ReclaimedSurrender (17 page)

“No!” He managed to grab hold of her before she collapsed to
her knees. He wasn’t looking to be sucked. “Sit on me. Come on. Climb up here
and spread that hot pussy of yours so I can slide right into it.”

She did and they both groaned when she fully impaled herself
until she was seated flush and his nuts were squashed against her ass.

“Ride me, baby. I want to feel you come at least twice
before I finish. No less than twice.” Grabbing hold of the medallion, he hung
on to it as she took off. The sight of her riding him, of his cock disappearing
up inside her over and over again, jacked his adrenaline and fed his darkest
desires. Add to this experience his collar wrapped around her beautiful throat,
it was almost superb and utterly sublime perfection. Almost…

“Thank your Master, baby.”

“Th-thank you, Master.”

“Say it again.”

“Thank you, Master.”

“Again…”

She fell against him and sighed, panted, and then cried
those words over and over. Riding him fast and coming hard, not just the two
times as he’d ordered her to, but three heavy cock-gripping times, which blew
his mind in the most perfect way imaginable.

Neither of them moved for a long time, but when Rene shifted
Alexis broke the comfortable silence.

“Umm…please don’t. I want to stay like this forever.”

Rene smiled against her hair and chuckled. “You’re
shameless.”

“I know,” she quietly grumbled against his chest as if she
were getting ready to drop off to sleep. He couldn’t let her do that.

He gave her tender bottom a gentle squeeze. “No falling
asleep. We have company coming and you need to get ready and see to dinner.”

Alexis groaned. “You promised not to invite my mother over
without asking me first.”

“It’s not your mother. Are you going to get up?”

She was burrowing into him and stopped. “Your parents?”

“No, it’s Michael Kavanagh.”

“What?” She sat up so fast she nearly fell over backward.

“Whoa. You okay?” He managed to catch her.

“Why? How? When did you talk with him? Why?”

Rene slowly let go of her arm as a heavy feeling descended
in his chest. Something was wrong here. Alex was not only tense but worried. “I
spoke with him a few days ago. Right after you went into the office to pick up
his slack.”

“I didn’t. I—”

“Didn’t what?” He reached down beside the chair and plucked
up his discarded shirt, handing it to her. “You went into the office and you
did pick up his slack and I don’t like it.”

She was like a mini tornado trying to get his shirt on and
buttoned while she huffed the hair out of her eyes. “So what are you going to
do now, Rene? Tell the HR department to fire him?”

Her reaction ticked him off. He didn’t like her going on the
defensive for the guy for one, and two, he didn’t like her accusing him of
being so petty. “I don’t need anyone from HR to fire him. I could do that
myself if I wanted to, but I don’t. I actually have some good news for him and
I thought we’d discuss it over dinner.”

She went completely still. “Good news?”

Now Rene was steaming. The way she repeated this, it was as
if she’d been expecting really bad news. He caught her arm before she climbed
off his lap. “Alexis?”

“Yes?”

“Is there something you want to tell me about this Michael
Kavanagh?”

“No.”

He wanted to press her because he knew she was lying.
Instead he just stared at her, giving her the chance to talk. When she didn’t,
he sighed. “Go and get ready then, he’ll be here in an hour.”

* * * * *

Alexis stood in the walk-in closet for twenty minutes.
Nothing. Not one thing to wear out of the hundreds of items she had to choose
from. What if Michael said something? He wouldn’t be so foolish, would he?

She looked down at the nail she was biting and swore. She
hadn’t done that since she’d met Rene. Instantly her hand went to the medallion
and she rubbed it super-fast between her forefinger and thumb. She should have
told Rene. He’d given her the opportunity and she hadn’t taken it…again.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Thinking. She
needed to calm down. Rene said he had good news and when Michael heard it the
last thing he’d want to do is spoil it by bringing up how he’d manhandled the
wife of the bearer of such good news, right? Problem solved.

The medallion slipped out of her hand and banged against her
throat. Another problem reared its ugly head. Her eyes snapped opened wide.
Michael couldn’t see this on her. She ran to the bathroom and critically
scrutinized the collar in the mirror. Could it pass for a regular piece of
jewelry? Yes. No. Best not to take the chance. As it was she had enough to
worry about without Michael getting curious over the darn thing.

