THE STRICT BRITISH BARRISTER: ACT ONE (17 page)

“Yes, Joe came with me for backup. Dylan Cross came on board with a reputation, so he, and the bar manager, were very familiar with his antics.”

“A reputation?” she frowned.

“Brittany, finish your meal, then we’re going to talk about it, we’re going to talk about everything, and I definitely want to know how you ended up at The Seven Seas with him.”

“I’ll tell you everything,” she promised, spooning some eggs and potatoes on her plate.

“You’d better,” he said firmly, buttering his muffin.

He leaned back in his chair and glanced across at her as she consumed her meal. The color began to return to her face, and she seemed to relax. It soon became apparent she was none the worse for wear, which made him wonder how many times she’d done something similar. When she was finally finished he called Joe to have the table cleared, but Brittany chose to stay in the bedroom when the steward arrived, still too embarrassed to see him.

“You’ll have to face him at some point,” Duncan pointed out.

“I know, but it doesn’t have to be this morning,” she replied, and locked herself away.

Joe was as efficient and formal as always, but as he cleared the last of the plates he asked how Brittany was feeling.

“She’s fine,” Duncan replied, “and thank you for asking. Apparently she hadn’t had any dinner so that probably contributed to the effect of the alcohol.”

“Forgive me if this is too personal,” Joe said, “but I hope you work things out with her. You two make a striking couple. We’ve had many happy endings on this ship. Couples who have met here, then returned a year or so later for their honeymoon.”

“It that so? We’ll have to see,” Duncan smiled, then dropping his voice he added, “but just between you and me I’m hopeful.”

“I really like him,” Brittany remarked, reappearing from the bedroom after Joe had left. “Maybe I should have stayed and talked to him.”

“You’ll have another chance soon, but now, would you please sit down,” he said seriously, gesturing to the sofa. “It’s time for our talk.”

Feeling a sudden touch of apprehension, Brittany settled on the couch and looked up at him expectantly.

“Aren’t you joining me?” she asked.

“No, I prefer to stand,” he replied, “I think better on my feet, it’s my legal training.”

“Legal training?” she frowned. “You’ve had legal training.”

“That’s the first thing I’m going to tell you,” he began. “Yes, I’m an author, but that’s not my vocation. I’m a barrister.”

“Really? That’s a lawyer, right?”

“Not exactly, that’s a common misconception, and I’m not going to spend time explaining the difference right now, but I do argue cases and appear in court. The point is, I have a very busy professional life in London.”

“I see,” she said, feeling both admiration and a tingling fear. “Are you saying you don’t have time for me, or for relationships, a relationship?”

“Certainly not the kind of time I’ve had these last few days. I have a regular life, Brittany. I’m not some mysterious, fanciful, literary James Bond,” he declared.

“You don’t have a regular life, there’s nothing regular about you,” she shot back, quickly adding, “sorry, I didn’t meant that to sound disrespectful. You’re not regular, I know regular, and you may work at a regular type job, but you’re not a regular person.”

“If you’re referring to my-”

“I’m referring to your everything,” she exclaimed, interrupting him. “The way you are, your personality, and, uh, the other stuff of course.”

Duncan paused. Once again she had taken him off track.

“What I’m trying to tell you, is that-”

“Is that you think, I think, you’re someone you’re not? You’re wrong. You are what you are to me, and I don’t care whether you’re a bus driver back in London, or the Prince of frickin’ Wales,” she said dramatically.

He looked down at her earnest face, and realized she’d meant every word.

My goodness, you really are quite extraordinary.

“Tell me about Dylan Cross,” he frowned, wanting to change the subject. “How did you end up back at that bar with him?”

“It’s no big deal,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “I was really hurt and angry when I left here, and when I got back to my cabin I couldn’t calm down, so I called him to meet me back at the bar for a drink. I was going crazy,” she explained.

“You called him? How did you know where to call him?” he asked, shocked that she’d known how to reach him.

“Sorry, I forgot to mention…remember how you left the bar ahead of me and took the stairs? Dylan and I bumped into each other while I was waiting for the elevator.”

Duncan rolled his eyes, then shook his head.

