He drew tighter, vibrating with tension, pressing his body against hers desperately, because Victor had stepped closer. Victor reached out and gripped Jesse’s chin, forcing his head up to met his gaze. She had to bite her lip to keep from jerking Jesse away protectively. Victor knew exactly what he was doing, not fumbling around in the dark like a scared novice.
“My family is the most important thing in the world to me. If you’re hers, then that makes you mine too.” Smiling at the stunned look on Jesse’s face, Victor released him. “She’ll protect you, and I’ll protect her. There’s no reason to be afraid of me, because she’ll tack my hide to the side of VCONN if I even think about hurting you. Welcome to the Connagher family, Jesse.”
He straightened, his eyes flaring with surprise. “What?”
“She told you to call her if you needed help. So now you can call me too.” Victor offered a business card. Hesitantly, Jesse reached out to take it, as though he thought her brother might snap his head off. “That’s my personal number. Tomorrow, we’ll sit down and talk about what kind of job you may want, although…”
Dark eyes gleaming, Victor turned to Vicki and she groaned out loud. “I know that look, V. What are you thinking?”
“Let’s go upstairs and talk to Shiloh. I think we might be able to do something very interesting indeed to launch your line.”
“I don’t even know what I’m going to call it yet.” She kept her arm around Jesse’s waist as they walked out of Victor’s office and headed for the elevator. Nobody looked at her strangely, least of all her brother. It simply felt so good to touch Jesse, to feel him against her side and see the light in his eyes every time he looked at her. “I still need to design the signature gown. I had a new idea for Jesse today, but I never planned to include men’s wear.”
Victor opened the door to his penthouse suite and waved them inside. “That actually fits into what we’ve been talking about.”
“What have we been talking about?” Shiloh Holmes—soon to be Connagher—rose as they entered the main living room.
It was impossible not to smile when Shiloh entered a room. She brightened the area around her and lightened everyone’s spirits, but most of all, Victor’s. The hard edge of gloom in his eyes that had made Vicki worry for him so much had softened into the same kind of glow that came into Mama’s eyes anytime she talked about Daddy, even though he’d been gone for years.
“Your idea for building interest in Vicki’s line.”
Victor took his fiancée in his arms and kissed her with so much passion that Vicki had to turn away for a moment. Unfortunately, she turned toward Jesse. As though he felt the power of her gaze, he whipped his head around. His eyes gleamed, deep, inviting pools of blue-green. She started to drown in conflicting emotions. Desire. Worry. Fear. Her heartbeat thudded in her ears and she swayed, unconsciously pulling him closer.
At Mal’s booming hello from the hallway, Vicki jerked back, her cheeks heating. She couldn’t even seem to control herself in front of other people. Meanwhile, Jesse took one look at the statuesque black woman and darted behind Vicki. His palm burned through her shirt, heating her back.
Mal took one look at the man hovering at Vicki’s back and a huge smile broke across her face. “I knew it.” She hugged Vicki and gave him a slap on the shoulder. “Good for you, hon. If you need help housebreaking him, you give me a call.”
He muttered beneath his breath. “I’m not a dog.”
With a low, wicked laugh, Mal stepped around her and leaned in close to Jesse. “If I tell you to heel, you will.”
He tipped his chin up and broadened his stance, but he didn’t take his hand off Vicki’s back. “No, I won’t. Not for you.”
A sharp thrust of emotion tore through her. Rage, jealousy, she wasn’t sure. All she knew was that she didn’t want Mal touching him, or Jesse doing anything for her. She moved closer to Jesse, putting her body between them. “He’s mine.”
“Of course he is, hon,” Mal drawled, not at all fazed by the sharpness in her voice. “But do you know what he likes? Can you take care of his needs, whatever they are?”
She started to open her mouth, but Mal cut her off.
“If he needs you to put a collar on him, strip him naked, and force him to sleep on the floor at your bedside, can you do it? If he needs you to pick up a paddle and whip him until he can’t sit down, will you do it? And that’s just getting started.”