The plan was simple. Hide the collar and get back downstairs
before Michael arrived. Once he did she’d have to make sure Rene didn’t bring
up the caller ID issue or her sneaking into the office. With those topics off
limits though, what did that leave for them to discuss?

Your last business trip.

She started to hyperventilate. Things were looking mighty
grim when it occurred to her that Michael noticing her collar was the least of
her worries this evening. That decided, she grabbed the first thing she put her
hands on and got dressed.

Rene waited for Alex to join him in the living room. Her
earlier reaction over Kavanagh concerned him. Especially after he’d talked to
the abrupt SOB earlier in the week. Abrupt was the best description to give
Kavanagh’s dialogue. He hadn’t been rude, but neither was he overly cordial.
Actually, if Rene had to guess he thought the guy might have been bracing
himself. He could see where Michael might be worried that Rene was going to
make some excuse and let him go for trying to influence his wife on her
marriage. Truthfully, the thought had occurred to him, but labor laws being
what they were, he’d decided to deal with the situation a different way. After
all, Michael was a heavy asset to the company so there was no sense wasting his
talents if they could be better placed in the organization. A place where the
guy wouldn’t need Alexis to fall back on.

In this, Rene had chosen to take the higher ground. He’d
made the necessary arrangements, going out of his way to extend a rather large
olive branch. Hopefully, Michael would be smart enough to take it gracefully.

He thought about Alexis and her odd behavior and hoped to
Christ he wasn’t making a mistake with all this.

“Rene?”

He turned. “I didn’t hear you come dow—” He took one look at
her and lost his train of thought. She was absolutely stunning and not because
she was dressed to the nines. She wasn’t. Alexis had on a simple pair of blue
jeans with a light-turquoise sweater. On top of that a silver and turquoise
scarf circled her neck like a cowl, and even though it was highly stylish he
wanted to rip it off her. She was hiding his silver. Covering his collar.

All because of Kavanagh.

“A little overdressed, aren’t you?” Was that a blush he saw
on her cheeks? “Come here.”

She didn’t hesitate and the moment she arrived in front of
him, he leaned down to capture her lips and gain a taste of the shiny pink
gloss she wore. He was a mere inch away from his prize when the doorbell rang.

Straightening, he cleared his throat. “Silver goes
beautifully with this color.” He traced the back of his knuckles from her
shoulder to her breast. Rubbing his hand lightly over the nipple beneath until
it hardened and spiked through the delicate knit. “I think I’ll get the
Japanese clamps out later. I’ve been negligent in my duty to my girls.”

The doorbell rang again, but he didn’t move to answer it.
Instead he caressed her other breast until it nicely responded. He was inordinately
pleased that she didn’t mention the arrival of their guest at the door. He
loved the fact that she remained focused on him, which was exactly what he
wanted. Always wanted. The only thing better would have been if she’d come
downstairs without the scarf. Giving her one last pet, he said, “I better get
that.”

Rene swung the door wide. “Come on in.” He stepped aside,
saying, “Can I take your coat?”

Michael didn’t say a word. He just stalked into the middle
of the entrance way and shrugged out of his black leather bomber jacket. Before
Rene had his hand extended however, Alexis rushed forward. “I’ll, ah, get it.”

Rene closed the door and watched their odd exchange out of
the corner of his eye. Michael was polite enough to her, but there was something
passing between them. The guy was following Alexis intently with his eyes,
trying to catch her gaze while Alexis looked everywhere but at him. Even going
so far as to dip her head once she took hold of his jacket.

His knew the signs. His wife was worried. Really worried.
Rene stood back and let their awkward dance unfold as he took in the telltale
clues. It wasn’t long before Michael gave in to his frustration over being
ignored. He reached out to put his hand on her arm, but Alexis, as wound up as
she was, jerked so fast in an effort to steer clear of him that she dropped his
coat at her feet.

“Oh.” Bending, she retrieved it at the same time her scarf
came undone. The slippery material slid out of its cowl position and hung in
two straight drapes on either side of her. She grabbed hold of the ends and
straightened, slinging Michael’s coat over the banister as she took a minute to
refashion her neckwear.

