The Dom with the Dragon Tattoo [Masters of Submission 5] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) (3 page)

With almost superhuman determination, she dragged her mind back to the present. She needed to concentrate on the here and now. This meeting was important to her future.

“Did you fly in last night, Mr. Stone?”

“I arrived around six yesterday afternoon.” He placed the menu on the table and then looked directly at her, his uncompromising stare overpowering.

Control your emotions, Rebecca. He’s just a man. No different from any other.
She knew she lied to herself. “Have you visited Boston before?”

“Uh-huh, I’m a Harvard man. I lived here for six years, but this is the first time I’ve been back in almost a decade. The place has changed a lot.”

“I see.”

Rebecca felt slightly relieved when a waiter appeared at their table. “Sir, madam, would you care to order?”

Tyler briefly touched her hand. “Ladies first. What would you like, Rebecca?”

“The seared Atlantic salmon with lemon butter sauce looks tempting along with a side salad. I’ll go with that, please.”

“And what would sir care to have?” The waiter appeared to bow in exaggerated deference as he posed the question.

“I’ll have the rib eye steak, rare, salad, and fries.”

“Thank you, sir, madam.” The waiter removed the menus from the table. “Would you like wine with your meal?”

Tyler looked across at her but didn’t wait for an answer. “That would be good.”

“Very well, I’ll send the wine waiter across.”

“Rebecca, I suggest a good Chardonnay to go with your fish.” The way he spoke sounded like he wasn’t really giving her a choice. Before she could reply, the wine waiter appeared, and Tyler immediately spoke with authority. “I’ll have the 2010 Ribbon Springs Pinot Noir, and the lady would like the 2010 Rued Clone Chardonnay.”

Rebecca liked a man to be dominant when he was her Master and she was his sub, but she barely knew Tyler Stone, and already he seemed to be taking control of her decision making. She cleared her throat. “While the Chardonnay would be an excellent choice, I believe I’d prefer the 2006 Bellecourt Beaujolais. In my experience it tends to pair better with salmon dishes.” She couldn’t help smiling inwardly as Tyler held himself motionless for a second or two, clearly surprised by her forwardness.

Tyler nodded knowingly, and she figured he understood her a little better now. “Beaujolais it is then.” When the waiter moved away, he turned and looked at her, appearing to size her up. His pale-brown eyes held a hint of annoyance in their fiery depths as he scanned her face. She had the distinct feeling he was pissed that a mere woman would dare contradict him. Although she didn’t know much about him, she got the impression he was a pretty dominant guy.

“You have an excellent knowledge of wine.” He relaxed back in his chair and smoothed a hand across the tablecloth. She’d definitely ruffled his feathers.

Rebecca raised an eyebrow. “Would you expect anything less from an ambassador’s daughter? My father and mother would often entertain important guests at our home in Rio and naturally expected me to have a comprehensive knowledge of the finer things in life.”

“I understand you were an only child, Rebecca?”

“Yes.”

“It sounds like a lonely existence.”

She heard herself sigh. “At times it was.”

The wine waiter returned to their table and quietly and efficiently poured wine into two glasses.

Tyler Stone took a sip then nodded affirmatively, allowing the wine waiter to fade away. He seemed completely at ease in his surroundings, just as she’d imagined him to be. To her, confidence in a man acted as an aphrodisiac, and Tyler had it in spades. It had been six months since she’d been this close to an alpha male. Six months since she and Mitch had gone their separate ways.

“Rebecca, let’s get down to business. I’ve been trying to get you to work for Cerberus for well over a year now. You’ve flatly refused to join my team in Houston. Why the sudden change of heart?”

Rebecca nonchalantly sipped at the agreeable Beaujolais, enjoying the feel as the tang from the citrus grapes slowly spread across her palate.

“Surely it’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind, Mr. Stone?”

“It is, but I’d like to know what makes you tick. You’d be leading a professional team and working in a challenging environment at Cerberus Technology.”

“I have my own team at Omega Computing.”

