Breaking the Chain Read online

  Crossly, she shot them a dirty look. They seemed far more interested in laughing at her than helping.

  "You're overthinking this," Lexie said, bouncing slightly on the bed as she rolled onto her stomach so she was facing the closet. Obviously dressed to go to Stronghold that evening, the petite, black-haired beauty was wearing a short skintight dress made of electric-blue PVC that matched her eyes and covered everything but still looked incredibly sexy. It also looked like she would have to be peeled out of it, the way the material clung to her body. Black fishnet thigh highs and three inch heels completed the look.

  Leigh knew that she was going to Jared's house, and not Stronghold, but she couldn't help comparing everything she thought about wearing to Lexie's incredibly sexy outfit and feeling like she was coming up short. It didn't help that Angel was sitting there looking effortlessly gorgeous in pajama pants and a t-shirt that said "Nerd? I Prefer the Term Intellectual Badass." Despite the casualness of her clothing, she looked cutely sexy and, with her curls in a loose bun, like she'd just rolled out of bed. Or like she was ready to roll into it. There had to be some kind of happy medium between the two looks, which is what Leigh would like to achieve, it just seemed impossible with the options she had available to her.

  Dammit.

  She was more nervous than ever. Even more nervous than when she hadn't been sure if she and Jared were dating. Which made no sense since she'd specifically told him that she just wanted to be friends right now.

  Okay, maybe it made a lot of sense since he hadn't exactly accepted her assertion. Instead... he'd come onto her in a way that still made her body tingle when she remembered it. Hell, she'd been tingling all week as she'd gone over and over the past Sunday in her head. Her vibrator had gotten a serious workout while she'd pictured that hot, hungry look in his dark eyes and the way he'd gotten all aggressive and domineering and sexy.

  "What about that?"

  Leigh was so lost in her own thoughts that, for a second, she didn't know what Lexie was talking about. Laying on her stomach, the other woman was pointing at something in Leigh's closet.

  "The lacy, black, long-sleeved shirt. Just put a tank top underneath it, and then you're showing skin but you're also covered up."

  "Yeah!" Angel chimed in, her eyes lighting up. "Put that together with your good jeans and some cute boots!"

  "You don't think it's too dressy? I mean, we're staying in..." Leigh said, picking up the lacy black shirt hesitantly. It was something she'd gotten to wear out dancing or to Stronghold; she hadn't even thought of wearing it over to Jared's tonight.

  "Yeah, but you can still look good," Angel said, rolling her eyes.

  "It's not dressy, it's just not casual," Lexie said as she propped her chin up on her hands, eyes sparkling with excitement. "I mean, unless you really do want him to think you only want to be friends."

  "I don't even know what I want anymore," Leigh muttered as she went to her dresser to get out a black tank top and her good jeans. Her ass always looked good, she thought, but in this pair of jeans... yeah, okay, maybe she did want to have Jared drooling a little bit. Maybe she wanted to see if that darkly demanding side of him would make another appearance. Even if that side made her jumpy and anxious.

  She'd barely been able to eat a bite today, she'd been so wound up with nerves. Even her students had noticed her distraction, although they'd probably just thought it was due to it being Friday. She'd noticed that students didn't really think of their teachers having lives outside of teaching.

  "Well, if you don't know if want him, then why are you going tonight?" Lexie asked in a matter-of-fact tone.

  "Because we're friends."

  But Leigh knew that was a cop-out. She just didn't really want to admit out loud that she wanted Jared. What if she did and it turned out that he still wasn't sure about what he wanted? She'd already put herself out there once, and while he hadn't exactly rejected her, it had been obvious he wasn't sure about his feelings... she didn't want to be hurt again. She'd had enough of that with Michael. Not that Jared was anything like Michael.

  With a sudden jolt, as she tugged on her jeans, she realized this was the first time she'd thought about her ex all week. Her thoughts had been so consumed with Jared and their upcoming... um... hangout, that Michael hadn't even been a passing thought. Which made her smile.

