the thought of her in another man’s arms. Of her begging him to pleasure her.

God, he had loved her so deeply. As he gazed at her now, he knew he still loved her.

The realization wasn’t really a shock. After all, why else would he be here, willing to invest a huge chunk of money in his ex-girlfriend’s business? A woman who’d torn out his heart and tossed it aside.

But no matter what had happened between them, he wanted to help her.

Given their past, he knew she might be reluctant to accept him as her partner, but she needed the money, and her company was a good investment. He had hoped they could find a way to get past what had happened between them and move forward. Maybe they still could if he could just get her to open up about why she’d left.

* * *

Kate’s heart thundered in her chest. She did not want to stay here alone with Matt.

“Oh, no. I am not staying here overnight.”

“We don’t really have a choice. The driver can’t get to us.”

She glared at him. “Then I’ll walk.”

He just grinned. “You always were stubborn, but you know that’s a bad idea.”

She stormed to the front door and grabbed her coat from the coat rack, then pulled it on. “It’s just below freezing. With a good coat, that’s not too cold. And visibility’s not bad.” She fastened her buttons. “It’s not like walking through a blizzard.” She wouldn’t get lost and die of exposure.

“And where exactly do you plan to go?”