He drummed his fingers on the tablecloth. “You haven’t answered my question.”

She was thirty-three years old and needed to reassess her life. “I guess there’s nothing keeping me in Boston anymore. I had a long-term relationship that’s over now. It didn’t finish well.”

Tyler hadn’t liked her changing the wine order. In his opinion she’d done it far too stridently. If he hadn’t thought she’d be a great asset to his company, he’d have put her firmly in her place, just as he would with any wayward sub. Unfortunately, she wasn’t his sub, or, he imagined, anyone else’s. However, Cerberus Technology needed the expertise that Rebecca Miles had to offer, so he remained silent—for now.

His introspection was thankfully cut short when a smiling waiter brought their meals to the table.

As Rebecca helped herself to condiments, he glanced across at her. She was dressed in an unappealing gray business suit, and he figured she’d gone out of her way to make herself unattractive to men, relying on her talent, rather than her looks. Something niggled him though, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. The drab, sexless image she portrayed didn’t seem quite right.

Think, man, think. What’s wrong with this picture?

Meeting her for the first time, he gained the distinct impression that she hid her real identity behind those ugly thick-rimmed glasses. Surely she didn’t pick them because she liked them? They were hideous. He refused to accept the evidence of his eyes, because somehow he found her strangely alluring, almost as though her plainness hid a rare incredible beauty beneath. He was well aware that didn’t make any sense, but that was how he felt. Rebecca was boringly plain yet achingly beautiful. How crazy was that? Not a trace of makeup adorned her unblemished face, and for some unknown reason he found her lack of
try hard
refreshing.

She was opinionated to the point of being aggressive. She was confident and self-assured to the point of arrogance. She epitomized everything he steered clear of in a woman. As a respected Dom, who demanded his subs be obedient at all times, he shouldn’t find her remotely attractive, yet strangely he did.

Her lips were full, and he watched a moist tongue swipe away remnants of the butter sauce that had oozed from her salmon.

Even the way she held her wineglass endowed her with an elegance that seemed at odds with her plain-Jane looks.

The nagging doubts continued to feed his imagination as he cut into his steak, allowing the blood to follow the knife. “As I’m sure you are aware, cyberterrorism is a major threat to our country’s security. Cerberus Technology is a world leader in the cutting-edge software needed for the twenty-first century.”

“Of course I am aware. That’s why I contacted you.” Not a single tremor betrayed her as she held her fork completely motionless, midway between plate and mouth.

Tyler wondered if she were always so unflappable. He would love to make this woman tremble uncontrollably. His cock hardened at the mere thought of it.

Rebecca covered another small piece of salmon with butter sauce before forking it to her lips. “I’m in the process of developing a revolutionary password protection system. It needs further work. Two years should see it ready for marketing.”

“So why do you need Cerberus? Why not continue to develop it with Omega Computing?”

“Money. Cerberus is funded by the federal government, because of its links to the US military. Omega Computing can’t compete with that type of funding.”

Tyler took a sip of wine and held her in his gaze, wondering why he found her oddly familiar. “I take it this will be an expensive project?”

“Expensive? That’s an understatement. It’s a biometrics system that can change dynamically every time it’s used, making it impervious to hacking.”

“You seem confident in your ability.”

“Mr. Stone, I’m good at my job. The best there is. That’s why you’ve flown all the way from Houston to see me.”

Oh, how he would love to tame her sassy ways. If any lady needed a man’s discipline, it was this one. “Let’s cut to the chase, Rebecca. How much do you—”

“A basic two million a year. Plus a percentage based on results. A prestigious company car would also be required. An Aston Martin or Bentley would be most agreeable. I would be willing to sign a two-year contract provided it came with an opt-out clause that guarantees me a full year’s pay should things not work out between myself and Cerberus Technology.” She paused for breath. “I would also insist on choosing my own team, just as I have at Omega Computing. My terms are nonnegotiable, Mr. Stone.”