  Whether or not anything happened with her and Jared, she was finally, really getting over Michael. Not just saying it was done, not just deciding it was done, but really starting to not have him in her mind or heart, even subconsciously. Now that was definitely something worth celebrating.

  Looking at herself in the mirror, she smiled as she swept her long, brown hair to the side, pulling it over one shoulder. Her pale skin showed through the lace, which made her feel sexy, but not like she was trying too hard.

  "I like it."

  "Thank god!" Angel said, jumping up from the bed, flexing her hands. "Hair time!"

  ******

  The apartment was clean, the casserole he'd made was in the oven and should be ready in about twenty minutes, and Leigh should be arriving any minute. Jared couldn't help looking over his living room again, searching for anything out of place that he could tend to. He was pretty much as prepared for tonight as he could be.

  After cleaning the whole place and setting up some candles and place settings on his coffee table, he'd taken a shower and then gotten dinner together. While in the shower he'd jacked off, fantasizing about Leigh and tonight, even though the likelihood of reality following his fantasy was probably in the single digits percentage wise. It had still been a fun fantasy to have.

  The doorbell, the one connected to the door into the parking lot rather than the door to the hallway of the building, rang and Jared jumped in surprise, immediately glancing at the clock. She was a little early.

  Which was fine, because he was prepared. He couldn't help the huge grin that spread across his face as he answered the door. Immediately he yelped and grabbed her arm, dragging her inside. The outside air was frigid, biting, and with a nasty wind. Fortunately, she was all bundled up in a thickly-padded, blue winter coat that had a fur-lined hood, but he could still see the tip of her nose and her cheeks were already a bright rosy red.

  "It's freezing out! Why didn't you come through the building instead of coming to the side door?" he asked, scolding her as he shut the door behind him, and she started undoing the snaps on her coat, pushing the hood off of her head.

  Leigh shrugged. "It's still faster to come to the side door."

  "What if I hadn't heard the doorbell right away? You could still be standing out there."

  "But you did, and I'm not," she retorted, her eyes sparkling as she shrugged off her coat.

  Damn she was pretty. Even with a bright red nose. The jeans she was wearing hugged her hips in a way that should be illegal, and the lace shirt she was wearing was somehow simultaneously demure and sexy. The extremely low-cut tank top she was wearing underneath it let him see just a hint of cleavage, but the shirt she was wearing over it kept the amount of skin she was actually showing to a minimum. Her hair was pulled back from her face in some sort of complicated braid-bun looking thing that made him want to bury his fingers into the mass and completely pull it all out. Let it loose.

  "You look gorgeous, as usual," he said truthfully as he held out his hand for her coat, hanging it up on the rack next to the door.

  "Thanks," she said, smiling back at him. "You're not looking so bad yourself. Is it nice to be out of leathers for a weekend night?"

  "Feels a little weird," he said, tugging at his jeans and winking at her so that she giggled. The plain, maroon t-shirt he had on was also not something he'd ever wear to Stronghold, but he hadn't been sure what to wear tonight. Seeing her looking so good made him feel a bit under-dressed... but at least they weren't going out, so it wasn't like there was anyone there to judge him. And going by the appreciative glint in her eye, she thought he looked good.

  "Go h
ave a seat on the couch," he said, putting his hand on the small of her back once she'd turned around, enjoying the excuse to touch her even though it definitely wasn't necessary. "Dinner should be ready in a bit. Can I get you something to drink? Do you want something to snack on, cheese and crackers maybe?"

  "Just water and yes, please," she said fervently as she headed to the couch. His fingers parted from her as he veered towards the kitchen. "I'm starving."

  Jared frowned at the way she sounded when she said that. It sounded like pure truth, rather than exaggeration or politeness. "You didn't miss lunch again, did you?"

  "No," she replied, and even though he was in the kitchen and couldn't see her expression, he was pretty sure she was rolling her eyes just going by the tone of her voice. "I didn't miss my lunch. I just wasn't particularly hungry until now, so I didn't eat much of it."

