Haynes, K. R. - The Light in Her Eyes [In Her Eyes] (Siren Publishing Classic) (13 page)

The body language Chloe threw his way told him enough that she was pissed as all hell. He didn’t know what had set her off tonight or what caused her to be so, well, out of sorts. Probably that time of the month again. Well, he hoped it was that, at least.

Once they were both in his truck Randall drove straight home. He heard Chloe mutter something about her car, but right now that was the least of his concerns. Her defying a direct order was his only concern right now. One he was prepared to get to the bottom of, even if it took him the rest of the goddamn night.

Hell, the reason he’d called her in the first place tonight was to let her know he was coming home and that he had the next few days off. The time off was guaranteed by his team leader. Also, Randall had heard Chloe had been trying to get in touch with him and he wanted to make sure everything was all right with her. Obviously it wasn’t.

Cutting the engine at the end of his driveway, Randall turned in his seat to face her. The whole ride back from the pub to his place had been made in complete silence, even though the tension in the truck was dense. Gripping her chin with his forefinger and thumb, he turned her head to face him.

“Chloe, when you step inside the house you will go straight to our room. You will strip and present yourself to me. You will not
speak unless given a direct question. And you will not move until I say you can.” He lifted her head higher and stared straight into her hazel eyes which were glimmering with defiance. “Do you understand your orders, Chloe? Yes or no, Sir, will be sufficient.”

“Yes, Sir,” she bit out through gritted teeth to him.

She was still pissed, that much he knew. Why? Well, that’s what he was going to find out sooner or later. After exiting his truck, Randall went around and helped Chloe down. Resting a hand on her lower back, he ushered her inside. Closing and locking the front door behind them, Randall turned around to see Chloe standing still in the middle of the hallway. Her muscles were tense. Her arms were crossed over her breasts.

Silently moving to stand behind her, he leant in and whispered his command into her ear. “Bedroom, Chloe. Strip and present yourself and wait for me to come to you.” He raised his voice loud enough to cause her to shudder slightly from hearing his tone. “Now!”

Chloe took off down the hall to their bedroom immediately. Randall didn’t follow her. Chloe needed time alone and she needed to calm the fuck down so he could get through to her. Then and only then he could get the answers to his many questions. Right now, Chloe had an emotional wall erected, separating him from her. Randall loathed the distance she had put between them. Until that wall crumbled nothing he said or did would get through to her tonight.

Only time alone would help crumble the foundations of that wall.

Time alone in a submissive pose would help centre her emotions and feelings. Make her understand that when he gave her a direct order to stay home, it was for her own safety and not from him wanting to assert his dominance on her.

More importantly, Chloe needed to start trusting him. Not just trusting him with her body like she did so easily now, but also trust him with her life, her heart and her soul. Randall wanted Chloe to trust him with everything she had within her. It was the only way this unique relationship of theirs could work. Both Dom and sub had to have trust in each other. And right now it was the sub that was having the trusting issues, not him.

He’d give her an hour before going in to check on her though. If Chloe hadn’t calmed the fuck down by then, Randall would give her another hour, then another, then another until the time alone worked its magic. Giving her this solitude it should break through the pissed off part of her mind and crumble the emotional wall she had erected to no doubt protect herself.

What he wanted to know was why she felt the need to protect herself from him? Grabbing a beer from the fridge, Randall sank down on the sofa in the lounge room and switched the telly on, keeping the volume low so Chloe couldn’t hear what he was up to. He surfed through the channels until he found something intriguing enough to watch. Glancing up at the clock, he found that only twenty minutes had passed since they arrived home. Not long enough though to check on Chloe.

His hands itched to hold her, pet her, and tell her everything was all right. It seemed like she wanted that. Yet at the same time, Chloe needed something else entirely from him. She needed his dominance and she needed space and time for reflection. Randall was giving her that time.

Glancing at the clock again, he found that, shit, only another five minutes had passed. After being away from her for well over an entire week straight, except for about twenty-four hours, Randall found himself horny as hell. When he had been
home Chloe had taken one look at him and sent him straight to bed. No sex, she told him. Sleep was the only thing he was getting from her.

Hell, maybe that’s why she was so angry with him. She was just sexually frustrated like he was. Shaking his head, Randall knew that wasn’t it. Something else had gotten to her tonight. He hoped it wasn’t another malicious message that had ticked her off. Maybe that’s why Chloe had been trying to get a hold of him, because she had received another message. Randall made a mental note then to talk to his team leader to ensure that if Chloe called she got put straight through to Mick or his team leader himself if Randall was tied up on a case.

Walking into the kitchen, throwing his empty bottle in the trash, Randall headed for the separate bathroom further down the hall for a shower, not wanting to use the bathroom linked to the bedroom they shared together. It hadn’t been long enough to check up on Chloe yet.

Chapter Nineteen

She didn’t know how long she knelt on the plush carpet on the bedroom floor for it could have been for forever. Yet not once did she move. Her muscles ached from having been in the same position for several long minutes. Her neck was sore from having to hold it at a certain angle for so long. And still she did not move one inch. No words were uttered from her mouth. But on the inside, Chloe screamed for Jon. Her screams were silent tortured ones left unheard. In her mind she wondered if her soundless cries for him were unwanted, if she was unwanted by him.

God, she had missed him so much over these last few days. Chloe was practically crawling out of her skin in need for him. She needed to see him and to feel him, and she desperately needed to hear his husky voice whisper his words of praise and love to her.

If Jon were to come into their bedroom now, Chloe knew he would see nothing of the pain she felt on the inside. He wouldn’t see the shattering of her heart from the love she held in there only for him, which was possibly an unwanted love.

