His Contract: Legally Bound, Book 1

by Rebecca Grace Allen

  Jack loomed over her, his lips turned up in a wicked smile.

  “This is called edging. Still think it’s easy?”

  She could only whimper in reply. By the time the dinner hour rolled around, she was shaking, hunched in a chair at the dining room table. Jack grinned at her over the Chinese food he’d ordered.

  “Something you want to say to me?”

  His eyes were alight with mischief, but Lilly was so strung out, she didn’t even have the capacity for sarcasm. When the timer went off again at nine, she sagged to the playroom floor. The rope and rabbit hair flogger were next to her spot.

  “Please,” she whispered. “I can’t take it.”

  “Yes, you can.” Jack pressed his palm to her sternum, gently pushing her down on her back. “You can, and you will.”

  He spread her legs, bending them at the knee so her feet were flush against her bottom, then tied her wrists to her ankles. Even the feeling of the twine made her jump. When she was fully bound, Jack chased the flogger over her skin before sliding two fingers inside her. Lilly fought the spasms that ripped through her as he slowly pumped in and out, her toes curled, body straining in her binds.

  Seconds before she peaked, he stopped. She snapped her head up in anger.

  “Look at the fire in those eyes.” Jack’s grin was smug as he untied her. “Get on the bed.”

  Lilly stood on shaky legs and stumbled back onto the bed. She’d never needed to come so badly in her life. She had half a mind to finish the job herself. Jack bent over her, his fists on either side of her hips, grazing her sides.

  “You can give me that indignant glare all you want. My will is stronger than your petulance.”

  She narrowed her eyes and brought a hand down to cup her swollen flesh.

  “Go ahead,” he said. “I dare you.”

  Lilly’s heart hammered, her chest heaving. Fuck, she needed relief, but she didn’t want to defy him. With a grimace that bordered on tears, she tore her hand away.

  “That’s what I thought.” Jack walked to the armoire and plucked something from it. “You know how much I like it when you challenge me, when you show me how strong and feisty you are.”

  He turned around and kept his hand behind his back.

  “But you like having your power taken away. You get your satisfaction from being broken and tamed.” He leaned down to whisper in her ear, “And I will break you, little girl.”

  She shivered, sure she could come from his words alone. But then Jack’s arm snaked back around, revealing a pair of nipple clamps in his palm. Lilly shrank away, her arousal dampening at the memory of their painful bite.

  “I know you’re afraid of them, but show me how brave you are.” Jack’s tone softened as he caressed her cheek with his other hand. “You showed me before with the wheel. You can do it again. Show me what you can take, and I’ll let you come right now.”

  She moaned in agony. He was going to break her, take her apart until she was nothing but want and need and desperation. She eyed the clamps warily, and Jack cocked his head to one side, asking without words if she was all right.

  The sudden intimacy made her realize she was all right. She was more than all right.

  “Green,” she said and arched up, the offering of her body prompting a flicker of acknowledgement in Jack’s eyes. He dangled the chain over one of her nipples, and Lilly drew in a sharp breath, her hips flexing without her permission. She hadn’t expected it to feel good, but the cold metal on her sensitized skin drove a hot spike of pleasure through her.

  Jack repeated the motion on her other nipple, then bent down to capture it between his lips, suckling until her head fell back. She was panting by the time he pulled his mouth away, tugged the pert nub with his thumb and forefinger and closed the clamp over it. Lilly hissed at the sharp pinch, but it was nothing like the nauseating agony she remembered. The sensation dissipated into something oddly decadent as Jack nuzzled and kissed her other breast, clamping the tightened point on that one too. He pulled back to look at her, his eyes hungry, but full of admiration too.

  “You’re beautiful,” he said, running a fingertip down her belly.

  “Please, Sir,” she begged. “No more teasing. I can’t—”

  “Shhh.” He stopped and pulled off his clothes. Lifting one of her legs until her ankle was balanced on his shoulder, he slid into her in one smooth thrust. The feeling of him filling that aching spot inside her was relief and torment at the same time, the release she’d been chasing all day suddenly bearing down on her.

