“I would not want you to. I should have done it myself and saved you the trouble. I am strong enough to stand on my own two feet.”
“I know that, Lottie.”
“I want him to know it, too.”
Caleb shrugged. “Who gives a shit what he thinks? But you have to know that I’m always going to defend you. I’m always going to take care of you. I’m probably always going to be a little overbearing and overprotective. But it never means that I think you’re incapable or that I want to suppress you, just that I refuse to see you suffer. Understand right now that I would never want to take away your identity like he did.”
“I know. It was not you I failed to trust. It was me. It was my strength.” She sidled closer and braced her palm against his whisker-roughened cheek. “It was my heart. But I have searched it now enough to know that it is yours.”
Shadows grazed his strong cheekbones and the hollows around his eyes, making him look big and dark and dangerous. Carlotta’s heart pounded as she waited for him to say something…
But Caleb only proved that he was a man of few words. He wrapped his arms around her and brought her crashing against his hard chest. Her head snapped back, and he swallowed her gasp as he covered her mouth with his own. Parting her lips, he surged inside, possessing her with a single kiss.
Carlotta stepped on her tiptoes to get closer, give him more, moaning as his hands roamed her back, pressing her in tightly, before he cupped her backside. Caleb fitted her directly against his male flesh, thick, hot, and erect against her moistening folds.
He ignited her as he rocked between her legs and fueled a fire so hot, only he could put it out. She wriggled against him, silently pleading.
Digging his hands into her hair, he tugged, pulling her head back. His lips hovered over hers. “Your heart is mine, you say? I want it, Lottie, along with the rest of you. I want to spend the night inside you.”
Goodness, the way he talked to her…low and sexual, a deeply determined male not asking a question, but stating his intent.
“Yes,” she breathed, spreading kisses over his jaw, down his neck. “Here?”
He hesitated. “How much do you trust me with your body?”
What sort of question was that? “Completely.”
“Wait. Don’t move.” He pulled away and disappeared into the surrounding darkness, taking his body heat with him. She shivered, wrapping her arms around her. It was late December, and the temperature had dropped the last few weeks. It was chilly in the attic.
Then light suddenly flooded the space, and Carlotta looked over to see Caleb let go of the lone string beside the light bulb. The golden glow cast over his tense face. He squared his shoulders, looking suddenly taller, more…formidable. His piercing blue eyes looked through her remaining walls and seemed to see down to her soul. Carlotta met his gaze, trembling under all his silent demand.
“Take a look around us, Lottie. You know what this is?”
A padded bench of some sort sat just beside her. A seven-foot mirror dominated the back wall. A giant wooden X painted in red took up the rest of the space beside it. To her left, a rack of hooks suspended a variety of paddles, whips, and restraints. To her right, a bed with a massive headboard—and cuffs built right into the middle.
Her stomach dipped, rolled, and tangled in shock.
“I know. A dungeon.”
She could not quite meet his gaze, but questions zipped through her head. Was he not just an alpha male, but a Dominant, like his sons? Did he want to use this equipment on her? How did she feel about the idea of being immobile and at his mercy? Her ni**les peaked and the ache between her legs surged. She supposed that answered her question. Her body liked it a great deal…but what about her psyche?
“Are you scared about the idea of giving yourself to me here?” he asked. “I need your honesty, Lottie.”
“A little. But probably not as much as you might imagine.”
He raised his brows. “Not too scared to try?”
Carlotta swallowed. Her first thought was to ask him to wait until they were more established, until she felt more secure. But she was either with him or she was not. After many conversations with Kata about this topic, she understood the psychology of it. Caleb needed her to prove that she could put herself in his hands and give him all of herself because she trusted him. Because she loved him. And she needed to prove to herself that she was strong enough to handle a forceful man without losing herself. Together, they needed to form a bond through their communication and pleasure that would serve as the foundation for the “us” they would become.
Carlotta reached up and fumbled with the buttons of her blouse, slipping each one free until she slid the silky red garment over her shoulders. Then she shimmied out of her charcoal skirt and kicked it aside.
Finally, she stood before him, wearing only another serviceable bra, lace-trimmed panties, and her red shoes. “I am yours, Caleb. I will never be frightened by you again.”
He sucked in a deep breath, his chest expanding as he stalked toward her with slow, measured steps until he stopped right in front of her, so close that the heat of his body radiated to her and made her shiver. “I haven’t topped anyone in a very long time. I put this side of myself away because Amanda couldn’t deal with it. But I can’t pretend to be someone I’m not with you. It won’t work, Lottie.”
She understood that completely. “I know. I was never myself with Gordon. He did not want the real me.”
“Just so we’re clear, you won’t be allowed to hide anything from me. If you’re scared or worried or confused, you give that all to me, in or out of bed. Yes?”