She had been just another warm body.
He sat at his desk, the phone receiver in his hand. She’d forgotten he was on an overseas call to Japan. Not that she really gave a damn at the moment. She let all the hurt she was feeling sound in her voice. “What? I don’t even rate a dozen roses to go with my kiss-off gift?”
“I’m sorry, Osaka, Miss Trent apparently needs my attention right away.” He listened to the voice on the other end of the line for a moment then responded in English.
“I agree, submissives sometimes do not remember their place.” He wasn’t smiling as he disconnected the call.
“What is this?” Macy shook the black box at him.
“Why don’t you open it and see, Miss Trent.”
“I don’t need to, Mr. Quinn. It’s a tennis bracelet, isn’t it? The same piece of jewelry you give all your women when you’re done with them.”
“Our month is almost up. I thought you deserved a bonus. Especially since you took to the harness so well.”
She slung the box at him. It fell on his desk, opening as it slid across the smooth surface. A golden chain holding a tiny diamond studded replica of a bondage harness cascaded out of the box. He picked it up, his finger smoothing over the pendant.
“You’re not the first woman I’ve wanted, Miss Trent. Certainly not the first woman I’ve dominated. Nor do I expect you’ll be the last.” He laid the necklace down.
“That remark wasn’t necessary.” Macy’s voice was stiff with hurt pride at the reminder that she was just one of the many women he’d pleasured.
“Yes, it was,” he retorted calmly. “You want to play house, Miss Trent. And I never will.”
Macy shook her head, suddenly weary of constantly holding her feelings in check. Their time was over. What did she have to lose?
“You don’t understand, do you? I didn’t sign that stupid contract because I needed to let you set the boundaries for our sexual encounters. And I didn’t sign it for the stipend you thought you were going to give my sister.” She swallowed the anguish ripping through her as tears pooled in her eyes. “I signed the damn thing because of you, Logan Quinn. Because I loved you. I wanted to prove to you that you were worthy of love.
“Excuse me?” His voice was deceptively mild.
Macy no longer cared if she drove him away. She realized instantly you couldn’t drive someone away when they were running away of their own free will.
“That’s what you think isn’t it? That’s why you have to be in such control of everything you do. You have to control your company; you have to control sex. You control the few women you allow in your life by having them sign a damn contract before you’ll make love to them.” She made a cutting motion with her hand. “Oh, wait, the mighty Logan Quinn doesn’t make love. He has sex. Consensual sex where both parties get exactly what they need. Did you get what you needed from me, Logan?”
She moved toward the door, her hand on the knob as she looked back at him. “At first I thought you were just a cold, heartless bastard, but that’s not it.” She took a deep breath, her body trembling in her anger and pain. “You’re afraid to let your emotions out and you’re afraid to let anyone in. You’re simply a coward, Mr. Quinn.”
She looked at him once last time then left the room, shutting the door quietly behind her.
*****
A week later, Macy sat on her couch, clicking through the dozens of channels on her television. Nothing captured her attention, which wasn’t surprising since all her thoughts were about Logan and the things she’d said. And the things he hadn’t.
What was he doing? Had he already found someone else to sign another contract? When she’d walked out last Friday, she’d taken her purse and her dignity but left her heart. She’d walked down the hallway, hoping against hope he’d stop her. That he’d felt something for her during the last month. Now she had to face facts. Her body had merely interested him for a brief period of time.
She wished she’d left a month earlier.
Her doorbell sounded and she got up slowly. No doubt her sister had come for another visit. Allison was so full of excitement and anticipation about medical school. She’d gotten into her top choice and apparently won a full scholarship. The scholarship had been unexpected but more than welcome news even though Macy still didn’t quite believe it was a great as it sounded. Who got a full ride to medical school? If she’d learned anything during the last month, it was there were always strings attached. Logan had stripped her of her innocence in more ways than one.
She looked through the peephole expecting to see her sister, longing to see Logan. Foolish, foolish woman. That was not going to happen. She was taken aback to see Henry Stewart. She yanked open the door knowing Logan had sent the attorney because she’d returned the money which had been deposited into her bank account the day she’d quit.
“Miss Trent.”
“What do you want?”
He cleared his throat. “Mr. Quinn asked me to talk to you about the terms of the contract.”
Macy huffed and walked back into her living room, leaving him to follow or not. She slouched back down on the end of the couch and resumed flipping channels. Her apartment was tiny compared to Logan’s luxurious penthouse so she hoped the attorney didn’t mind slumming. “You can tell Mr. Quinn that I am not taking the money.”
“Mr. Quinn suggested I might be able to persuade you differently.”
“Well, let’s all make sure to obey Mr. Quinn.” Macy felt her face flush when she remembered the commands he had given her.
Please get on your knees, Miss Trent.
Spread your legs wider, Macy
Damn it, suck harder.
“The contract is perfectly legal and binding. The money is yours.”
“I don’t want it.” Macy rested her head against the back of the couch, feeling every one of her twenty-seven years and then some. Not that she’d had a hard life, but suddenly it seemed more than she could bear. She closed her eyes trying to control the tears that had gathered.