“Don’t you understand, Brittany, you didn’t just happen to run into him? He’s been watching you, waiting for an opportunity. When he saw a chance he grabbed it.”

“Really?” she frowned. “I didn’t think…”

“You would have ended up in trouble with him. He would have had you in his cabin in no time.”

“I would have said no,” she protested. “I had zero interest in him. I just needed a distraction, I needed to not think about you.”

“Do you honestly think he would have taken no for answer?”

She stared at him, processing his words, then shook her head as she realized Duncan was probably right.

“He kept buying me drinks, telling me I needed to relax,” she mumbled. “I’m an idiot,”

“No, but you do idiotic things, you jump without looking, you have a short temper, you’re impatient, in short, you lack discipline,” he finished.

“I guess,” she mumbled, “but I can do better, if you give me a chance. Are you going to give me a chance, give us a chance? Is that why I’m here? Is that why you came up and got me away from him? Please don’t keep me in suspense, just tell me.”

“You can be annoyingly and refreshingly forthright,” he frowned. “You are a walking oxymoron.”

“Just, please, tell me,” she demanded, jumping to her feet.

“Sit down,” he said sternly.

“Sorry,” she muttered, dropping back on the couch. “I’m not very good at waiting, especially not for something…so…”

“The quick answer is yes, but,” he said quickly, and sensing she was about to interrupt him again he held up his hand, “before you say anything, I have to tell you that you were right-”

“I was? What about?” she interjected, a large smile crossing her face.

“I am going to buy several gags with your name on every one of them the minute I set foot on the London streets,” he exclaimed, throwing up his arms in exasperation.

“I can’t help myself,” she said, “I do try.”

“Discipline,” he growled. “Regular, strict discipline. Before I tell you what you were right about, you need to understand that’s what you’ll be receiving.”

“Well, duh, I do know that,” she replied, staring up at him, quickly adding, “sorry, I didn’t that to sound so sarcastic. Yes, I understand that.”

“Just as well you cleaned that up,” he said sternly, then pausing, he took a breath, moved to the couch and sat down next to her, taking her hand in his.

“Brittany,” he began, his voice unexpectedly quiet, “you were right about my trepidation. I did use your misbehavior as an excuse to hit the pause button, because, and I’m ashamed to admit this, because my fears did get the better of me.”

“I didn’t mean to be, uh, nasty to you, but I said those things because it was the only thing that made sense, but I don’t think you’re a coward, not at all, that was just my anger, honest.”

“Thank you for saying that, but in a way you were right. I was hurt very badly, but I was hurt because of something I did. Natalie, that was her name, felt taken for granted, and ultimately she left. It was shocking and inexplicable to me at the time, and it was a while before I realized she’d been right. It has troubled me deeply that I caused her so much pain. I promise you, I won’t make that mistake again. Should we end up a couple, I won’t take you for granted, not ever.”

His heartfelt confession sent a heat to her throat, and leaning into to him she kissed his cheek.

“Duncan, thank you so much for telling me all that,” she said warmly. “It must have not have been easy.”

“You needed to know,” he said, staring at his hands, “and not, it wasn’t, but I’m very happy I did.”

There was a moment of quiet, a warm closeness, before Brittany softly asked,

“So, we can spend these last couple of days together.”

“I would like that very much,” he nodded, “and I’ve been giving this some thought.”

“You mean the rest of the cruise, or…?”

“The or,” he smiled. “When we dock in Tahiti I’m flying back to London, and you’re flying back to Charleston. How would you feel about flying back to London and spending a week with me, seven days to be exact? The first three days will be easy, I always give myself time to adjust before going back to work, but the following four days will be my life as it is. Maybe you’d like to experience it.”

“You’re kidding,” she breathed, hardly believing her ears.

“I’m not kidding, but you’ll be sitting on a very sore backside on that flight, I can promise you that,” he warned.

“I don’t even know what to say, I’m just…totally shocked.”

“Think about it,” he smiled.

“Think about it? You’re kidding me? What’s there to think about? Of course I’ll come with you, of course, of course.”

