Chapter 5 - Chapter Five: The Pleasure Clause

The contract was a trap.A perfectly tailored, gold-embossed, leather-bound trap.Clause 13 the one he'd slipped in at the very last minute was the dagger. "The undersigned agrees to be available for personal arrangements, as requested by Mr. Cain, outside regular office hours. Exclusivity required. No entanglements. No emotional liabilities."I stared at it, blinking."You're joking," I said.Damian leaned back in his chair, hands steepled, a ghost of a smile playing at the corner of his mouth."Do I look like I joke, Leigh?""You can't be serious. This is this is prostitution with better grammar."He chuckled. "It's clarity. And consent.""You want me to sign this?""I want you to admit what we both already know."My pulse thundered. "Which is?""You're already mine. I just want it in writing."My chair scraped the floor as I pushed away from his desk.I stormed out of his office, folder clutched to my chest like it might explode.I dropped it on my desk like it burned.Paced.Swore.Then opened it again.Read every word.Clause 13 glared at me.I could almost hear his voice in it. Cold. Controlled. Commanding.God help me, I was soaked.bI lasted seven hours.At 10:47 p.m., I showed up at his penthouse.Not in anger.Not in surrender.In silk.He opened the door before I could knock.His eyes ran down my body like a slow undress."You're late," he said."I'm not signing it," I replied.He stepped aside, letting me in without a word. The apartment smelled like him cedar, citrus, sex."I came to talk," I added, walking in."You came in silk," he murmured, following me.I stopped at the marble kitchen island, turned to face him."I came for answers.""You'll get them."He stepped in close. My breath caught."You wore this for me?""I wore it to make a point.""What point?""That I'm not afraid of you."His hands ghosted up my arms."Then prove it." The dress hit the floor.He bent me over the island, cool marble against my stomach. His fingers slid between my thighs, finding how ready I was."For someone not signing," he growled, "you're very compliant."I moaned when his fingers slid inside me.He pushed deeper, curling until I gasped."You like my contract now?""I hate you," I breathed."Say it again.""I hate "He bit the back of my neck. "Liar."Then he flipped me around and carried me to the bedroom. He tied my wrists with his silk tie.Laid me across his bed like a feast.And devoured me.His tongue was ruthless, teasing, flicking, plunging licking me until my thighs trembled and my back arched off the sheets."More," I gasped.He rose, removed his belt, and slid his pants down.I didn't get a moment to catch my breath before he was inside me one hard, deep stroke.My scream echoed in the room.He set a rhythm that wasn't gentle.He was claiming.Punishing.My wrists strained. My skin burned.And still, I begged.When I came, he didn't stop.He chased his own release, hips snapping, sweat dripping, mouth open as he cursed and groaned and finally, finally let go.***We lay tangled in silence.Then "I want more than this," he said softly.I blinked."What?""I want you to come to me without needing a contract.""You just handed me one.""I wanted to see if you'd fold.""And did I?"He smiled. "You came in silk."I laughed. "You're insane.""Only for you."And damn him, I believed it.***He walked me to the elevator shirtless, barefoot, and more intimate than he'd ever been."Think about it," he said as the doors closed.And I did.All night.All day.Every minute.Then I opened the contract again.And started reading it differently.Not like a threat.But like a confession.