As she spoke, he visualized her bare, reddened ass lying across his knee. Only she wasn’t saying, “My terms are nonnegotiable, Mr. Stone.” She was crying out, “I’m sorry, Master, I’ll never be so disrespectful again.”

But business was business. He held out his hand. “Welcome to Cerberus Technology, Rebecca. Now let’s enjoy lunch. I’ll order some more wine.”

A satisfied smile settled on her lips as she placed her knife and fork down. She then dabbed at her mouth with a white linen napkin before taking his hand. “You won’t regret this, Mr. Stone.”

Something clicked in his brain. Something that he knew he needed to understand. Just the simple way she’d dabbed the napkin to her lips made him search for answers. This innocent act seemed so familiar to him. Where had he seen it before?

The uneasiness he’d felt when they’d first met returned. Only this time its insistence wouldn’t quit.
Where the hell have I seen her before?
Where the hell have I seen those lips before?

Then it struck him like a freight train on a deserted track.

Oh yeah, he’d seen those lips before all right, just last night in fact. On that occasion their sexy fullness had been covered with bright-red lipstick. Shit. He’d acted like a dumb fuck. Why had it taken the best part of an hour to realize that the lady sitting opposite him was none other than Dana, the erotic dancer from Club Submission?

Don’t beat yourself up, man, this lady is a real chameleon.
She’d fooled him. She’d fool her own mother with a transformation like that. It was definitely her. The same build. The same height. The same mannerisms. But hold on. What about the eyes? When Dana briefly lifted her golden mask at Club Submission, he’d been met with the most startlingly blue eyes he’d ever seen. Rebecca Miles had brown eyes. Shit. Perhaps he’d fucked up after all.

Wait a minute.

She’s wearing thick glasses. So what’s to stop her wearing colored contacts when she goes out at night?

Nothing.

It’s her.

Rebecca is Dana. Goddamn it, they’re one and the same woman.

He smiled and raised his glass. “To the future, Rebecca.”

She touched her wineglass to his. “To the future. You seem very happy, Mr. Stone. Amused even.”

“Knowledge is power, Rebecca.”

Two months later

“Rebecca, I’m gonna call it a day.” Rob Ferino stood from his desk, his chair scraping noisily on the hardwood floor. He massaged the back of his neck and groaned before relieving the tension in his shoulders by rotating them. Rob was a real tall guy, she guessed about six seven, so suffered more than most when staring at a computer screen for hours on end.

She glanced at her watch. It was past seven in the evening, and she’d been working for almost twelve hours. “Sorry, Rob. I hadn’t realized the time.” She’d been with Cerberus Technology for just over a month now, and the team she’d organized was starting to gel. Rob would often stay behind far longer than strictly necessary. He was a great guy.

Rebecca poked at her glasses, which had the annoying habit of slipping down her nose. “Thanks for seeing the Beta program through to the end, Rob, now get on home to Samantha and the kids.” She laughed and shooed him away. “Scoot, mister. I’m almost finished here myself. I just need to check that these figures correlate correctly.” She grabbed a calculator and quickly began tapping endless numbers onto the keypad, guessing she must be getting tired, because she kept making silly mistakes. “Damn.”

He chuckled. “See you tomorrow, Rebecca.” He paused in the doorway. “Say, why don’t you come to my place on Saturday? We’re having a few friends round for drinks and a barbecue. We’d love you to come.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I’ve still got loads of unpacking to do.”

“Oh, go on. Live a little. Sam and the kids would love to meet you. She wants to see the lady boss who’s keeping her husband late every night.”

Rebecca couldn’t help but laugh at his comments and, almost on the point of saying no, finally relented. She guessed Rob wanted to introduce her to his wife in order to allay any fears she might have. A lot of women didn’t like their husbands working for a woman, especially if they stayed late on a regular basis. She held up her hands in submission. “Okay, okay, you win, Rob. Thanks for the offer, and I’d love to come.” Rob’s wife didn’t need to have any worries. He was such a sweet, genuine guy but so not her type.