Vicki felt him hovering at her back, nervous, yes, but terribly eager, his muscles tight, his heat rising until her own shirt stuck to her skin. Her stomach churned with anxiety. Her mind felt jammed full of images: Jesse naked, bound, begging, helpless, crying, screaming…for me.
A shudder wracked her shoulders. “Do you need stuff like that?”
He pressed his face against her neck, burying his nose in her hair. “I don’t know.”
But his erection burned like a steel rod against her ass.
She lifted her gaze to Mal’s face, thoroughly prepared for a smug I-told-you-so look, but the other woman only nodded solemnly. “People think it’s all fun and games being a Dominant, but it’s not. We have a huge responsibility not only to keep the submissive safe but to also learn what they need and then, we have to provide it, no matter what that need requires. It’s your job to help him find out what he needs. You have to push his limits, explore his fears and his desires, and those desires will not always coincide with yours. If you care about him, you’ll make sure he gets those needs met. Your boy claims he doesn’t know what he wants, but I guarantee he’s got a few things in mind that will knock you reeling, and you haven’t even gotten started yet.”
Shaken, Vicki turned her attention to her brother, checking to see his reaction. He nodded as solemnly as his friend, his eyes dark and grim. “When I first met Shiloh, she scared me shitless.”
“Aw, poor baby.” Shiloh turned away from her glowering Master and offering a hand to Jesse. “Let’s all get comfy before we scare the big bad Dominants too much. By the way, are you a model?”
He took a hesitant step toward the other woman, but stopped to check Vicki’s reaction. “No, I’m not a model.”
She tried to smile for him, but her lips felt too tight and cold. He sat beside Shiloh, who pulled Victor down on the sectional beside her. Jesse nodded and answered whatever questions they asked him, but he kept an eye on Vicki. She had a feeling that if she tried to sneak out of the room, he’d throw himself in her path and wrap his arms around her legs.
What the hell have I gotten myself into?
“More fun than you can possibly know right now,” Mal said. At the look on Vicki’s face—she hadn’t meant to say anything out loud—Mal laughed. “You’re scared right now and rightfully so. We’ve all been there. But the way that boy looks at you… Honey, you’re going to have a wonderful time exploring each other’s limits. He’d cut off his own dick if you told him it offended you.”
“I don’t want that kind of responsibility.”
“Too bad,” she replied in a breezy voice, locking arms with Vicki to lead her over to the couch. “You’ve got responsibility in spades now. I’ve got a package of literature I’ve been saving up in case you ever called. We can stop by my office on the way out. Besides, you’ve got nothing to worry about, not with the best Mistress and Master of Dallas sitting here ready and willing to answer any question you can possibly throw at us.”
“Later.” Shiloh sat forward, her eyes bright with excitement. “Jesse’s agreed to do a commercial for you on VCONN.”
“What?” Vicki narrowed her gaze on him. “I don’t like that idea.”
He paled, but Shiloh snorted, unworried about her hesitation. “He’s gorgeous, Vicki. Why on earth wouldn’t you use him?”
“That’s exactly why. I don’t want to use him.”
Everybody looked at each other for a few seconds and then burst into laughter.
Victor fought to contain the grin twisting his mouth. “That’s sort of the point, Sis.”
“Use me.” Jesse ground out, his voice harsher than usual. His eyes glowed with heat and Vicki forced her gaze to remain locked on his face and not wander lower. “I’d love to help you in any way I can. Shiloh has a great idea to promote your line, and it’s something I can do for you. I want to do this so bad. Please, Vicki, use me. Please.”
When he begged like that, a warm ripple of desire crested inside her. She took a deep breath and concentrated on pushing that need away. “I haven’t even heard the details yet.”
“I’ve received at least three calls a day—and up to as many as ten or more—since I wore your gown at our premiere of America’s Next Top sub. So, build on that interest. Build on the success of our show and create a very hot commercial in that theme.”
“My line is for professional business women. You know, stuff we could wear to the office, not…”
“Latex and leather?” Shiloh smiled, not offended. “Look, I get what you’re saying. I don’t wear BDSM to work, either, and I work for the sexiest cable channel in Texas with the meanest Master at its helm. Think about that dress you created, though. How sexy it was without being blatant. Nobody knew that the unusual back had been designed specifically because Victor likes to leave his V on my back. Nobody knew his marks were hidden beneath the material, until he chose to give them a peek.”