  He hooked a finger around the chain between the clamps and gently pulled. Lilly trembled violently, the combination of his slow thrusts and the bite of metal on her flesh keeping her balanced on the pointed edge between pleasure and pain. When he brought his thumb to her clit, she cried out, shaking her head wildly.

  “Please let me come, Sir.”

  “Tell me you’re mine.”

  “I’m yours, Sir.”

  She didn’t say it because he told her to. It was simply the truth.

  “Come for me, little girl.”

  Lilly clenched and flew apart. She was his and she was broken and mended and would never be the same again. She was in too deep, treading waters she told herself she wouldn’t swim, but when Jack’s eyes met hers before he lost himself inside her, she knew it would be different this time.

  It had to be.

  Jack woke up on Sunday to the sound of odd thumps downstairs. Opening his eyes, he recognized it as the kitchen cabinets opening and closing. Still drowsy, his mind sputtered. Was Eve cooking breakfast?

  Remorse cut through him as awareness returned. It wasn’t Eve downstairs. It was Lilly.

  Jack covered his face with his hands and took a breath, trying to force the heartache away, but the memory was a splinter in his skin, pushing up toward the surface, refusing to be ignored.

  He washed up and went downstairs, quietly checking the playroom first. It was pristine, the bed made, the toys cleaned and laid out to dry on a towel on the nightstand. Clearly, Lilly was an overachiever on all fronts. He made his way to the kitchen and found her on her tiptoes, her arms stretched above her head as she peered into a high cabinet.

  “Searching for buried treasure?”

  Lilly spun around in surprise, then put her hands on her hips. “I’m starving and there’s nothing here to eat. Don’t you ever cook?”

  Her question hit home. Hard.

  “I’m not usually much of a breakfast person.” If she noticed a change in his expression, she didn’t say anything. He gestured toward the fridge. “There’s some bread in there for toast.”

  “We finished it.”

  Her grin was light, but Jack felt lousy all the same. Shame on him. Of course she’d need to eat after how much energy they’d expended the day before. He rifled through a drawer, looking for a takeout menu.

  “I can pick something up. There’s a good bagel spot by campus.”

  “Nah, it’s okay.” Lilly poured them both fresh coffee, something else she’d apparently accomplished before he woke up. “I was going to go for a run anyway. It’s not much fun to do that on a full stomach.”

  “A run?”

  A shy, confident smile turned up the corners of her mouth. “I started again.”

  “Oh. Great.” Jack reached for his mug without joining her. “I have some work to do, so if you like, I’ll give you a key and we’ll figure out food when you get back.”

  He found the spare key, which Lilly accepted with a polite thank you before going upstairs. Jack suddenly realized the error in his planning—he usually worked in Josh’s room, but he wasn’t about to invade the privacy he’d promised her. The coffee table in the living room would have to do.

  He’d just spread his papers out when Lilly came downstairs, headphones in her ears. She waved and headed out the door. J
ack pulled back the blinds, watching as she warmed up and jogged out of sight.

  He dropped back against the couch, envious of her youth, of having energy to spare. The stiffness in his body reminded him those years were firmly in the past. The lust-crazed fog he’d been in for the last thirty-six hours was catching up with him. As was the confusion he’d woken up with.

  Jack closed his eyes, the heavy weight of guilt like an anvil on his sternum. He hadn’t anticipated how Lilly’s presence in the house all weekend would make him react. Mistaking her for Eve this morning felt like the ultimate in unfaithfulness.

  It was too much to deal with, and he let sleep claim him.

  Groggy, he awoke a short time later from sounds in the kitchen once again. There was a clanging and a thump, then the rush of running water, followed by clicking noises he recognized as the gas burner coming on. Puzzled, he lumbered into the kitchen. Lilly was surrounded by pots, bags of groceries halfway unpacked on the island.