“I know. When Logan asked me to draw up the contract I advised him strongly against giving you such a large amount of money. But after I met you, I knew you’d never take it.”
Macy looked up to discover him still hovering over her.
“We both know you signed the contract for very different reasons.” He turned to walk out of her apartment, then stopped and laid a business card on coffee table. “If you ever need anything, Miss Trent, a job reference, legal advice, bail money…anything. Please feel free to contact me.”
Macy watched the man leave feeling that one day soon she would probably have to take him up on that offer. But right now, learning to forget Logan was going to be a full time job.
*****
Logan poured himself into work as never before. He brokered deal after deal, relishing the control he could exert over the two sides to bring them together. It was the only place in his life he felt he had any control left.
He braced himself as he walked through his apartment door. He’d come to expect the quick rush of footsteps as Macy ran toward him at the end of the day. Or the smell of food cooking in the kitchen he’d never used except to pour himself a cup of coffee. Hell, he’d basically let Macy move in with him.
And now he was paying the price.
As he walked through the door, his home had never seemed so lonely and cold.
Unknotting his tie he placed his briefcase on the floor by the door. In the same spot Macy had left the first sets of lingerie he’d bought her when she’d left after their weekend together. He’d deliberately made a cruel comment that day. He’d wanted her away from him as quickly as possible so he’d attacked her where she was most vulnerable. Her luscious curves. Why had she even believed him? He’d stayed so hard for her that weekend. And every day since.
Grabbing a bottle of liquor from the cabinet, he poured himself a drink. He didn’t care what it was as long as it helped wash away the pain. Logan felt as if he’d sold
his soul to the devil and cursed himself to spend the next thousand years in the fiery depths of hell.
The doorbell rang and he frowned. He’d ordered dinner on his way from the office but it couldn’t possibly have gotten here by now.
He pulled open the door. A security guard stood there, his father beside him.
“Sorry to disturb you, Mr. Quinn, but this gentleman insisted that he see you.”
The two men stared at each other and Logan almost slammed the door in his father’s face. He didn’t want to deal with this bullshit. Not now.
“Would you like me to escort him out of the building?”
“No.”
The guard got back on the elevator and Logan waited until the doors had closed before he spoke. “What do you want, Dad?”
“Don’t you have enough manners to ask your old man in?”
As usual his father tried to skirt around the issue. When he’d been growing up, Logan had never known when they were being transferred until the movers had come to pack up their belongings.
He turned and walked back through the apartment. If he stayed by the door his father would end up with a fist in his face.
“You know you’re suppose to contact Stewart if you need money.” Even though Logan despised his father and the rotten childhood he’d had, he was still his father as Macy had pointed out and Logan had always felt some sense of obligation toward his remaining parent.
He watched the man who had raised him through narrowed eyes wondering what he was up to.
“I just wanted to tell you they’re forcing me to retire.”
Logan took another drink. “How ironic. The one thing that cost you your wife and your son is kicking you to the curb.”
His father wiped his hand over his mouth. “Is that girl a part of your life now?”
“What girl?”
“The one who wouldn’t let me in.”
“Her name is Macy.”
His father shrugged. “I always told you there was no sense remembering their names.”
Logan had to sit down as his father’s words washed over him. Dear God, he was a cold, unfeeling bastard. He didn’t remember the names of all the women he’d slept with. Now, now he wasn’t sure he’d ever forget Macy’s.
“I’m thinking of staying here in Houston.”
Logan took a good look at his father. He looked old and worn, much older than his fifty-five years. Would that be him in another twenty years? He wouldn’t have a son. Not even one who couldn’t stand the sight of him.
He didn’t like that picture of the future. He put down his drink. It was time to take control once again.
“Houston is as good as any city.” That was as much of an olive branch he could offer his father at the moment.
*****
Five days later, Logan stood in front of his closet mirrors, putting on his tie. His cell phone rang and he went to answer it, expecting to hear his attorney’s voice. He’d ask the man to do several things for him and was anxious to have the results.
His hands stilled and he smiled. Logan Quinn anxious. That was a first. A first of many new things. He hoped.
“Mr. Quinn? Mr. Logan Quinn?”
“Yes, who is this?” he barked, not recognizing the voice. His precarious control had declined steadily in the last week. Macy’s image haunted him and there was no escape. She was everywhere he looked. Her empty office. His empty bed.
“This is Doctor Rinehart with the Houston Medical Center. You appear to be listed as the emergency contact for a Miss Macy Trent.”
Logan’s heart froze. “What happened?”
“So you are acquainted with Miss Trent?”
“Yes, dammit, now tell me what the fuck happened.” Something inside Logan snapped. The last of the rigid control he’d held over his emotions broke at the thought of Macy being hurt. And every bit of the anguish, torment, and loneliness he’d suffered as a child was nothing compared to the feelings flooding through him now. Macy. The only true joy he’d ever known.
“She was involved in an automobile acc–”
“I’m on my way.”
He called Jim from the elevator telling him to meet him out front instead of the garage. The feelings coursing through him felt like a thousand razor blades cutting through his gut and he knew there was no getting control of them ever again.