But it was too late. Both men had seen the shining silver
glinting around her neck. Michael’s head whipped toward him, his assessing gaze
latched on to Rene and wouldn’t let go. They stared at one another for a
charged moment. Ten seconds of utter clarity that left not one doubt in Rene’s
mind that Michael knew exactly what was around his wife’s neck before she was
able to hide it…again.

Alexis plucked the jacket off the banister and Rene stepped
forward.

“I’ll take this, kitten. Why don’t you go and get our guest
a glass of Cabernet. I opened it earlier and left it to breathe on the
counter.”

Rene waited until she left, then tossed the coat back onto
the curve of the banister and swept an arm indicating the living room. “Shall
we?”

“It appears as if you call all the shots. So, whatever you
say.”

Rene narrowed his eyes and followed the death-wishing
bastard closely. The guy was interested in Alexis all right and possibly for
deeper reasons than Rene had originally thought. Had he been trying to get in
Alexis’ head all this time? Had he gotten into her head? Was this why she was
acting so strangely? Shit. There was an energy between the two of them. A
nervous energy like either they’d done something wrong or they wanted to do
something wrong.

He examined Michael’s lithe form and silently growled
because the guy had more substance now that he looked him over. He also had
nerves of iron, not to mention balls of steel, to walk into his boss’s house
and try to outplay him.

“I seem to have rubbedyou the wrong way,
my man
.”
He purposely made the MM reference. Hoping to give the arrogant fucker
something to think about. “Have
I
done something to offend
you
?”
Here again, he emphasized. Making sure Michael got the message. And he did.

His hands came to his hips and he demanded, “She told you?”

Rene watched his body language closely. Michael was furious
and didn’t give a shit who knew it. So, exactly what was it that Alexis hadn’t
told him? He’d already hinted about the caller ID. Was this what Michael was
referring to? By the look of him, Rene didn’t think so. Time to go fishing.

Rene crossed his arms over his chest and flayed the guy with
heated disapproval. “Yes, she told me.”

That seemed to take a little of the steam out of him. He
dropped his arms and his face twisted into a sneer. “So you collared her for
it?”

Alexis rushed in.

“Here’s your wine, Michael.” She handed it to him and he
took the glass, but otherwise, he didn’t move. He remained with feet planted,
attempting to stare Rene down.

“Rene? I brought you some lemon water.”

“Just put it on the coffee table, kitten. Then I’d like you
to get dinner ready and served.”

“But—”

“Now, Alex.”

She looked at Michael with surprise but didn’t move until
Rene snapped, “Now.”

Rene was the first to speak when she left. “You’re awfully
familiar with my wife.”

“Funny, I was thinking I wasn’t familiar enough.”

Rene dropped his arms and took a step forward. Michael
didn’t blink, only matched him stride for stride as they came face-to-face.

“I forgot to ask. Michael, do you like horseradish?
Sometimes I put a bit in the gravy, but if you prefer that I don’t…”

Both men stepped back a pace and Michael answered, “No
thanks. I don’t like the stuff.”

“Well, I do. Put the horseradish in as you usually do,
kitten.”

“Rene.” Alexis shook her head. “I can make two separate
batches. One with and one without. See? Not so hard to get along.”

“Make the gravy, kitten.”

Alexis gasped. Probably because those words, with the
intimate pet name for her attached, came from Michael.

“You heard the boy, Alex. Go make the gravy,” Rene ordered.
When she was gone
the boy
spoke up.

“Boy?”

“Apologize.”

Michael made a scoffing sound.

“Now.”

“That may work with her, old man, but it doesn’t work with
me.”

Rene looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath. He
rolled his shoulders and neck before his chin came level and he glared. “I hope
you’re enjoying that insolence. It could very well be the last thing you get to
enjoy in life.”

“My insolence? What about yours?”

Finally, they were getting somewhere. “What about it?”

“You don’t deserve her.”

Rene shook his head. Even if he didn’t, who was Kavanagh to
be telling him this? The guy was a nobody. “And you do?”

“Yes.”

Rene laughed, but he was more stunned than amused because he
could tell that Michael actually believed what he was saying. “She wouldn’t
have you.”