  That small pronouncement had him adding some baby carrots and dip to the tray he had the cheese and crackers already waiting on. Frowning, he carried the tray and a glass of water into the living room where she was sitting just to the left of the middle of the couch, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees and waiting for him. Her eyes locked onto the tray in his hand with an eagerness she couldn't hide. The second he put the tray down, she was picking up a cracker with cheese on it and shoving it in her mouth with a relieved moaning noise.

  The moan was kind of hot, but Jared forced himself to ignore that as he put down the glass of water. "Did you eat your afternoon snack?"

  From the way she hesitated, he knew the answer before she gave it. "Uh, no." Looking up at him, she winced and he realized that he was looming over her almost threateningly. "Um... sorry, Sir?"

  Jesus.

  His cock had gone from trying to ignore her cute little moan as she'd eaten the cracker and cheese, to full on attention, even though she hadn't said the "Sir" with any kind of seriousness. Her tone had been half-teasing, half-curious, as if she wanted to see what he would do.

  Well if she was fishing for a reaction, she was going to get one.

  "Leigh," he said, his voice deeper and darker than it had been. His Dom voice. A voice he hadn't used in far, far too long. Immediately, she froze, the inherent submissive in her recognizing she was in trouble. With one hand hovering in the air above the tray of snacks, she looked up at him again, this time much more warily. Jared leaned down slightly, putting his face closer to hers as he cupped her cheek in his hand, his thumb sweeping across her lower lip. The flare of arousal in her eyes and the small intake of breath as he touched her had his own body tightening in anticipation. What he wouldn't give to have been this way with her a few weeks ago. But a few weeks ago, he'd still been holding back. Protecting both of them. "I would love it if you called me Sir, but only if you mean it."

  She opened her mouth to say something but instead ended up sucking in a deep breath as he leaned over her even more, automatically pushing herself back from him even as her pupils dilated. Planting one hand on either side of her, he trapped her on the couch, since he already knew she responded to being cornered like this.

  "When a submissive calls a dominant 'Sir,' that means she's giving herself over to him, that she's submitting to him, and that she's under his control and subject to his whims for that scene, if not for longer. So Leigh, if you call me Sir again I'm going to take that as an invitation to spank your ass for not eating when you knew you needed to."

  "Okay..." Her voice came out as a breathy sigh, her cheeks flushed, eyes almost dazed and her pupils so big they nearly engulfed the mismatching colors of her irises.

  Jared froze, his pulse pounding so hard he could practically hear it. "Okay, you want to call me Sir, or okay you understand?"

  ******

  To call the emotion sweeping through her "confusion" was a severe understatement. It was like she was being bombarded with conflicting desires, thoughts and doubts.

  Squeezing her thighs together did nothing to stall the tingling arousal that had built there during Jared's speech. Curiosity was running rampant through her body. At the same time, she couldn't make herself say that yes, she wanted him to spank her. She was pretty sure she did want him to, but embarrassment and uncertainty were nearly as strong as the excitement thrumming through her. While her body might be saying yes, her heart was unsure, and there was a little voice in her head asking if she was crazy.

  I told him I just wanted to be friends.

  Yet now, a week later, she was going to tell him to spank her? Yeah, talk about mixed messages. Leigh did not want to be that girl.

  So instead of answering, she just stared up at him, words forming and dying on her tongue before she even made a sound.

  A little smile curved his lips, and he chuckled, the predatory gleam suddenly gone from his dark eyes as they softened, the line of his body going from hard and dominating to something more approachable. "Why don't you tell me after dinner? Since either way, I'd want you to eat first."

  "Okay," she said, wanting to curse herself. She was an English teacher! She knew words other than 'okay,' dammit! A blush rose in her cheeks, nearly equal to the heat pooling at her core.

  Jared just chuckled again as he straightened up, holding out his hand to help her to her feet.