Yes, she loved him. She hadn’t wanted to. Well, not so early in their relationship, at least. She had been known to fall in love quite early on in her relationships, only to be bitterly disappointed when those feelings were not reciprocated.

Even though she might not remember their time together when they were teenagers, Randall had briefly filled her in on a few stolen moments they had shared together. From his ramblings it still wasn’t clear to Chloe if she had fallen in love with him back then, or whether what she felt now was in some way a product of those distant feelings she had at one time or another held only for him. Feelings she had once felt and owned more than ten years ago, somehow reinstated.

Her eyes stung at the knowledge that if Randall didn’t love her, didn’t want her in his life any more, it would leave her crushed. Her heart would be shattered. There would be nothing left of her to live for, even. Oh god. Oh god. He must feel something for her, surely? He just had to.

She took a few slow, deep breaths, trying everything she could to steady her distraught nerves, to steady her rapidly beating heart, and to stop all thoughts of his rejection of her. However, there wasn’t anything she could do to stop her tears. They fell silently, just like the noiseless sobs escaping past her quivering lips. Chloe didn’t want Randall to see her like this. She was a mess. Her emotions were all over the place. Her head was everywhere it shouldn’t be, thinking about all the wrong things.

Kneeling on the bedroom floor naked and in a submissive pose, waiting for Jon to come to her, Chloe felt more vulnerable tonight than she ever had before. The usual empowerment she had felt in the past when in her presentation pose for him was not there tonight. Maybe it was because Jon wasn’t present in the room with her. Maybe his presence gave her the empowerment that was somewhat lacking in her tonight.

She didn’t like feeling so powerless, not
when the stalker was upping his game. It would make her more defenceless to his threats. The latest message she had received from the sick bastard had pretty much done a number on her. The bastard’s threats were getting to her. He was toying with her emotions and forcing her to feel insecure.

Right then, Chloe knew she needed Randall. She needed his warm embrace surrounding her. She mouthed a silent plea to him. Words he would never hear but ones Chloe hoped in some way he felt. “Please, Jon, I need you. Please come to me. I’m so sorry. I’m so damn sorry for everything.”

More tears rolled down her cheek, dampening the plush cream carpet below her.

* * * *

Dressed in only a pair of distressed jeans, Randall padded silently down the hall to the bedroom on bare feet. Leaning against the door frame, he took in the vision of Chloe naked and in the submissive pose he had commanded. Her head was slightly lowered so he couldn’t see her eyes. However, Randall couldn’t miss her tears. There seemed to be a steady stream of tears rolling down her cheeks, dripping onto the carpet below where she knelt.

In his chest an ache started to build up at the sight of her silent tears. Walking over to her and quietly dropping to his knees in front of her, Randall pulled Chloe into his arms. Her sobs echoed louder when he crushed her to his bare chest. Running a hand up and down her back, soothing her cries, he weaved his other hand into her hair. Holding her close to him, Randall could feel her hot tears burning a path down his skin. He didn’t know how long Chloe had been like this, crying silently for him, or what had caused so many tears to fall from her hazel eyes. Nevertheless, he wasn’t letting her go until they stopped.

“Shh, I have you, Chloe. I have you.” His hand continued to caress her back, soothing her aching sobs. “I’m here, little girl. I’m right here with you. I’ll always be here for you, Chloe.” His words alone seemed to be what she needed to hear. Her sobs and tears began to abate after hearing his words.

Releasing her a few moments later from his hold on her, Randall sat back on his haunches. His eyes scanned her, trying to see what else Chloe was trying to tell him with her body language. He couldn’t get a gauge on anything else other than the tortured expression flickering in her hazel eyes.

Leaning in and placing a kiss under each eye, left swollen from so many fallen tears, Randall then captured her lips with his. Long and slow he kissed her. Their lips effortlessly moved against one another’s. Running his tongue over her lips and tasting the saltiness of her tears, it wasn’t enough. He needed more of her taste on him, much more.

“Open up for me, Chloe. Let me in, precious,” he murmured against her lips.

Her lips parted ever so slightly at his command. Immediately his tongue thrust inside her moist depths. Her tongue duelled with his at first, until he growled at her to stop. They both moaned at the intimacy of their embrace. It had been too long since he had held her, since he had kissed her, since he had tasted her sweetness on his lips. Never again would he be this long without her—a silent promise he made for them both.

Lacing the fingers of one hand into her hair, he pulled slightly on the caramel locks, forcing a soft moan to fall from her lips. His lips and tongue became more demanding the longer the kiss went on. Randall slid his spare hand up her rib cage, cupping the cool
flesh of her
breast in his hand. Her skin no longer held the warmth it should. At that knowledge Randall released his lips from hers.

Standing up stretching out a hand for her to take with hers, Chloe slipped her delicate hand into his. Helping her to her feet, Randall crushed her naked body to him. He devoured her lips once again, like a starved man. His eyes fluttered closed while his hands ran up and down her back, warming her cooled skin.

Cupping her ass in both hands and commanding Chloe to wrap her legs around his waist, he lifted her up then carried her into the adjacent bathroom. With the water in the shower running to heat up, Randall let Chloe slide slowly down the front of his body, knowing she could feel the erection punching through the front of his denim jeans. An erection he had only for her. Shedding his jeans, he tugged her into the awaiting shower with him.

Chapter Twenty

Stunned into silence and speechless with surprise, Chloe felt her heart melt when
her
man fell to his knees in front of her. As soon as Randall crushed her to him,
she could no longer hold back her silent tears.
Her sobs sounded like harsh, tortured cries for her lover. Chloe didn’t know why the sensation of his warm skin against her own created such a reaction from her. Or why just being in his arms felt so right.