  “What are you doing?”

  She looked up from the stove and grinned. “Making lunch. Or a banquet, apparently. I was hungrier than I thought, and since I passed a store on my run, I thought I’d cook us something.”

  Good God, she was cooking for him.

  Jack gaped and walked unsteadily toward her, one hand pressed to his chest.

  “I had my credit card on me so I got as much as I could carry,” she continued. “I got more than we needed, but I wanted you to have some decent food in here. You need to eat things that don’t come in a paper box.”

  Her smile was bright, but it disappeared when her eyes met his.

  “Was this the wrong thing to do?” she asked quickly, putting down a box of pasta. “You said be myself in here, and I—”

  “No, no, no.” Jack pulled her into a tight embrace. “It’s just I can’t believe you… It’s been so long since…” But he couldn’t finish what he was saying and buried his face in her hair. “Thank you.”

  She put her arms around him. “You’re welcome.”

  He pulled back and stroked the hair off her forehead, the tug of grief he’d felt earlier vanishing into a feeling of wonder at her gesture. He wanted to kiss her, to find some way to tell her how much she meant to him when the doorbell rang.

  Jack glanced over his shoulder. Two tiny faces were pressed against the glass by the front door. His stomach bottomed out. “Shit. It’s Brady and the girls.”

  “What are they doing here?”

  “They sometimes come over unexpectedly. Shit!” The bell rang again. “Hide the cat, okay? I’ll think of something.”

  He went to the door, opening it to Allegra and Hope yelling, “Surprise!”

  Brady nudged them inside, one hand grasping a bag full of food while the other held his Wii console and games. “It’s not a surprise when we’ve been ringing the doorbell for a half hour. What the hell took you so long?”

  “Language, Brady,” Sam said as she came up behind him. The girls ran down the hall and her gaze followed them. Her mouth dropped open slightly in surprise. “Oh. We didn’t know you had…company.”

  Jack started to panic, his mind going blank, but then Lilly appeared next to him, perfectly at ease. “Hey, Brady. What a weird coincidence.”

  Jack’s brother stepped into the foyer, his brow pressed low. “It sure is…weird.”

  Lilly laughed. “I know! I was going for a run—it turns out I don’t live far from here—and I passed by Jack when he was bringing groceries in from his car. I offered to help carry them and then we started talking about this awful case I’ve got at work. He had such helpful advice, I decided to make him lunch.”

  She was so convincing, her tone so cheerful, that Jack almost found himself believing her too.

  “Well, then,” Brady said, eyeing Jack. “I guess we didn’t need to bring lunch over after all, since you’ve finally gotten some food for yourself.”

  Before Jack could answer, Allegra came to Lilly’s side.

  “You’re pretty,” she announced. “I’m Allegra and that’s my sister, Hope. What’s your name?”

  “I’m Lilly. My brother Nick is a friend of your dad’s.”

  Allegra tilted her head in consideration. “Do you know how to play Just Dance? Daddy brought ours from home.”

  “I haven’t played it before, but I’d be happy to try after lunch.”

  She cheered, grabbed Lilly’s hand and towed her back toward the kitchen. Samantha followed, and Brady raised his eyebrows at Jack as they brought up the rear.

  “She really needed help with this case,” he insisted.

  Brady finally shrugged. “All right. Cool. Nick said she was a great cook. Let’s eat.”

  Jack closed the door and exhaled quietly, thankful they’d all bought the lie. In the kitchen, the girls were poking through the boxes and jars on the island. Anxiety lurched through him as he scanned it for the contract he’d never put away. Lilly caught his eye and then glanced purposefully at a drawer. She must have slipped it in there when she’d unpacked all the food.

  He held her gaze for a moment longer, hoping she could see how grateful he was, but then something unexpected flashed on her face—a brief flicker of pain. He didn’t know what to make of it, but she quickly pasted on a smile and turned to Samantha, launching into small talk as they prepared lunch together.

