The Heart's Domination (Touched By You 3) (10 page)

Or, so she
thought, until Tanner took her up to the playroom, undressed her and asked her do the one thing she couldn’t do. He stood next to her, naked. She was on her stomach, feeling good from the night before, from the romantic kiss with the Eifel Tower as a backdrop. And then….

His warm hand rubbed her buttocks. Her clit tensed. But something in his attitude was
off. He should feel closer to her, more intimate. Why did he seem so distant, all of a sudden? His moods were so unpredictable. She could never get inside his head. 

His finger found her asshole and he began to massage. She had a bad feeling. He reached to a side table and greased her with a slick lubricant. She tensed.

Memories she’d rather forget pressed into view. She tried to stay in the mood. This was Tanner.

His finger continued to massage her asshole. It was slick and greasy. His finger slid around it. He tested the tip of on
e finger against the resistance and it went in. His finger slid slowly in and out. The tiny muscles protested.

Tanner stroked her hair while his finger continued to slide in and out. Natalie became anxious. “Tanner?” She started questioningly, thinking she knew what he had in mind.

Tanner reached into a drawer and pulled out a rubber butt plug. The thing just looked so big. Compared to a finger, it was huge.

“I can’t…I just can’t,” she started.

Tanner pressed his palm against her back and spread her cheeks with his other, exposing her tiny asshole. He nudged the butt plug against her, caressing not pushing. Yet, Natalie felt the coldness in him.

“Was last night not enough?” She pleaded. “You have to have everything. It won’t be okay with us until I submit. That’s it isn’t it?”

“Try this for me,” Tanner replied. He knew he might be pressing his luck.

Last night, he’d c
ome perilously close to what? Intimacy? No, that’s not what he wanted. His desire for Natalie was paramount. She was the sexiest woman he’d ever met, and he meant to possess her, in every way.

“You’re mine,” he said coldly
. “You’ll submit to my wishes.”

Natalie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This couldn’t be the same man she’d spiraled out of control with last night. He must have a split personality, or he was more screwed up than she’d admitted.

“You ask too much,” Natalie cried. “I don’t understand why this is important to you. There are many other ways we can have sex.”

“You agreed to do more with me, baby,” Tanner countered. “This is more. You haven’t tried it. I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t think it would bring you pleasure, but you can’t resist it.”

“Well, you blew it. You shouldn’t have used this in retaliation that time. It left a bad taste. I’m not so anxious to try it again,” Natalie said. She looked at his predatory glare and didn’t like it. “Plus, you always promised mutual pleasure. If I don’t want to do this, it’s not mutual.”

Tanner stood looking strong and threatening, but had to listen. He would never force a woman into a sexual act.

Natalie continued, “I’m yours. I am, Tanner. But, I don’t understand your need to dominate, not completely. Why does it have to be this? I think it’s that I resisted before. For some reason, that excites you. But, I’m not ready for this.

It’s so romantic, here in Paris. You take me to the most amazing places. It’s right out of a movie, a very romantic movie. Yet, I have to wonder. Maybe you’re just buttering me up for something – something that will just be too much. I’m having trouble dealing with your sweet mood one moment
, and your overbearing control the next.”

Tanner’s jaw clenched. “So, I’m buttering you
up, am I? You seem very willing – willing to go everywhere with me. Don’t tell me you don’t enjoy it. And, don’t tell me you don’t enjoy the things we do. I may not understand how you think but I do know pleasure when I see it.

You act like I’m harming you in some way. Yet, I’ve gone out of my way to avoid doing just that. Now you posture that I feel one way one moment, and another the next. I don’t. It’s you doing
that. You want everything we do and push the limits of pleasure with me.

Now, I don’t know what you’re doing. I know you want more from me. If this is your way of getting it, we’re in trouble.”

Tanner fumed and paced. He gripped the plug in his fist and Natalie cringed at his anger. She looked away, unable to bear seeing him so upset. Still, she couldn’t just let him crush her. She had to take a stand sometimes, didn’t she?

Tanner dropped the plug on the floor and left the room, slamming the door behind him. His head was pounding. It felt like it would burst. He rubbed his temple and went to get something to ease the pain.
Damn that woman!

His desire for her, fueled with his anger, combusted. He had lost control
, and didn’t like that. He didn’t want to hurt Natalie, yet had no idea where his anger would take him. He’d never desired a woman that much. She shouldn’t rebel against him.

Tanner sat in the main room, glaring at the lights outside the windows. He could see the error of his ways, but couldn’t get up and go to her.

Natalie was distressed over how things had gone. She wouldn’t let Tanner use her, love or not. But, she knew him well enough to know he felt like she did right now – empty inside - and wanting to be together.

She stepped softly across the room and stood next t
o Tanner, glancing at the beautiful scene outside the window, and back to the greater beauty sitting before her. He looked straight ahead, not acknowledging her.

Natalie reached out and touched his cheek. He looked up, eyes cool, but the violent anger had gone. “I don’t want to be apart,” Natalie whispered.

Tanner didn’t know the difference anymore between one passion, or another. His anger had only fueled his desire for her, unreasonably. She thought he controlled her but he wasn’t so sure. Never, had he been a woman’s victim – but, he was hers. There was no chance he would turn away from her.

He pulled her onto his lap and kissed her. She felt the fire in his heart. Her pulse raced.

The throbbing in Tanner’s head began to abate. The drugs were working. He no longer felt so arrogant. He only felt – what? He didn’t know. It wasn’t a feeling he recognized. He knew one thing. He craved Natalie. There was no caution he heeded when it came to her.

He carried
her up to his bed - not his playroom - his bed. He’d almost pushed her into doing something against her will. That wasn’t good.

