“Dead serious,” Erin confirmed.
“Hand it over,” she said.
“Cream or sugar?” Cade asked.
“Black.” Her fingers brushed Cade’s and something potent went through her.
Everyone watched as she took a drink.
It started slowly, a burning sensation down her esophagus. Then it spread, up and down, singeing her sinuses, making her stomach plunge. She coughed. Then gasped.
Just in time, she managed to get the mug back onto the table without sloshing the coffee over the rim.
Thompson and Cade shook their heads in mock misery.
“Another one down,” Cade said.
“I’m afraid so, Mr. Donovan.”
“Is that steam coming out of your ears?” Erin asked Sofia.
“I think it could be my brains.”
Cade poured himself a cup and took a long drink before letting out a satisfied sigh. “You sure you don’t want to move out to the Running Wind?”
Cade and Thompson high-fived.
William rapped his cane.
“Anything else?” Thompson asked.
“What more can one man do than be a superhero?” Cade asked.
Rubbing his hands together, Thompson left the room.
“Where were we?” William asked. “Are we getting other bids?”
“I sent Cade all of my information ahead of time, in case he wanted to.”
“One was a no-response,” Cade said. “Another’s quote was incomprehensible. If someone else wants to be in charge, they’re welcome to. But I’m not working with multiple vendors.”
“We saw the job she did for Connor and Lara,” Erin replied. “And we’re already six months behind on this. And since it was your idea, Granddaddy, you’re welcome to be in charge. Maybe Grandma Libby might help.”
“Barn needs some updating before the event,” Cade added. “Rotted timbers, paint. That kind of thing.”
“Do we have any full-time positions at Donovan Worldwide?” the Colonel demanded. “I’m going to have go to back to work to pay these bills.”
“And what he means is, thank you for such a comprehensive proposal,” Erin said.
“That’s exactly what he meant,” Cade added.
Sofia worked to hide her grin.
She brainstormed a few more ideas with them, then asked, “Do you have guest lists?”
“I’m still going over that,” Erin said. “In fact, I’m meeting with Thompson later for his suggestions.”
“I can get a save-the-date card going.”
“Is that in the budget?” the Colonel demanded.
“Yes, sir. Under logistics. Up to you if you want to do both an email blast and a printed card. Or we can save money and only use email. At any rate, we’ll need a graphic designer.”
“Please,” Erin said. “Let’s get it going. Email as well as print. Maybe two hundred and fifty of those?”
They discussed the time of the event then William Donovan stood. “How long are you staying, Cade?”
“Heading back.”
“Did you fly?”
“Too short of notice.”
“You coming for next week’s family meeting?”
“That’s a possibility.”
The Colonel nodded and drew his bushy eyebrows together.
But Cade was looking directly at Sofia.
She swallowed. Was he honestly considering coming to Houston because of her?
Erin confirmed that she’d be available if Sofia needed anything, and she promised that the family would discuss all events and have the contract signed by next week.
“Thank you.”
Erin followed her grandfather from the room, leaving her alone with Cade.
“When are you back in Corpus Christi?”
“Midweek.”
“Come to the ranch.”
“Why?” She frowned. “Is there something I missed?”
“Come because I want you to.”
Breath heated her lungs, making her lightheaded.
“We can have dinner in Waltham. Or I can throw something on the grill.”
“I’d prefer that,” she replied. And with the answer, she realized she’d agreed to see him.
“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”
She didn’t dare confess she felt the same way. “You could have called,” she said instead, letting him know it had mattered to her.
“Then I would have had to decide what to say.”
She was tempted to lick her lip, but she didn’t want to betray herself.
“And I might have used an excuse instead of telling you that I want you on my medical table.”
Sofia pressed her hands together.
“I want to lick your cunt and make you come while you’re helplessly bound. I want to rip orgasm after orgasm from you.”
Unbelievably, she was getting turned on.
“Tell me you’ll come.”
“I have a busy week.” Even though she knew what her schedule looked like, she decided to stall by pulling out her phone and opening the calendar app. In order to free up time, she could start the week in San Antonio then go onto Corpus Christi. It meant leaving home on Sunday afternoon rather than Monday morning, but the change was possible. “I could be there Tuesday afternoon.”
“That will work.”
His slow smile did quirky things to her insides.
“Pack a bag.”
Which was his way of inviting her to spend the night. And her response was her way of agreeing. “Since I spend several days a week on the road, I always have a bag with me.”
“Do you get tired of it?”
“Not usually. Windshield time is synonymous with creativity for me. Because my brain is free, I put things together in ways I can’t when I’m near a computer. It helps me to see the business and strategy as a whole, rather than focusing on problems at a particular branch.”
“I get impatient when I’m in a vehicle.”
“Doesn’t surprise me. Bet you’re not impatient on the back of a horse.”
“Perceptive,” he said.
He moved closer and put one hand in her hair. With his free hand, he stroked the column of her throat.