“I think she will after the piss-poor job you’ve done with her.
Do you think making her wear your collar is going to change the past? You may
have managed to get it on her, but if she was truly yours, she wouldn’t be
hiding it.” Michael shook his head and gave him a chilling smile. “No, you
fucked up, Rene. You had your chance with her and you blew it. She needs a man
to top her right, and that man just isn’t you anymore.”

Rene digested this, even though it was a bitter pill to
swallow. On some level Michael was right. He had made mistakes but he’d
endeavored to correct them over the last several months. Had he waited too long
to fix things with her? He didn’t want to believe that. He
wouldn’t
believe it.

“Even if it were true what makes you think she’d turn to
you?”

Kavanagh straightened his shoulders and tilted his jaw up as
if he’d been waiting all this time since he’d entered the house to say these
next words. “She didn’t deny me when I…”

He purposely let the sentence hang and Rene saw red. His
whole world was exploding. He swooped in, coming nose to nose with him. “When
you what?” The guy remained stoic. “Did you touch her? Did you put your hands
on my wife?”

“Yes.”

Rene stepped back, wordlessly shaking his head. He didn’t
want to believe it. He…suddenly that Sunday evening came to mind. When he’d
told her she was cheating and she’d been so animated in her denial. So jumpy
about the subject. Then other words came to him.

I can’t lose you both.

Rene swallowed and walked to the fireplace. He’d thought
Alexis had been talking about him and work when she’d admitted this under
pressure. But she’d been talking about Michael.

I accept your silver for the balance of the week.

She’d been careful to stipulate the one-week timeframe and
now she was hiding his claim behind a yard of fabric?

“Deal with me on this, Rene. She had nothing to do with it.
I caught her by surprise, but you and I both know. She wouldn’t be in that
position for me to take what I wanted from her if you weren’t failing her.”

Rene couldn’t deny it. He had failed her. He failed them
both. Even though Michael said she had nothing to do with it, it didn’t change
the facts. If she’d been upset or turned-off by her coworker’s advances she
would have avoided him, not defied her husband’s wishes and gone in to work to
help the guy out.

With that truth he went numb inside. Even still he wanted to
hear Kavanagh say the words. Maybe if he did it would lessen this blinding pain
in his heart.

He kept his back to him and whispered, “Did you…?”

“Yes.”

He spun around. “Yes, what? Say it.”

“Yes, I touched her, Rene.”

“No.”

Raised voices vibrated the walls and Alexis decided to skip
thickening the gravy. So what if it was thin, at least Michael would be alive
to eat it if she got everything on the table before something bad happened.
When she had everything put out she practically ran to get back to the living
room. Poor Michael had no idea what he was in for. Rene was no doubt angry with
the high-handed way Michael had come into his home. Hadn’t Rene clued him in
about the good news aspect of the evening? She doubted it because Michael had
marched in and ignored him while he tried to get her attention. What was
Michael thinking? Heck, she needed to get back in there and bring up the good
news before some bad news was spilled along with blood. And to call her kitten?
No wonder Rene was furious.

“
Yes, I touched her.
”

She heard those words and skidded to a halt so fast she
nearly fell over. Her heart leaped in her throat and then spiraled down into
her stomach. Sucking in air at a rapid pace, she fought the urge to pass out.

“
No.
”

That one small word sounded so big. Huge. Torn out of her
husband’s mouth, it caused her to quiver. She collapsed against the entrance
wall and closed her eyes. She was too late. The bad news was delivered and Rene
would never understand. He prized loyalty above all else. She should have told
him. She should have— She banged her head against the wall and willed herself
to disappear, wishing that she had the strength to run away. She was so
ashamed. With her silence she’d turned a nothing-for-her moment into a personal
catastrophe.

“It’s true. You failed her, but I won’t.”

Alexis’ eyes popped open and she fought back tears as she
silently listened. Breathlessly, she waited for Rene to deny Michael’s words,
but he didn’t and then she understood why as Michael spoke.

“I’ve wanted her from the moment you cracked her shell. How
could anyone guess that fearless Al was a pussycat? You did and ever since I
found out about it I’ve watched and waited. I wasn’t going to interfere if she
was happy. She deserves that. At first I thought you might be okay. I hoped
you’d step up and be the man she needed. But then it was clear that you weren’t
and it all went bad from there. First you ignore her and then you try to trap
her? You’re not worthy of her submission.”