She needed more from him, and he wasn’t sure how he would give it. For now, he was going to make love to her. Vanilla sex, that’s all. Sweet, slow sex with the woman he desired. She’d want that, he was sure.

Natalie responded in kind, showing a gentleness and sensual touch that left Tanner moved beyond words. He was in over his head and he wasn’t quite sure how he’d gotten there. Lovemaking, vanilla sex was underrated he discovered. She easily drove him into an insane passion, with no toys, no kink, no taboo and no pain. Oh God, he was in so much trouble.

Natalie felt she had changed in some indefinable way. The days in Paris with Tanner had be
en romantic in the extreme. And the nights – well, each night was more erotic than the one before. She found no clear limit to what she would do with the man she loved. She did know she was happier than she’d ever been.

Tanner still worked a lot on the trip which left her plenty of time
on her own. She spent hours sketching more new designs and reviewing designs for Clarke Luxury. She was starting to get more work from Tanner as a consultant. She enjoyed it and got even more perspective on the business seeing it from the inside like this.

I
n the remaining hours, she devoted herself to checking out the fashion world of Paris. No city takes fashion more seriously than Paris. The city was the birthplace of haute couture.

On one shopping trip,
Natalie tried on a Rodarte wood-panel print, silk dress that was perfect. It was unique on the hanger, but captivating when worn. Anything she bought went on Tanner’s account. She knew better than to ask prices and it’s probably better that she didn’t know 5,410 euros went on the tab - $7,540 in US currency.

Tanner had demanded that she shop without restraint. He wanted to see her in clothes that
enhanced her beauty. It gave him great pleasure and money was no object. What woman could refuse such an offer? Not Natalie. She shopped with abandon, smiling in the mirror at a particular dress or outfit as she imagined Tanner’s reaction to it.

She got used to the faithful bodyguard, Andre, who followed at a discreet distance while she shopped to her heart’s content.
Tanner tended to take security for granted. But Natalie spoke to Andre, finding him to be friendly. She even bought him hot drinks. He was following her around the streets of Paris in winter, after all.

It crossed her mind that Tanner would think she was fli
rting and would be upset.
Who would tell him?
Andre certainly wouldn’t. She wasn’t flirting anyway, just making friends. There was a difference, even if Tanner didn’t see it.

The fashion consultant Tanner put at her service w
as helpful. Jenna was her name. She was a tall, very thin blue-eyed blond with a stylish bob. She was a former model and knew what was truly fashionable and what didn’t make the cut. Most of all, Jenna knew body types and was a genius at finding garments that were flattering on Natalie’s slender figure.

Faubourg
Saint-Honore, the pulse of Paris fashion is where they spent the most hours shopping. Versace, Hermes, and Yves St. Laurent were well represented, among others. Natalie’s closet at the villa would be brimming with purchases. She’d have plenty to wear when they visited again. Tanner had told her they’d be in Paris often.

During the last days in Paris,
Natalie called Jazzy a couple of times to see how everyone was. The news was good. Emma had started her treatments which were going well, so far. It warmed Natalie’s heart to hear her mother’s voice. She sounded stronger and had only good things to say about her new place in New York.

Jazzy talked excitedly about Ellis. She loved wor
king at the restaurant with him and raved about the cuisine. She was proud of Ellis and confessed they were in love with each other. That pleased Natalie. She adored her sister and couldn’t imagine a better man for her than dear Ellis. Jazzy wanted to know about Paris and Natalie willingly chatted about all the places she’d been.

It was a relief to know that everything back home was stable. Her family was
happy and that meant a lot to Natalie. Life seemed to have turned her way. She wasn’t sure what she did to deserve it but she knew Tanner was the reason for it. Her appreciation of his good heart knew no end. If only he saw himself as others did. But, he still tended to see his motivations as self-centered.

Natalie met with Suzanne a second time
, while still in Paris. They ironed out the details of the new contract. Natalie’s designs were to debut as a spring line. The paperwork would go through the attorneys but neither woman saw any problems. Tanner saw the agreement as beneficial for both parties, and that said a lot, considering his experience.

One remaining matter Tanner attended to was securing a reputable gynecologist for Natalie in Paris. It was time for
her birth control shot and it was taken care of before the return to New York. The shot needed to be timely, so it appeared she’d need a doctor wherever they traveled.

In Paris, there is a unique
hotel for lovers called One by the Five. It’s discreetly hidden on a quiet street near Port Royal in the Latin Quarter and looks out onto the river Seine. It advertises -
a naughty tryst if money is no object
.

Tanner booked the private five-room apartment.
It was a single-suite hotel so they would be the only guests. He could have taken Natalie anywhere in Paris, but chose this discreet hotel. He wanted to go somewhere he wasn’t known, escape from his life of wealth and play lovers with Natalie.

She was thrilled. Bordering the Seine, the neighborhood was the intellectual heart and so
ul of Paris. It had a special charm. During the day, Tanner and Natalie spent some time strolling Montebello quai, browsing the second-hand book dealers in the shadow of Notre-Dame.

The area is known for its lively atmosphere and bistros.
Natalie discovered the narrow Parisian streets were full of life. There were outdoor cafes and markets filled with local produce. They stopped at a Fromagerie to get some cheese for later.

Lunch was at
Canard a L’Orange at La Tour D’Argent, the oldest restaurant in Paris, founded in 1542. Tanner chose a Bordeaux wine to enjoy with the meal. Natalie was overcome by the splendor of the setting, overlooking the Seine with a spectacular vantage of Notre Dame.

A white rose lay on the table beside Natalie.
Swept up in the moment, Tanner had purchased the single rose from a street vendor, and presented it to her with a gallant bow. The gift signified the magic of their time together, a fairytale she never wanted to end. He didn’t only dominate her body – he dominated her heart.