“And look at yourself, hon,” Mal said. “Ever since I’ve known you, you dressed like a lawyer. Conservative and stylish, but with a little flare that said nobody had better take you for granted. Nobody at your firm suspected you might be a Dominant, but we did.”
“I still don’t know why you could see it and I had no idea.”
“Didn’t you?” Victor kept his voice soft, but his eyes drilled into her, demanding the truth in that annoyingly protective—and right—big brother way of his. “You never felt like something was lacking? You weren’t bored by the standard dating scene? Even with Elias, didn’t you wonder why you two had to fight so much, even in the bedroom? Because don’t tell me you two were slow and tender lovers.”
She tried to be nonchalant, but she was afraid her emotions were as transparent as a window sheer. “I can be tender.”
“So can I, but it’s usually after I’ve used my riding crop on Shiloh. What do you need before you can be tender, Sis?”
Vicki stared at him and hoped she didn’t look as stricken as she felt. Her heart hammered and sweat tickled between her breasts. Making love to you has always been like wrestling a hungry crocodile.
“That’s for her and Jesse to figure out, later,” Shiloh said firmly. “Right now, we need to define the angle for the commercial. Do the other items in your line have a sexy or BDSM component that we can flirt with?”
“Not really.” Vicki rubbed her temple to ease the pressure. Stress headaches were a bitch, and right now she had so many worries and ideas crowded inside it felt like her skull was going to explode. “The gowns are all sexy, and even the business wear is stylish with a twist, but BDSM? I wasn’t thinking about that angle at all. Sort of like my life, I guess. I was too busy being a professional business woman to think about anything else.”
Gentle hands closed on her shoulders. Jesse had slipped off the couch to stand behind her. His long fingers kneaded carefully yet with enough power to remove the kinks from her muscles winching tighter as her blood pressure mounted from the stress.
She closed her eyes and sank into the exquisite feeling of having someone take care of her. Elias wasn’t a touchy-feely kind of guy. Giving back rubs or holding hands while watching a zombie movie weren’t things that would even occur to him. Touch by touch, Jesse was insinuating himself into her life, making himself indispensable. Necessary.
The thought probably should have scared her to death, but it felt too damned good to worry. She hadn’t had to ask. She’d never have to ask for Jesse to do something like this, some small deed to take care of her and ease her burden, because he’d known, and he hadn’t waited for permission.
Relaxing in the feel of this man’s hands gliding over her shoulders, she saw Jesse dressed in the elegantly old-fashioned formal shirt with full sleeves and large cuffs. Remembering the way his eyes had gone dreamy when she’d mentioned her brother’s collar, she mentally corrected the design by adding an elaborate cloth about his neck. Not a tie, but a cravat. One that she could take off.
One that I can tie him up with.
Her eyes flew open. “I’ve got it! Do you have a scarf I can borrow a minute?”
Shiloh disappeared into the bedroom and returned with a ladies scarf. “It’s silk, which isn’t ideal for bondage, if that’s what you’re thinking of.”
Accepting the scarf, Vicki stood up and turned around. She didn’t have to tell Jesse to come to her. He saw the invitation—the order—in her eyes. Immediately, he came around the couch and halted in front of her, his eyes bright.
“Earlier today, I had an idea for a shirt for Jesse. He’s masculine enough to carry off a more delicate, fitted shirt in an antique style. At the time, I was thinking about a bit of lacy ruffle at the neck and wrists, with full, billowing sleeves, something like what a gentleman would have worn to a ball in the nineteenth century.”
She turned up the collar of his denim shirt and wrapped the scarf around his throat and back around, pulling the ends back to the front and crossing them in a loose knot. “I’ll look up some period knots and do something a little more creative than this, but you get the idea.” Standing to his side, she gripped the material at his waist tighter against his body. “I’ll take his measurements to ensure I give him a modern, fitted look—almost as if he were wearing a waistcoat instead of the loose, billowing linen shirts the gentlemen wore. I wasn’t going to do men’s pieces, but if I limit myself to shirts only, it may work.”
