“It’s very hard to turn over a new leaf. If you are to be successful in this venture, a degree of self-control will be required.”
“I’m perfectly capable of looking out for myself,” she said with regal dismissiveness.
“I look forward to witnessing it.”
“Well you will,” she retorted hotly, realizing too late how defensive she’d sounded in response to his calm manner. She bristled, self-doubt and uncertainty rising in her when he merely studied her. “But what about . . . the other?”
“The other?” he asked, eyebrows going up. Helplessness twined with excitement in her chest. She had never been so confused by a man in her life.
“You were insinuating you wanted us to . . .” She trailed off as she lamely pointed at him, herself, and him again in a joining gesture. Join how, precisely? He wasn’t saying. Her desperation grew when he didn’t rush to assist her. “Do you want me, Lucien?”
“Of course I want you. You’re the most tempting creature I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
Her mouth fell open in shock at that. He was usually so stoic, so understated. Nothing could have taken her more off guard than his bald admission.
“You sent me away. In Paris, that night.” She listened to her heart pounding in the silence that followed.
“I didn’t send you away because I didn’t want you, Elise. I sent you away because you’re dangerous.”
“To your person?” she laughed.
“To my peace of mind. You’re like a thorn in a man’s flesh,” he muttered. “But none of that matters now. You walked in here today, and as I said, I think you were telling me something significant by doing that. Don’t you?”
She found it hard to meet his steady stare. “Maybe,” she conceded breathlessly.
“I’m not asking you to leave. If you go, it’ll be by your choice.”
Something about his honesty helped her find her courage. “You must know I’m attracted to you as well. I have been for as long as I can remember,” she admitted shakily.
His body jerked slightly. He caught himself and remained unmoving. For a split second, she thought he was going to straighten and . . . do something. Hold her?
“I will be the one to set the rules, Elise,” he said instead.
“Why?” she asked, back to being bewildered.
“Because it’s in my nature to be the dominant during sex.”
She just stared at him. A frisson of excitement went through her belly and flickered between her thighs.
“Surely you know about such proclivities?” he prompted.
She swallowed thickly. Yes, she knew. Not by direct experience. Typically, Elise liked to be the one to call the shots. Not in a dominatrix manner. It’s just that she typically got her own way, and that included sexual interaction. What Lucien said had struck her as both alien and exciting at once.
“Of course I do,” she blustered, trying to hide her confusion. She didn’t want him to think she was naïve, but well . . . she was, in many ways. Most of the people who considered her the irrepressible, wild coquine would be shocked to know just how inexperienced she was.
“It’s very simple. You’re very beautiful. I want you. It would give me great pleasure to see you submit, for once in your life. You require discipline,” he said firmly, his mouth curving into a god-awful sexy smile. “Besides, if you are determined to stay in Chicago, I want you close.”
“So you can keep tabs on me? Keep me in line?” she asked, insulted.
“Yes, to be honest.”
Their eyes met and he sobered. “And if we are to see each other, I will be the one to call the shots. Do you agree to this? Can you give up control to me?”
She bit her lip uncertainly. “Will this be an exclusive arrangement?”
“Yes. I won’t be sexually involved with another woman for the time period we are together. I expect sexual fidelity from you as well. In fact, I demand it,” he said in a harder tone with a pointed glance.
Her heart seemed to have swelled past its typical confines and was pressing into her throat. “And just how do you plan on keeping me in line?” she managed sarcastically, still insulted by his insinuation that he wanted to engage in this relationship to control her while she was in Chicago.
“At the moment? I will spank you by hand.”
She noticed him studying her reaction closely and strained for a neutral expression. He heart gave up pretending, however, and started running a race in her chest cavity.
“As I said, even though you may not have been entirely aware of it, I believe that’s why you came here. I want you to know that I won’t put up with your manipulation. I will punish you every time you defy me in the future. I will punish you every time I see you engaging in impulsive or unsafe behaviors. I will discipline you every time you lie to me.”
Nothing could have prepared her for what he’d said. The word punishment took on layers of new meaning when uttered in Lucien’s low, sexy voice . . . dark, forbidden, exciting complexities. Part of her was shocked, and yet another part wasn’t surprised at all.
She laughed incredulously, even though panic started to rise in her as she observed his calm, unruffled manner.
“You’re flipping mad,” she breathed out, hiding her bewilderment.
He regarded her through a hooded gaze.
“Those are my terms. I have told you that I want you. But I won’t have you running amok in my life if you plan to live in Chicago. One, I don’t need the drama. Two, I couldn’t abide witnessing it.” Her breath caught when she heard the emotion ringing in his compelling voice. “If your spoiled, oversexed mother was too weak to teach you to control yourself, and your father was too self-involved to bother, then someone has to do it. When you strutted into this restaurant today like you owned the place, you made that someone me.