Page 32 of Bind Me, Sir

Seconds later and phone clutched to my chest, I hurried through the garden, slipped around the side of the house and used my key to let myself inside. No one stirred from what I could tell, and I retrieved my purse from Lily’s office, quietly locking the door behind me once more. The gate keeper let me leave with nothing more than a wave.

The dam inside me broke, and tears coursed down my face as I slowly drove home. I had allowed Jordan to bind me—sacrificed the commitment I’d made to put Luna first in all things—and selfishly allowed him to worship me. A line had been crossed, and while I didn’t wish to turn back time to choose differently, I wasn’t sure I would ever recover.

Chapter Seventeen

Jordan

I dreamed of soft skin and curves, sweet breath and sighs.

I woke to an empty bed.

Jerking upright, I quickly scanned the church interior. “Natalie?”

The bathroom door stood open, the small room beyond as quiet as the stillness around me. Cursing, I threw the sheet off my waist and hopped out of bed, brow furrowed and stomach clenching.

I yanked on my trousers, slipped on my shoes, and not bothering to button my shirt, I strode outside into the rising sun. The gardens sat in silence except for the tweets of birds and buzzing of insects.

She’d left me—without word, without a note. Why?

Expecting my face portrayed the thunderous rumbling inside me, I stalked into Adam’s house by way of the sunroom. No one sat at the table, although the scent of coffee lingered in the air.

Mrs. Hummel poked her head in from the kitchen’s swinging door as though she had super-sonic hearing.

“Have you seen Ms. Perez?” I asked, glancing through the archway leading to the foyer while buttoning my shirt.

“Yes, sah,” she said. “Seen her left here ‘bout thirty minutes ago.”

“Left?”

“She done drove off.”

Fuck.

Nodding, I dropped into one of the chairs and scrubbed a hand down over my face.

“Coffee?” Mrs. Hummel asked, and I nodded once more.

Eyes clenched shut, I tipped my head back and breathed deeply, the evening before rushing through my head. Everything had progressed beyond what I’d planned or expected, and even though I’d broken both of my limits, I couldn’t find it in myself to care. Her kiss had owned me. Her submission worth the worship she deserved and had shaken me to my knees.

The soft sounds of Mrs. Hummel returning pulled my eyelids up, and I pursed my lips, still deep in thought as she poured a steaming cup from the carafe in her wrinkled hand.

“What else can I get you, dearie?” she asked, her smile flashing.

“This will be fine, thank you.”

I sipped the strong, black brew as she left me, replaying the moment I had buried my cock deep inside Natalie. A frown had dented the skin between her eyebrows as though she fought to keep aloof from the connection between us. She’d obeyed when I’d asked her to look at me, but the war raging in her head shone through her eyes the entire time I’d made love to her.

Did she hate me for pushing too far, or did guilt with its ugly darkness pierce her upon waking, making her think she had committed a selfish act?

I expected both, but I’d had a taste—and I wasn’t anywhere near ready to let her go.

“Where’s Natalie?”

Adam’s voice lifted my eyelids once more, and I sipped as he sat beside me, his hair a rumpled mess, same as the t-shirt appearing like he’d pulled it from the dirty laundry basket—his usual weekend attire.

“Gone.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Everything okay?”

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