Victor’s eyes were narrowed and he drummed his fingers on his thigh. “Sorry, Sis, but I don’t get it. Do you think straight men will actually wear shirts like this?”
Without saying a word, she pulled the scarf from Jesse’s neck and started wrapping it around his left wrist. Eagerly, he offered his other arm, letting her bind his hands behind his back.
“A male Dominant could use the cravat to bind his submissive.” Shiloh’s voice had gone as sultry as a Texas summer day. “I’m not much into bondage, but I like this idea. You wouldn’t wear something like that, V? For me?”
“For you, absolutely,” Victor growled out in a rough voice that made her shudder. “Besides, I know how much you like vintage clothing.”
“Whoa,” Mal whispered. “Please tell me you have a dress I could wear with something like this built into it? Although I don’t have a boy as pretty as yours to tie up right now.”
The black-and-white zebra dress hovered in Vicki’s mind. A little bit of red and black, braided together and then wrapped around the waist. “Yeah, I think I do.”
“So we have your theme: professional daywear that conceals kinkier bondage,” Shiloh said, her eyes bright with excitement. “Does that give you an idea for the name of your line, then?”
Vicki stared down at Jesse’s hands. His breath came in short, fast pants, his head down and turned slightly, so he could see her reaction over his shoulder. She imagined him naked, his hair loose and tumbled in his eyes, his skin slick with sweat, bound to her bed so she could tease and play with him at will. The sight of the silk wrapped around his wrists sent a surge of visceral lust through her.
She wanted her ties on him, not a borrowed scarf. She wanted him… “Bound.”
“Yes,” Jesse ground out.
“By Vicki doesn’t sound right.” Deep in thought, Shiloh drummed her fingers on Victor’s thigh. “It doesn’t have enough power behind it. What do you call her other than her name, Jesse?”
“Ma’am.”
“That’s fine and dandy for you two, but that’s not enough for this,” Mal said. “I don’t suppose you see yourself as Mistress Vicki or even just Mistress V?”
“Not really,” Vicki replied.
“No offense, I just never thought of myself that way.”
“Why not Bound by Madame V?” Victor leaned forward, drawing her attention to him. “That gives it a little more class. But you’ll really have to think about this, Sis. Once you come out of the closet, you’re going to get a lot of questions. Everybody will think they know your sex life, which can get downright hilarious sometimes.”
She leaned against Jesse, dropping her head against his back to hide her face so she could think. This was all so new, strange and crazy. All she’d wanted to do was start her own fashion line, finally realizing a teenaged dream she’d given up ages ago. Instead of vague ideas about fashion, she’d committed to what she thought of as a real, grown-up career. It’d been crazy to work her ass off in college and fight her way up the ladder at the firm rung by rung, on the verge of a partnership…
Only to turn around and walk away from it all.
Whether she and Elias managed to work out things or not, she hadn’t been able to bear standing on the opposite side of the justice system from him. She’d found the courage to just walk away from years of college and hard work and she’d never felt better, despite the stress and anxiety of starting her own business.
Then she’d decided to keep Jesse, even if that caused more problems with Elias.
Do I have the courage to go on television and show my face at fashion shows across the country as Madame V?
Jesse shifted slightly. His shoulder muscles moved beneath her cheek, a subtle reminder. He waited for her to decide what to do with him. She had this gorgeous man tied up, more than willing to do whatever she wanted. Could she turn her back on him? Leave him on the street standing in the snow, because she was too embarrassed to reveal the truth?
She pushed her face firmer against him, breathing in his warm scent. He smelled like coconut—the shampoo she’d left in the guest bathroom downstairs. She’d never thought it would smell good on a man, but breathing his scent made her mouth water.
Straightening, she ran her hands down his arms, lingering over his forearms and bound hands. “Let’s do it. I like Bound by Madame as the line’s name, and then I’ll use the V from my name in my label. I want Jesse protected by contract, though. Can you set us up something, V? I want to make sure he gets paid whatever makes sense, at least VCONN’s going rates, and he can walk away whenever he wants.”
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