Free White Collared Part Three: Revenge by Shelly Bell Page A

don’t know why you have a death wish, but if I have to tie you up to do it, I’ll make sure you’re protected. You stay with either Jaxon or me until we nail this son of a bitch or I swear to you, I will terminate your internship. Do you understand?”
    She swallowed down the shame from disappointing him. “Yes, sir.”
    He exhaled. “Good. I don’t like you making deals on my behalf, but I understand the importance in this case. I’ll call Rachel Dawson. And don’t tell Jaxon. I don’t want him worrying about it if it turns out to be nothing.”
    They hung up, and, after a quick shower, she got dressed. Nick hadn’t gotten mad because she’d negotiated the deal with Rachel, but he’d almost blown a gasket over her failure to follow his directions. As someone who’d spent ten years without answering to anyone in her personal life, she didn’t know how to handle her two dominant men.
    And there was no question Nick was dominant. It wasn’t what he said, but how he said it, and how she reacted to it.
    She stuffed clothes for tonight into her duffel bag. She shouldn’t be thinking of Nick that way anymore. Not when she had Jaxon in her life.
    A knock on her door alerted her to Jaxon’s arrival. She zipped up her duffel, threw it over her shoulder, and prepared herself for his wrath. As soon as she opened the door, he stormed in, slamming the door behind him. His jaw was clenched, and his eyes were darker than the midnight sky in the middle of winter.
    She dropped the duffel on the ground. “Guess you spoke with Nick.”
    “I should’ve heard it from you not your . . . boss,” he spit out with contempt. “I should’ve never permitted you to go by yourself. What kind of man lets his woman go off alone with a murderer on the loose?”
    “You’re not mad at me?”
    “No.” He tugged her against his chest and tipped up her chin. “I’m disappointed you didn’t call me when someone ran you off the fucking road and that I had to learn about it from my pissed-off friend. He blamed it on me, and he was absolutely right.”
    “But I’m the one who convinced you I needed time to think.”
    “Because I knew better.” He pounded his chest with a fist. “It’s my job as your Dom to take care of you. I failed you like I failed Alyssa. And I can’t go through that again.” He released her from his hold and moved back, leaving her cold. “I respect your need to stay independent, but it’s not enough for me. I’m not one of those Doms who can switch it on and off or keep it limited to the bedroom.” He raked his fingers through his black hair and squeezed his eyes shut. “I thought for a brief moment that I could change. For you.” When his eyes opened, they were glassy. “I can’t.”
    She pressed her hand to her neck, needing the pain to ground her, but the bruise had healed. “I don’t understand what it is you want from me.”
    “I want the power to punish you when you’ve disobeyed me and to reward you for your obedience. I want what I didn’t have with my wife. Your total submission.”
    Her heart stuttered, and a rush of heat flooded her lower belly, making her pussy quiver and her clit swell. She tried to control her breathing, but she couldn’t get enough air into her lungs, as if the thought of punishment and rewards had taken root and grown inside her, leaving room for nothing else.
    She was a feminist. Believed in equality between the genders. When she’d dreamed about the future, she’d seen herself as a high-powered, white-collared professional, an attorney with the respect of her peers. Had a lover ever factored into her fantasies? Of course. But as hot as Jaxon’s statement had made her, never had she dreamed of answering to her lover for her actions. She hadn’t even wanted to get married, so how could she give away the amount of control Jaxon needed?
    Now that she’d finally cried, the waterworks flowed more easily, and tears stung her eyes. “I don’t know if I can