Yours Tonight (Reign 1)

s a relationship like ours.”

He nodded. “We are what we want to be. The norms don’t apply to us. We do what we want, as long as we feel good about it.” His eyes hit mine. “Do you feel good about us?”

I smiled a little. “I do. I’m just new to all this…feeling stuff.”

“You mean feeling stuff that isn’t fear or anxiety.”

It wasn’t a question. I wanted to ask him how he knew that, but he finished with, “That first night. Everything about you was frightened, uncomfortable, and contained.”

“I suppose so.”

“I meant it when I told you I don’t want you to feel that way, especially with me.”

“And I don’t when I’m with you. Just a little nervous at times.”

He smiled. A full-on Jack Powell smile that made my heart sing. “Good.”

I looked at him for a long moment. He was in a suit, but the first two buttons of his white shirt were undone.

“Were you working late?”

“Yes.”

“Did you come straight from the office?”

“Yes.”

Now I smiled and clamped my hands between my knees to keep from reaching out for him in a maul of goofy smiles, kisses, and touches.

“You had that same look when we spoke on the phone yesterday,” he said. “Like you’re truly happy.”

“I am.”

“Why?”

“Because of what you do.”

He frowned. “The flowers?”

“No, you showed up, and you answered my call.” I looked him in the eyes and all the giddiness was gone. “That means a lot to me. More than I can explain.”

He raised a brow. “My answering the phone means a lot to you?”

It was crazy that water collected behind my eyes, but the truth was, “Yes, it really does.”

Softness flashed across his face, but it was accompanied by a fierce need that made my skin prick.

“We are on the way to my place. Once we get there, the dynamic between us will change.”

“My…punishment you mean?”

He nodded once. “You already test me in a way that is unusual. You make me want to give in to you.”

“Is that so bad?”

There was no humor on his face. “Yes.”

He pulled on the cuffs of his shirt, beneath his jacket, and holy hell, my body went into overdrive. Just like the night he folded his shirt sleeves, something about the way he exercised his dominance in the most subtly intent manner had me trembling.