  The afternoon passed in a crescendo of conversations, food and laughter. The meal Lilly cooked was delicious, and as she played with the girls, fitting in so easily among his family, Jack sat back in amazement. She danced and talked with a confidence so unlike the wounded, timid woman he’d met months ago, and he loved the way she seemed to shine. It made him hate himself for what they were doing, because as certain as he was that this would never work out in the long run, he didn’t think he could let her go.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Lilly got to work late on Monday morning and rushed past reception, hoping no one would notice her, which wasn’t likely.

  No one did. Which was odd.

  The office was bizarrely silent. Even the admins were absent from the kitchen and perched dutifully at their desks. Lilly rounded the corner and found Cassie pacing outside the conference room. Gabe and Forrester were inside, Charles Mahoney seated across from them. There seemed to be some kind of silent standoff happening, a staring contest that had probably started when Forrester and Mahoney were in law school and never stopped.

  “It’s almost nine,” Cassie hissed as she pulled Lilly to the side. “Where have you been?”

  “I overslept.”

  She left it at that, not wanting to explain that her brain wouldn’t shut off when she’d gotten home from Jack’s the night before. Or the fact that she’d woken up disoriented, the sun too bright for the time she’d thought it was, Rumbles’s paws on her chest as he stared down at her, waiting for food. Realizing she’d overslept, she’d jumped out of bed, unable to shake the nightmare that blared in her mind.

  It was different than the usual fare her subconscious chose to torment her with, and more insidious than any before it had been.

  “What’s Mahoney doing here?” Lilly asked.

  “He was here at eight thirty. Without an appointment.”

  “Why?”

  “No idea, but I’d kill to read lips right now.”

  They both peered into the conference room as Mahoney slid a stack of papers across the table. Forrester glanced at it, then shoved them back abruptly and stood. Gabe followed suit, but Mahoney took his time, leisurely gathering his things.

  He pushed the door open and sauntered into the hall. “My offer stands for the next forty-eight hours. After that, we won’t play nice. My clients mean business.”

  Gabe snorted. “The best way to enter their kind of business is to be made into it.”

  Mahoney looked amused. “You’ve groomed this one well, my
friend. Is your whole team equally as clever?”

  Forrester’s gaze darted to Lilly and Cassie. “Some more than others.”

  “Well, just make sure you’ve taught them how it feels to lose a fight.”

  “I’ve never had to before. Why should I start now?”

  “We’ll see.” Mahoney strode down the hall. “Forty-eight hours, old friend. And then it’s war.” He turned the corner, and Forrester’s knifelike glare settled on Lilly and Cassie.

  “Would you two please join me and Mr. Hartley? Now?”

  Cassie gripped Lilly’s elbow when he turned on his heel. “We’re dead.”

  “Please don’t say that.”

  Inside the conference room, Gabe had returned to his seat. He was slunk down low, eyes closed, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. Cassie reached for the papers Mahoney left behind and flipped through them.

  “It’s a settlement agreement.”

  “Thank you for stating the obvious, Ms. Allbright. I’m glad your contracts class at least prepared you for something.” Forrester braced his hands on the table. “What I’d like to know is why Mahoney marched into my house, threatened my client, and I have nothing to throw back at him?”

  His tirade stopped people in the hallway outside the conference room in their tracks. Cassie dropped the papers back onto the table and wilted into a chair.

  Gabe’s hand dropped from his face. “We’ve gone through every piece of documentation. Every line of testimony. We don’t have anything.”

  Lilly paged through the abandoned agreement. The conditions were that Simon admit he stole the formula and close down his lab. In return, the Giordanos would drop the suit. Accepting this would destroy everything he’d worked for.

  She looked up to find Forrester’s cold glare centered entirely on her.

  “Then go find me something,” he snapped and stormed out. Lilly’s face burned.

  Gabe sighed. “Ignore him, hon. He just doesn’t like being shown up like that. This isn’t about you. You’re doing great.”