I gasped as my heart instantly went out to him. “Oh, William.”
“She loved the bastard way more than she should have.”
Reaching out, I placed my hand on his cheek. “I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you.”
“Knowing all that, I don’t blame you for telling your father to fuck off.”
A smile played at the corner of his lips. “I didn’t actually tell him that in so many words.”
“You should have.”
“I just more or less told him I would rather be a janitor scrubbing shit stains off toilets than work for him and his cronies.”
“Good for you.”
“Then when he refused to pay for my college, my mom’s parents stepped in. They pretty much raised me after she died. She was an only child like me, so I became their world.”
“And I guess it’s safe to say that’s where you got the trust fund.”
He nodded. “I might’ve been born wealthy, but I never wanted to sit around on my ass. I wanted to do something noble with my life.”
I had to smile considering he’d chosen to go into teaching for the same reasons I had. “You’re a sub with a heart of gold and some fat change in the bank,” I teased, trying to lighten the mood.
William chuckled. “Whatever.” He clipped the bandage in place on my ankle. “There. All done.”
Eyeing his handiwork, I said, “Thank you.”
“I have some Ibuprofen you should take for the pain and inflammation.”
“Okay.”
He went around the truck again and this time brought back some Advil and a bottle of water. After placing two on my tongue, I washed it down with the water. “Once again, thank you.”
“You’re more than welcome.” He jerked his chin at my foot. “You need to put some ice on that.”
“Yes, Dr. William, I’ll do that when I get home.”
“Actually, you need to do it sooner than that.”
“You don’t know where I live, so how do you know how quick it will be?”
He grinned. “That was actually a lead in for me to ask you to breakfast.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Why would you want to do that?”
“Um, I don’t know. Maybe because you need to ice your ankle, and we both could use some food after our run.”
“Look, William, I really appreciate your help, but I don’t think breakfast is a good idea.”
“Food is always a good idea.”
“Call me crazy, but I’m not used to accepting dates from men I don’t know.”
William leaned in closer to me. “I would think the fact you’ve seen me naked and made me come means you know me in the biblical sense.”
“I think the biblical sense involves penetration,” I countered.
“If memory serves me correctly, there was penetration…with my tongue.”
His words, coupled with the naughty imagery they provoked, sent heat straight between my legs. “I suppose you do have a point there.”
“There’s also the fact the club does a pretty extensive background check, so the odds that I’m a serial killer or rapist are pretty slim.”
I couldn’t help laughing at the fact he was bringing up all the points I had earlier about letting him take me down the mountain. “You know, you’re being awfully pushy for a submissive.”
“But as you pointed out, we’re not in the club and you’re not my Mistress.”
Damn if he didn’t have me there too. When my stomach growled, my resolve faded slightly, and I began to imagine what it might be like to actually take him up on his offer.
As if he sensed I was starting to relent, he said, “It’s just breakfast, Sophie. I can pretty much assure you that there’s nothing illicit about some pancakes and eggs.”
“You must not be into food play, huh?” I countered with a smile.
He laughed. “Considering I like bondage and pain, I don’t find a piece of sausage very threatening.”
With a smirk, I replied, “It might be if it was shoved up your ass.”
William winced. “Anal play is one of my hard limits, remember?”
“Yeah. I remember.” I winked at him. “But you enjoyed the vibrator, didn’t you?”
“Externally, yes.”
“I still can’t help but think about how nice your ass would look with a vibrating butt plug.”
After hesitating a moment, William appeared slightly intrigued. “For you, I might test my limits.”
“My, my, aren’t you full of surprises?”
“With the right Mistress, a sub likes to test his boundaries.”
“And with the right sub, a Mistress likes to test her boundaries.”
William’s eyes flared, and I knew he was remembering how I relented to let him go down on me. The air around us became charged with electricity. Jesus, what was it about this man that enabled him to push all my buttons?
After exhaling a deep sigh, I said, “Okay, okay, you’ve worn me down. I’ll have breakfast with you.”
“Wow, you only made that sound slightly horrible. I’ll try to pretend it’s the pain talking and not you.”
I laughed. “I’m sorry. I really, really want to have breakfast with you.”
“Better. But there’s still just a hint of sarcasm.”
“Whatever.” When I started to slide myself off the truck bed, William reached forward to help me. “I’ve got it,” I snapped a little too forcefully.
Holding up his hands, he took a step back. When I put pressure on my foot, I winced. “Hurts pretty bad, huh?”
“It doesn’t feel great.”
“It’ll feel a lot better once that Ibuprofen takes effect and you ice it.”
“I sure hope you’re right. I start my new job on Tuesday, and the last thing I need is to be limping around, especially when the students arrive. Considering they can smell fear, they would immediately see my foot as a weakness.”
William laughed. “That’s a pretty good summation of teenagers. But don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll be fine by then.”
I furrowed my brow at him. “How did you know I was going to be teaching teenagers?”
“It was a lucky guess considering you were quoting Shakespeare.”
“I see. So where are dragging me to for breakfast?”
“There’s a little French café that has the best crepes and croissants.”
I knew exactly the place he was talking about. Although I’d passed it several times, I’d never stopped. “That sounds great. I love crepes. My grandmother used to make them all the time from her family’s recipe.” I smiled at the memory of being in her kitchen and helping her. “From one Sophie to another,” she would say in her thick French accent. I’d even been named after her.
“When did she come over?” William asked.
“She met my grandfather during WWII when his unit was liberating France. He married her over there and then brought her back home with him.”
“That sounds awfully romantic.”
I couldn’t help smiling when I thought of the way my grandparents used to look at each other when they told the story of how they met. “Yeah, she was singing in a nightclub that the GI’s liked to hang out at. It was love at first sight.”
“So they met in a club like us.”
With a snort, I replied, “I hardly think you can make any similarities between the two.”
“You never know. Like the ranger said, we could be telling our grandchildren about how we met.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m pretty sure the actual story would send them straight to therapy.”
“We could save some details for ourselves. Every family has a few skeletons in their closet.”
“Whatever. I’m beginning to think you and the ranger were getting a little too much fresh air. You’re talking out of your head.”
“Better than out of my ass,” William quipped.
“I’m leaving now.”
“Wait. Let me drive you.” When I gave him a skeptical look, he grinned. “Can’t you give up control for the ten minutes it’ll take to drive down the road to the restaurant?”
Rolling my eyes, I replied, “Yes. But it’s more about the fact that my foot needs the rest.”
“Whatever it takes.” William opened the passenger side door for me. When I had a little trouble getting up into the cab, he took me by the waist and hoisted me onto the seat.
“Thanks.”
“No problem.”
As he walked around the front of the truck, I closed my eyes and inhaled. The cab smelled of a delicious mixture of fresh leather and William.
“What are you doing?”
“Enjoying the smell of the leather.”
“A typical Mistress.”
“Actually, it’s more about the fact that I’ve never had a new car.”
“Never?”
“Nope.”
“Why is that exactly? I mean, you have to make pretty good money at the club.”
I gave a nonchalant shrug. I sure as hell wasn’t about to tell Mr. Trust Fund Baby about how everything I earned went toward tuition and helping out my dad. Even though he had a real world job, he still wouldn’t have a clue what it was like to desperately need every dime.
“Honda’s are good cars, so I really don’t need a new one,” I finally replied.