“Hey, I forgot…”
The sound of a female voice startled them both. Sofia took a quick step away from Cade’s grip.
“Oh,” said Erin. “It’s like that, is it?” Her eyes were wide.
“Get lost, pest,” Cade said.
“Yeah. I can see you’re occupied.”
“Five seconds to get out.”
“Come see me?”
“Three seconds.”
“Fine. Fine.” She held up her hands. “My office.”
“Out.”
Sofia scooped up her folder and stuffed papers back inside.
“I apologize for embarrassing you,” he said.
“I’m…”
“What?”
“I don’t want her to think this is why I’m getting the bid.”
A grin made the corners of his mouth twitch. “She saw you in action last weekend.”
“Cade…”
“What?” He took her shoulders and stared at her intently.
“I don’t want…” She took a breath. “I’ve told you before, I’m not in your league. I wasn’t going to mention this, but my mother was a server for your grandparents’ events.”
“And? Almost everyone works somewhere. If you think anyone is judging you, I’m offended on their behalf.”
“Do you mean that?”
“Erin wants me to be happy. My grandfather wants me to be more involved with Donovan Worldwide. If you’re responsible for either of those things happening, my family is going to build a shrine to you. Mention this again and I will paddle you.” He punctuated his statement with a sharp nod.
She exhaled and he slowly released his grip on her shoulders.
“I brought you something.”
She wanted to vanish when he pulled a sleek metal butt pl
ug from his pocket. The base had dozens of glittery amber jewels that she might have found pretty under other circumstances.
Instead of reaching for it, she stared at it in horror.
“I want you to have it in when you arrive at the Running Wind.”
She looked at him, eyes wide, scandalized. “You want me to drive with it in? You want me sitting on it for hours?”
“Yeah. And call me so I can fantasize about it.” He paused. “Will you do that?”
“I am making no promises.”
He curled her hand around it.
Her heart was in her throat and she could think of nothing but the weight of the thing in her palm. “Cade.”
“Think about it. You’ll need lube. Plenty of it. And some patience.”
She couldn’t believe they were even talking about this. “It about twenty times bigger than the one you made me wear the other day.”
“Twenty-five.” Then he grinned. “Really, it’s not.” He held up a finger. “About twice the size that you had up there. And it’s still smaller than my dick.”
“Oh no. No, no, no, no, no, no. No. And if you missed the memo, hell no.”
* * * *
Sofia was still thinking about it hours later, even after they’d said goodbye, even when she was in a meeting with Zoe.
Zoe snapped her fingers in front of Sofia’s face.
It took that to jolt away the image of Cade’s smile that had been haunting her.
“So the deal’s signed?”
“Next week. But we have a tentative agreement.”
Zoe nodded.
“We need to get going on a save-the-date announcement. And they seemed to like the Denim and Dazzle theme.”
Zoe gave her a high-five. “Are you going to get the graphics done, or do you want me to chat with the designer?”
“Go ahead, if you don’t mind. You can send her the presentation and my pictures to get an idea for a font and design. If we can have something by Monday, Tuesday at the latest, that would be great.”
“Another day, another miracle demanded of our people.”
She nodded.
At the end of the day, she drove home, still thinking about Cade, still thinking about the plug that was sitting in the bottom of her purse, as if it were part test, part question. Was she willing to give Cade what he wanted? And what would it cost her to do so?
If she gave into this demand, it would be tantamount to admitting she was willing to be submissive to him.
But for how long? How often? And would she get anything other than heartache in return? Cade had never made any promises, and his words indicated he likely never would.
Not for the first time, common sense urged her to flee, stay way the hell away from him. She wondered if she were smart enough to heed the warning.
Chapter Ten
Loopy blasted past Cade, dashing down the back stairs and leaping over the last one in an effort to get to Sofia first.
She exited the vehicle and he caught a glimpse of her.
Her beautiful, dark hair hung around her shoulders, a tempting invitation. Today she had on a red, come-get-me-and-fuck-me form-fitting T-shirt and a black skirt that hugged her body and left her legs bare, except for short cowboy boots.
Cade got an instant hard-on.
Then, when she crouched to accept Loopy’s enthusiastic greeting, his heart softened a bit.
“Take it easy, mutt,” he commanded when he reached the pair.
Sofia was laughing, rubbing Loopy behind the ears, encouraging the bad behavior. He finally put a hand on the dog’s collar and more forcefully said, “Down.”
With obvious reluctance and heartbreaking whimpers of protest, she plopped her bottom on his foot.
“That’s quite a welcome,” she said.
“You haven’t seen the one I have in store for you yet.”
“Really?” she asked. “Show me?”
Damn. What the hell had he gotten himself into with her?
Until she’d contacted him from the call box at the gate, he hadn’t known how important her visit really was, how bad he had it for this woman.
“You, stay,” he instructed Loopy.
She cocked her head to one side, as if trying to decide whether or not she was going to obey.
He released his grip and the animal raced off, chasing a rabbit.
“She’s very well behaved,” Sofia said.
