GRAYSON
He wasn’t sure what the hell happened. Lexi was almost as pale as the papers on the table in front of him. She’d gone silent again, and was staring off across the office. He went with instinct.
“Alessandra,” he said, deepening his voice just a little.
“Take a deep breath.”
She didn’t respond, but he saw her chest expanding and her shoulders go up as she did. Her gaze was fixed on his, and even though he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket again, he wasn’t about to look away for anything.
The deep breath had brought a little color back to her cheeks as she released it all in a rush. Now what did he do with her? If she’d really been his sub, he could have distracted her with sex. But she wasn’t. No matter how perfectly she responded, he reminded himself. She was not his.
“Drink your water.”
Lexi blinked and slowly peeled her bottle out of her right hand. He saw the red indent the cap made, but said nothing as she drank steadily from the bottle.
“Come here.”
Lexi put the cap back on the water and stood, but hesitated. Grayson patted a spot on the couch next to him.
“Just come sit.”
Haltingly, she did. It was clear she wasn’t sure how close to sit, so he resolved the issue by reaching his arm around the outside of her, and pulled until she was pressed up against his side. Still, she was stiff and unyielding.
“Relax, Alessandra,” he said, and waited, unsure if she would.
Then her torso seemed to melt into him.
It seemed her legs were at an awkward angle, so she tucked one up underneath her. With a little sigh, she rested her head against the side of his chest and he stilled. She fit up against him perfectly. Goddammit. He didn’t need this. He needed a good fighter.
“What’s your favorite holiday?” he asked.
He wasn’t sure whether it was the randomness of the question or because he’d taken charge, but she answered immediately.
“Valentine’s Day.”
It seemed an odd choice to him. Maybe she liked to go out, or go on dates? Was she a romantic like her mother?
“Why?” he asked.
He could feel her smile a little against his side.
“Because it’s my own personal holiday. I take it off work every year. I go to some spa, and I dress up and I go somewhere new.”
Above her head, Grayson was frowning.
“Alone?”
Lexi nodded. Not at all what he’d been expecting.
“So, where are you going this year?”
“There’s a place up in the Poconos. There’s this Bed and Breakfast I found online. The bedroom has a fireplace, and there’s a restaurant right there,” she said, and finished with a subtle yawn.
“It sounds great,” he said
Gray was thinking of the snowy drive up to the Poconos in February. He wondered what kind of car she drove. If it was safe enough for the drive. The silence ticked on for several minutes and he sat, lost in thought.
“What else?” she murmured.
It would seem his fighter was tired.
“What else what?” he asked, suddenly realizing that he’d been stroking the inside of her wrist for who knew how long.
Except she hadn’t said anything about it, and her skin really was incredibly soft there… he wasn’t about to stop.
“What else do you want to know?”
Everything, his mind whispered. He ignored it. So he asked the only question he’d been wondering about
“Why fighting, Alessandra? Why do you fight?”
She was quiet for so long he thought she’d fallen asleep, so he wasn’t really listening when she mumbled something. He leaned his head down and asked her to say it again.
“I’m always in charge. I have to stay in charge.”
Grayson leaned back. Someone as naturally submissive as she was…
refused to let go of control? He thought about the gym; about her confrontation with Andrew downstairs.
Her job at the gym, and kicking her own potential dominant’s ass in public, versus how well she’d responded to him.
Everything rolled around in his head for quite a while, until this time he was sure she was asleep against him.
All the pieces shifted in his mind until it clicked. She’d never been fighting him being dominant. She was fighting herself being submissive. He wondered if she knew. And what the hell he was going to do about it.