  She couldn't help but wonder how he managed to go so quickly from one Jared to the other. From hard, hot, and dominating to relaxed and caring. Two sides of the same coin, and so easily flipped, while she was left shaking and befuddled. Of course, the shaking might have something to do with the fact that she really did need to eat.

  Going too long without eating made her blood sugar drop, and when it dropped, the effects happened fast. She could go from feeling fairly normal to being slightly dizzy and nauseous, with a fine tremor in her hands and arms, and feeling like she was moving through thick air in less than half an hour. So far she wasn't at that point, but her stomach was definitely gnawing at her a bit, and she knew she'd be able to think more clearly once she'd gotten some food in her.

  Dinner was wonderful. The casserole Jared had made was filled with Greek spices, zucchini, squash, chicken and rice, with big chunks of feta cheese. He teased her about her picky eating, which she'd told him in the past, since he'd had to withhold peppers and olives from the recipe in order to make sure it was something she would eat. Leigh appreciated it. While she could pick olives out, she'd always found peppers to have a flavor that spread through whatever it was cooked with, and the only time she liked the flavor of peppers was when it was a tomato and red pepper cream soup.

  Her picky eating habits weren’t something she expected others to cater to. It wouldn't be fair to them, honestly, considering how many things she didn't like to eat. Michael had always ignored it, letting her deal with picking out the things she didn't like on her own. She was pretty sure it had embarrassed him sometimes, especially when they were out in public. Angel, and now Adam, had gotten used to setting aside a plainer, blander portion of food whenever they made something with ingredients she didn't like. Adam's favorite mac'n'cheese dish had onions in it, but last time he'd made a special, little side for her in its own oven dish, sans onions. But she'd also been living with him long enough for him to get an idea of her likes and dislikes, and he'd seen Angel's example.

  Jared hadn't eaten with her before. He hadn't seen Angel's generosity and thoughtfulness when it came to Leigh's eating habits. He'd just remembered what Leigh had told him and taken matters into his own hands.

  On top of that, during dinner he made sure her water glass was kept filled, he kept an eye on what she was eating, and he spent quite a bit of time listening to her babble on about the boring aspects of her day. All of which added up to Leigh feeling downright pampered.

  She couldn't even chalk it up to Jared putting on moves. She taught teenagers, she knew when someone was genuinely interested in something and when they were putting on a show. Jared was genuinely interested in hearing her talk about the mundane details of her day. When she asked him about his, he told her a lit
tle about the technical manual he was working on - he did some copy-editing from home for extra income - but always ended up turning the conversation back to her. It flustered her when she realized how unused she was to talking about herself, she usually focused on other people. Especially since she and Michael had broken up and she'd stopped wanting to concentrate on her own life, preferring to hear about what was going on in everyone else’s.

  Even though Jared had always paid attention to her, she didn't think he'd ever been this... focused. Attentive. Involved.

  How could she not respond?

  After they were done eating, Leigh helped him with the dishes, drying them as he washed.

  "Do you wish you had a dishwasher?" she asked, wiping one of the dinner plates dry.

  "I do," he said, holding up his soapy hands, the green scrubber he was holding looking tiny compared to his large palm.

  Leigh giggled. "You know what I mean. I don't think I've ever lived without one."

  "You get used to it," he said with a shrug. "Besides, since it's just me I don't really accumulate a whole lot of dishes."

  "Mmm." Leigh accepted the other dinner plate from him and started drying it off, giving him a little look from underneath her eyelashes. A speculative look. She'd been doing it all evening, and she knew he noticed, but she hoped he didn't realize what she was thinking so hard about. So far he hadn't asked.

  The man was either extremely patient or stubborn. Or possibly both.

  His big, dark hands were the focus of her speculation. Soapsuds and all. She just couldn't stop thinking about what it would feel like to be spanked by him. Especially since she knew how much Angel liked it. But it was more than that... because Leigh didn't really think she'd be into pain.

  It was like some part of her wanted to be spanked because she thought she deserved it. Thinking about being spanked wasn't what had really sparked the response in her - it was why Jared wanted to do it.