“I’m lord and master of everything at the Running Wind.”
Sofia raised skeptical eyebrows. Their gazes met and they both smiled.
“When others let me be,” he added.
Then something imperceptible shifted. The air sizzled with supercharged sensuality.
He extended his hand. “Come here.”
She took it, sliding down almost directly into his arms.
Cade kissed her like he meant it. He plunged his tongue into the heat of her mouth, plundering, demanding, tasting, dominating.
He pressed a palm against the middle of her back to hold her close and curved his fingers into her right ass cheek. He was tempted to put his hand between her buttocks and feel for the plug’s hilt. But he resisted. He wanted privacy, wanted to see for himself.
Last Friday in the conference room, when he’d put the stainless-steel plug in her hand, the look on her face had been priceless—part horror, part scandalized.
He’d known that if she complied, it would be a powerful sign of her submission.
Even though they’d talked a couple of times on the phone, she’d never mentioned his request, and he’d tried to guess the thought process she’d been through.
He knew she wasn’t comfortable with anal play, and she’d been correct when she’d pointed out that the metal plug was considerably bigger than the silicone one he’d used on her. The metal was not at all pliable, which meant getting it in would take time and patience. No doubt it would also cause some frustration.
For the last ten hours, since he’d gotten up this morning, he’d wondered whether her desire to please him was stronger than her reluctance.
He’d been with plenty of subs over the years, but he’d never had this kind of emotional reaction to a woman.
After she’d left last week, he’d told himself he was interested in her because she was new to the practice. Everything was novel to her, and he was pleased to be the Dom who introduced it to her.
By Thursday evening, he’d realized it was more than that. He hadn’t stopped thinking about her, and he’d spent an inordinate amount of time considering the numerous ways he wanted to play with her.
His family had been shocked to see him at Donovan Worldwide on Friday. If he were honest, he’d admit that he, too, had been shocked. He hadn’t made the decision until he had been sitting in the turret, with dawn still at least an hour away. He’d remembered being with her in the early morning hours only a couple of days before, the way she’d been nosy about his life, yet at the same time caring, gentle in her questions.
Though he hadn’t told her much about his background, it was more than he’d shared with anyone else.
He’d liked taking Sofia back to bed, fucking her with a tenderness he hadn’t known himself capable of.
There was something about the gorgeous, sassy, determined woman that had stayed with him. And after she’d gone, he’d noticed, really noticed how lonely the house was.
He ended the kiss. Her chest rose and fell quickly as her breaths came in ragged bursts. He fucking loved how she responded to him. “Let’s get you inside,” he said.
Today was one of those rare South Texas days with bright-blue skies and no hint of the prevailing southeast wind to give relief from the relentless June sun and humidity.
He grabbed her bag from the back of the vehicle and she reached into the passenger compartment for her purse.
Once she heard the back door open, Loopy raced across the distance, beat them inside then threw herself down in front of an air-conditioning vent.
“Watching her
exhausts me,” Sofia said.
“Something to drink?” he offered.
“What time is dinner?”
“You hungry?”
“Not really, just trying to decide whether to have wine or iced tea.”
“You’d have to brew the tea.”
“That’s fine.” She opened a cupboard and filled a large glass jar with water.
“What are you doing?”
“Making sun tea.”
He watched her move confidently around his kitchen and he savored having her there. She grabbed tea bags from the cupboard then plopped a handful of them into the jar and screwed on the lid before carrying it outside.
“Won’t that take a while?” he asked when she came back in.
“Yes. So I’ll have wine for now. We’re having steaks, right?”
“Yeah.”
She selected a bottle of cabernet and extended it to him.
“That was decisive.”
“Why fool around when you know what you want?”
“Why, indeed?” He uncorked the bottle then took down two glasses.
“I sent you, Erin and your grandfather a sample of the save-the-date email and a couple of drafts of a logo.”
He nodded. “I saw.”
“And?”
“Impressive. I liked the combination of the Running Wind logo, the ranch house and the picture of the entire four sections. And the verbiage worked for me, too.” A century of success. He was beginning to see how she was going to draw the various elements together, the history, the present, the future, for the presentations and the program. Erin had been correct. The centennial celebration was much more complicated than he’d expected. At every turn, he was glad Sofia was handling the event. He had confidence in her abilities, and he’d appreciated the way she’d handled the Colonel at the meeting. Not only was she competent, but her outward gentleness was wrapped around a steel core.
“I hope the others like it, too. I put a call in to your grandfather, but I haven’t heard anything back yet.”
“He goes to his trainer on Tuesdays. He’s planning a five-k race this fall.”
“Good for him. He’s really a remarkable man.”
He felt something in him go cold again. His whole life, he’d had an uneasy relationship with the Donovans. All except Erin. For the most part, he was willing to accept the blame. He refused many of the invitations to the family meetings. But the truth was, he’d never forgiven the Colonel for the way he’d treated his mother.
Brand (The Donovan Dynasty) Page 20