Page 25 of Indecent Demands

I felt like I could trust him. I just hoped that wasn’t a mistake.

Seth offered me his arm when we got up from the table, and I shivered as I accepted it, feeling the heat of his body against my side. I wasn’t going home, he’d made that much clear. I was going to his place, and I was going to be under his control. I was accepting my ‘punishment’ in the hopes that it would ultimately save me, and I didn’t know what it said about me that it didn’t feel like a punishment at all.

We got into his car—I noticed Seth generously tipped the valet—and we set out. I tried not to be nervous or intimidated, but honestly… those feelings just had me more turned on. It was like the lack of knowledge about what would happen, and the anxiety, was ratcheting up my arousal.

I shifted in my seat, and I saw Seth’s gaze flicker over to me. I could be imagining it, but he seemed pleased. I found myself hoping I was right.

We pulled into the parking spot for a brownstone, and my eyebrows rose as I got out. “I didn’t expect you to live in a brownstone.”

“What did you expect?”

I shrugged. “Something a bit more modern.”

Seth smiled. “You’re probably not the first person to think that. When I bought this, I wanted to buy something that I would own for the rest of my life—a place I could eventually raise children in.”

“You want kids?” I asked, unable to keep the surprise from my voice.

Seth nodded, leading me up the steps and unlocking the door. “I, uh.”

To my shock, I realized from his hunched shoulders and his pink ears that I was seeing Seth nervous. Perhaps even embarrassed. For the first time ever.

“I’m a bit of a romantic at heart,” he confessed. He opened the door and led me inside. “Which I know sounds crazy given what I like in sex. But here we are. Drives me a little nuts that my friends got a girl before I did. One is completely anti-social and the second is a player who slept around. Feels a bit unfair they found the love of their lives before I did.”

“That’s how it is sometimes,” I commiserated. “I never thought that I would still be single and with barely any friends at this point in my life. I thought, and hoped, I’d be married and with a couple of kids by now.”

Seth flicked on the lights, illuminating a warm hallway that led into a living room, a dining room, and further in. To my surprise, the rooms looked a little bare.

“You didn’t feel like decorating?” I teased.

“I always figured that I would want my future wife to help me decorate,” Seth admitted. “When I bought this place I didn’t think it would take me so long to find someone. I didn’t want her to walk in and feel like everything was already done for her and she’d have to conform to my personal taste and all of my stuff. I wanted this to be a place for both of us combined.”

That made my heart ache. I hadn’t met anyone who’d been so thoughtful and ready for a spouse. The men I’d met hadn’t thought that far into the future—or into the future at all. There’d just been a focus on sex, and the present moment, and the idea that the woman would conform to the man’s life and fit herself in there somewhere instead of two people building a new life together.

“I really hope that you find her soon,” I told him softly. “You deserve that.”

“You deserve to find someone too,” Seth replied.

I laughed softly. “Ah, yes, the thief who’s stolen probably upwards of a million dollars, she’s definitely going to find someone serious to settle down with.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” he said, and gave me a wink as he moved my way. “I think a lot of guys would find it sexy.”

“Until they realize how dangerous it is,” I replied, feeling my heart rate increase as he closed the distance between us.

“Maybe you’ll find someone who’s good with danger.”

We were standing very close now, and I couldalmostimagine that this was the end of a proper date, and that Seth was interested in me as his potential partner, that he might be serious about me . . .

Something flickered in Seth’s eyes and he stepped back quickly, leaving me feeling cold. “Well. I’ve left you waiting long enough.”

He gestured at the front door. “You know the rule. Once I lock this, you’re in.”

“You said that already,” I reminded him.

“I want to keep giving you an out.”

“Why, your conscience?”

“Something like that.” He shrugged as he took off his suit jacket and tossed over the back of a club chair. “Are you going to hold to your end of the bargain, then?”

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