His to Command
She glared at him. “So you’re forcing me to stay here?” A chill ran through her.
“I had hoped you would stay long enough so we can talk.”
A shiver ran down her spine. Did he want to talk to her about why he’d betrayed her two years ago? Not that he would think of it as betrayal. It was part of his way of life. To control his woman so completely.
Or did he want to talk to her about why she’d left? Her leaving must have been a surprise to him. He must have assumed she’d accept his complete domination or he wouldn’t have planned the events that night.
A shiver rippled through her at the thought that he intended to keep her here against her will. Would he force her into submission?
She had never realized his desire for domination ran so deep, until that fateful night two years ago when his true—and frightening—nature had been revealed.
Panic welled in her. He was bigger and stronger than her. With no difficulty at all, he could physically constrain her. Chain her to a wall or tie her to a chair. Flog her.
A flash of remembered pain ripped through her, but she pushed it aside.
His eyes narrowed as he watched her face. He stepped toward the fireplace. “I’m not stopping you from leaving, Kate.”
His calm, reasonable voice dragged her from her panic.
She blinked, momentarily confused. “I don’t understand. You just said—”
“I said the driver left.” He picked up a brass poker and shifted the logs on the flames. Sparks flared violently. “That means you can’t leave immediately. I told him I’d call him later this evening when we need him to come back.” He gazed at her again. “After we’ve talked.”
She tipped up her chin in defiance. “And if I don’t want to stay and talk?”
He replaced the poker on the hanging stand and turned toward her. “I could call him to come back for you now, if that’s what you want.”
“Can’t you drive me back?”
“I had a driver, too, Kate. I used the travel time to work.”
“That’s fine. Then I’ll call a taxi.”
He gazed at her with disturbing intensity. “Are you really so afraid of just sitting down and talking to me? What do you think I’m going to do?”
That was the problem. She really didn’t know.
She drew in a deep breath. But if he intended to overpower her, he could have done it by now, and he could certainly stop her from calling a cab if he wanted to.
She was overreacting. After all, she’d walked away from him two years ago. Sure, he was probably angry about that, but they were no longer in a relationship, so his deep need to totally subjugate his woman didn’t really apply to her anymore.
Unless he just wanted to see her powerless and squirming, to make her pay for escaping his control.
He strolled toward her. “You came all the way out here. Won’t you even consider my offe
r to invest in your company?”
She felt confused and vulnerable. Over the past few months, she had exhausted every other avenue she could think of to get the money to buy out her partner, and the deadline was the end of this month. When she’d gotten that call from Mr. Elliott, the president of Facts and Figures Inc., saying they wanted to invest in her company, she had been thrilled, but now … She couldn’t even imagine being in a partnership with Matt Pearce.
Her fists clenched at her sides. Damn, this was an impossible situation.
And getting worse the closer he got to her. Because despite everything that had happened between them, her heart still fluttered whenever she was near him.
And he was only a few steps away, and getting closer.
“I could use a drink,” she said to stop him from drawing any nearer.
His eyebrows arched. “All right.”