“Excellent,” he grinned. “It will give us a chance to see if we really might be a match, and we take things from there,”
though I’m not quite sure what that means.

“Wow, I can’t believe this, I’m so excited. Oh, you are just the most spectacular man,” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck and covering his face with kisses.

“I’m glad you think so,” he chuckled, “but I’m not spectacular, not at all. I do have a question though, I’m curious about something.”

“Sure, what, ask me anything.”

“Do you make a habit of taking off with strange men and getting drunk when you’re ticked off? It seemed a very easy thing for you to do, almost as if it was a habit. Tell me the truth, have you done that before?”

Dropping her arms from his neck she felt the familiar redness cross her face.

“Um, kind of,” she muttered.

“What does that mean, kind of?”

“Going out and dancing, having a drink, it helps me get over things faster,” she admitted. “Kathy was the one who got me into it. I don’t do anything, I just go out and try to forget about whatever’s bothering me.”

“That won’t fly with me, Brittany. If we have words while you’re with me in London, and I truly hope we don’t, but if we do, you can’t go off galavanting around. Understood?”

“Sure, no problem,” she agreed quickly.

“I mean it,” he frowned.

“No problem, honest,” she insisted.

“This Kathy, I think I’m with your father. I don’t mean to judge unfairly, but those clothes, and…well, it doesn’t matter. She’s not here, and we have to talk about something else,” he said firmly. “You know what that is.”

“Uh, I think so,” she mumbled.

“I must be very strict about this, Brittany,” he said sternly. “You have to learn you cannot manipulate me. You did it once and I punished you, and yet you turned around and did it again.”

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, “really, I am.”

“Let’s start with, I’m sorry, Sir.”

“I’m sorry, Sir,” she repeated, “but I have to explain. I saw this show about Kate Middleton and Prince_”

“You can stop right there,” he said, holding up his hand. “Whatever the motivation, you still attempted to manipulate me and it must be dealt with. Understood?”

“Yes, Sir,” she sighed. “Understood.”

“That spanking over my knee I promised you,” he began, “you’ll get it, but it will have far more bite, and I have a couple of other things in mind for you, discipline that I hope will make you think twice before you decide to pull any more stunts.”

“Whatever you say, Sir,” she said softly.

“Indeed,” he said, raising his eyebrows. “To start, you’re to go back to your cabin, shower, and change into something you think I’ll like, and come back with whatever you need for the next twenty-four hours. You will not be allowed to leave this cabin. You will consider yourself under house arrest.”

“Yes, Sir,” she nodded.

“You’ll have precisely ten minutes from the time you leave here to pack your bag and return.”

“What should I wear go to my cabin? Those clothes I was wearing last-”

“Those dreadful clothes, they’re gone,” he said, cutting her off as he stood up. “You’ll have to wear that robe, just as you did before, but I will not be escorting you this time.”

“Should I go now?”

“Yes, immediately, and remember, ten minutes. I would advise you not to keep me waiting.”

“Yes, Sir,” she replied, jumping to her feet, and heart pumping she headed for the door.

“Remember, Brittany, ten minutes.”

She wasn’t wearing a watch, so glanced at the clock on the wall, then sending him a nervous smile she headed off to her cabin.

A
fter a hurried shower, Brittany chose a silk turquoise skirt and short sleeved white silk tank top, but wasn’t sure if she should wear underwear, putting it on and taking it off twice before finally deciding to leave it on. As she hurriedly packed an overnight back with a pink teddy and matching panties, her makeup and other toiletries, she felt her insides trembling. Duncan was the real deal, and he’d made no bones about what a strict Dominant he was.

How can I be so excited and so scared at the same time?

Just keep packing. You should take some shorts, or your white sweat suit.

Throwing in the casual clothes she zipped up the bag and headed out, knocking on Duncan’s door several minutes before her allotted time was up.

“It’s open,” he called.

Walking inside she found the living room empty, so moved into his bedroom; he was waiting for her, having changed into a black T-shirt and workout pants. She immediately noticed the drapes were drawn across the windows, and he’d moved an armchair in from the living room, placing it against the wall very close to where she was standing.

“Place your bag on that chair in the corner.”