*****
“Really, Allison, I know you want to be a doctor, but you are not practicing on me.” Macy pushed her younger sister away and tried to sit up.
“No, no. You have to lay there. Just a few more minutes.” Allison walked to the curtain surrounding the emergency room cubicle and looked out, something she’d done several times in the last half hour. The two girls had been taken to the hospital after a car had broadsided them a few miles from their home.
Macy picked up her discarded pants. “I want to go home. Now.” Her t-shirt was torn and covered with blood, but the nurse had been kind enough to give her a scrub top to wear home. She’d left her apartment dressed like a bum but she didn’t care. She didn’t care about anything anymore.
Allison rushed back to the bed, taking the pants from her. “No, you can’t change clothes yet.”
Macy still didn’t know what had happened today. One minute she’d been riding in the car with her sister and the next, glass had been flying everywhere and the sound of screaming had filled the air.
Luckily the two Trent sisters had not been badly injured when a drunken driver had run a red light, smashing into the side of their car. He’d hit the backside passenger side—Macy’s side of the car. She had several abrasions, a nasty headache, and no doubt would be covered in bruises for several days. Allison had fared much better sustaining only mild bruising.
“You’re not the one covered in blood.” She yanked the pants back and pulled them on then removed her shirt. That made her dizzy so she sat back down. She had a shallow cut on her neck and another on her arm plus a more severe one on her breast which had required stiches. It was also the one that had caused all the blood stains.
She wanted to get back home. To sit on her couch and veg out in front of the television. She didn’t want to look for another job. She didn’t want to go stay with her family. She just wanted to be left alone to wallow in her misery.
“You can’t leave now. Please wait just a few more minutes.” Allison gestured for her to lie down even as she continued to look through the curtains.
Macy’s eyes narrowed on her sister. “What have you done, Allison Trent?”
Her question was cut short by a roar that sounded from outside.
“Where the hell is she!”
Logan. Her heart skipped a beat.
A second later the curtain to her cubby was yanked back. Several of the metal clips holding it in place gave way under the force. Two nurses followed on Logan’s heels, anxiously urging him in loud whispers to keep it down or he’d have to be escorted from the hospital.
“Like hell,” he snarled, taking in Macy’s bruised and bloody form. He turned back to the nurses, growling viciously. “Get the damned doctor in here.” When they didn’t move, he yelled, “Now!”
The nurses left and Allison went with them, giving her sister a grin.
Macy held her shirt against her breasts.
Logan’s eyes roamed over her dirty face, blood streaked neck, and torn t-shirt and she could have sworn he paled.
“Where the hell is that doctor?”
Macy had never seen this Logan before. Agitated, frustrated…scared. Her mind couldn’t process this human side of him. She was fascinated by what she saw.
Seconds later, the emergency room doctor who’d patched her up came in.
“I’m Doctor Rinehart. Is there a problem here?”
Logan stopped his pacing and turned to the shorter man. “There will be soon if someone doesn’t tell me why no one is taking care of my fiancée.”
Fiancée? Macy felt faint again. The blow to her head must have caused more damage than she’d t
hought.
“Aahh, Mr. Quinn, I presume.” The doctor flipped open Macy’s chart. “Let me put your mind at ease. Miss Trent has various abrasions, several stitches in her left breast, and a decent sized knot on the left side of her head. She does not have a concussion or any broken bones.” He closed the chart. “All in all, I would say she is one lucky woman. It could have been a lot worse.”
Macy saw Logan clench his hands and close his eyes before he drew in a few deep breaths. Had the doctor’s words upset him?
“When can I take her home?”
“I am not going home with you!” Macy finally found her voice.
One dark brow lifted in the way she loved. “You can and you are, Miss Trent.”
Oh, that look in his eyes.
Macy crossed her arms, then winced in pain as the movement pulled at the stitches in her breast.
The doctor smothered his grin, now understanding why the younger woman had insisted he place the call to the mysterious Logan Quinn. “She can leave any time she’s ready. The nurse will be in to give you some aftercare instructions. I’ll just leave you two to, umm, discuss, the travel arrangements.” He left the cubicle, pulling the curtain closed behind him.
“Do you need help getting dressed?”
“Allison can help me as soon as you leave.”
“Afraid I’ll see something I haven’t before?”
Macy couldn’t control her blush, but she kept her voice even as she responded. She wasn’t going to let him see how much he affected her. “No, you’ve seen it all,” she replied matter-of-factly. “But our contract is over so there’s no need for you to see it again. I don’t know why you’re here, but–”
“Hush and let me see.” He reached for her t-shirt and she batted his hand away.
“No.”
“Let me see.” His eyes took on the dark grey of tempered steel. “When I give you an order, Miss Trent, you will obey.”
How could he arouse her with just a look?
“I am no longer your submissive and am under no obligation to obey your every command.” Even the injuries to her body from the wreck didn’t hurt half as much as her heart. It was broken.
Bound by the Texas Billionaire (BBW Erotica) (Billionaire BDSM) (Billionaire Domination) Page 10