Page 86 of Chain Me

He shook his head, but his fingertips flexed against me in silent encouragement. “Do it.”

So I inhaled, trapping the air inside my lungs. While I slowly exhaled, he drew his hands up to my shoulders, smoothing the hair from my neck. A tendril of ice grazed the exposed flesh. His mouth? Nuzzling…

Just when the lack of oxygen became uncomfortable, he slid the new dress on over my head. The moment he drew up the zipper, I let my lungs expand.

“Why?” I wondered. The gown fit fine, even as my chest heaved frantically against the fabric. I was breathless—that was why I was panting. Of course that was why.

Rather than some pre-prepared quip, Dublin tugged on the dress, adjusting it. It was only when I turned to face him that he finally relented.

“I wanted to hear your heartbeat.” His gaze was on the violet wall behind my head, his jaw clenched.

“And?” I rasped.

“It is…adequate.” He met my gaze, holding it for so long that I felt senseless when he finally turned away. “Come and eat.”

He made me sit at the dining room table while he returned to the kitchen. Moments later, he reentered with a full-blown meal on one of my mother’s prized porcelain plates.

“Does this offering please you, mistress?” he wondered while placing a set of silverware before me.

He’d prepared fish in addition to an array of steamed vegetables and various side dishes too exotic to name.

Scowling, I took a bite, fully intending to lie. Unexpectedly, rich flavor broke my resolve, and I shoved in another forkful before I could stop myself. Another. In the midst of my chewing, Dublin pressed a cup into my hand. Aware of its contents, I did my best to choke down the warm, wet liquid before returning to his meal with vigor.

“Is everything to your liking?” he asked innocently, well aware of his victory.

A helpless moan tore from my throat as my unofficial verdict. It just wasn’t fair. The man could cook like the devil.

Once I’d cleared my plate of every last crumb, he made a show of pouring the sparkling cider into one of the crystal flutes that I was fairly certain my mother had sold her soul for.

I took a sip. Made a face for the sake of putting up a front of displeasure. Then I drained the rest.

Barely concealing his triumph, he cleared the table while I stood. From this angle, he resonated a presence my childhood home struggled to contain. In the glow of the chandelier, his chiseled features stood out in harsh relief. Beautiful.

Unattainable.

Who are you kidding, Ellie?a part of me snickered.As if he could ever want you.

And maybe that vicious little whisper was right? I was halfway to the doorway when his voice reached me, low with warning.

“Where are you going?”

I lingered over the threshold without looking back. “To bed.” My tone fell flat, deliberately stripped of innuendo.

All insecurities aside, sex within these walls was definitelynotan option anyway.

My mother and father had lorded over this house once. Their prudishness was etched into the wood. Hell, even now, I could feel their judgmental eyes on me, casting shame for the way my heart picked up speed at the low, dangerous tone that reached me next.

“And have me risk another whipping?” He was behind me in an instant. His chill basted the back of my throat and my body reacted. Tightened. Tensed. Craved. “You are to be bathed and put to bed,” he reminded, throwing my own words back at me. “Or do you not remember?”

I wanted to back down right then and admit defeat. He would always win when it came to games like this. Dangerous games. He was a man who’d staked his entire livelihood around sex. There was no way in hell I could best him in that arena.

It would be foolish to try.

Sighing, I tried to convey as much. “No matter how many times we…” I trailed off, exasperated. “It’s like my brain won’t let me believe it.”

But he wasn’t looking at me—not directly. His eyes traced a path up my hip and settled over the cleavage bared by the low neckline of my dress. My heart lurched against my rib cage as if trying to save itself from the onslaught of sensation that assaulted me. Too late. Heat blossomed in my veins. My throat went dry. Moisture gathered in sensual places.

But one word from him made my belly clench, all thoughts of doubt and propriety forgotten.