julie leaned forward. "don't hold back on our account, se rena."

"but you rode with me," serena protested. "i can't leave you here."

"i'd be happy to give your friend a ride home," damon said. "i'll have someone take your car to your apartment, if that's okay with you, and i'll run you home later."

julie leaned back and stared at damon with interest and then she returned her gaze to serena. "okay, forget everything i said about a take-charge man, because i'm finding it very attractive all of a sudden."

damon smiled, and faith burst out laughing.

"do you have a problem with damon taking you home, julie?" serena asked. "maybe i shouldn't go. i hate to run out on you guys."

"we can always have dinner another time," damon interjected. "or faith and julie are welcome to join us, although i see gray scowling over there, so i rather doubt he's going to be thrilled with the idea of me walking out of here with not one, but three gorgeous women."

"oh, i like him," julie breathed. she blinked and seemed to snap out of her semi-drunken stupor. "you two go on ahead. gray has promised to take care of getting me home."

"are you sure?" serena asked.

"it's no trouble to take you home," damon assured.

julie smiled. "i appreciate the offer, but i'm sure you two have plenty of stuff to talk about. you know, like auctions, slave collars, chains . . ."

serena closed her eyes and prayed for deliverance, but damon just laughed.

"let's go," serena muttered. "before i kill her."

chapter 10

serena stepped into the parking lot with damon's hand lightly at the small of her back. she purposely kept stride with him so his hand wouldn't slide away.

dusk had fallen, and a faint evening breeze blew through her hair. it was less humid than usual tonight, and the sounds of the city surrounded them.

after damon settled serena into his car, he walked around and got into the driver's seat. instead of keying the ignition, he pulled out his cell phone, and she listened as he directed his driver to meet them at the restaurant to collect her car keys.

"sam will drive your car to your apartment tonight after i've dropped you back home so that he can give the keys to you. i'll make sure he phones ahead so you're expecting him."

serena laid a hand on damon's wrist as he went to insert the key in the ignition. "you didn't have to do this, damon. you could always just drop me back by here to get my car after we've eaten."

he started the car and then reached out to touch her cheek. "it's no trouble at all, serena. better get used to me taking care of you, because i assure you, while you are mine, i'll be seeing to your every need."

her throat seized, and a thousand butterflies took wing in her stomach. he made it sound so enticing, so beautiful. not at all like the stark image that the word slave invoked.

"i think i'm going to like it," she said softly.

"i intend that you will."

as he drove out of the parking lot, he reached over and slid his hand over hers. his thumb rubbed lightly up and down one of her fingers as he maneuvered the busy streets.

"i like touching you," he said as he saw her staring at his hand. "you have infinitely touchable skin."

"i don't mind," she said huskily. "your hands are strong. i like them against my skin."

his eyes flickered in the glow cast back by numerous headlights. "soon you will feel me on every part of your body, serena. are you prepared for that? do you lie awake at night and think of me touching your breasts? your lips? between your thighs?"

her senses came alive as if he commanded them. an exotic tingle scurried from her pelvis to her breasts, squeezing her nipples into taut points.

"yes," she whispered.

"i find myself impatient to own you," he murmured. "it's why i sought you out tonight. i wanted to tell you that the arrangements for the auction have been made."

she trembled, and he tightened his grip on her hand as if to soothe her.

"we need to talk about what happens afterward," she said.

"yes, we do. i'd like a week where i have you completely and wholly to myself. you mentioned a month's time frame for your fantasy, and i realize you can't take the entire month away from your business, but can you arrange to have a week off directly after the auction?"

she licked her lips and found herself clutching at his hand. "i'm sure i can. what happens after that week, though? when i go back to work?"

he smiled. "you go to work just like any other day. but at the end of your work day, you return to me and surrender to my care and keeping."

"and when i have obligations outside work?"

"you will, of course, keep them. i'm not a monster, serena. all i ask is that when you're with me, your time is mine."

she nodded. "okay. i can agree to your terms."

"they're your terms," he said calmly. "i'm only fulfilling your deepest desires."

"yes, i know. and thank you. i think."

she smiled as her voice came out all quivery. he smiled back and squeezed her hand reassuringly. "give me a chance to make you happy, serena."

she cocked her head sideways to look at him. "you know, somehow i can't imagine not being happy with you."

he raised her hand and brushed his lips across her knuckles. "it is my goal for you to enjoy our every moment together."

she leaned back in her seat, hazy with contentment. damon did that to her. relaxed her and made her feel at ease. like she could trust him. which was absurd when she thought about it. she'd known him such a short period of time, but he got her. without question, without reservation. he didn't judge her. he accepted her.

he kept her hand in his lap for the duration of the drive. when he wasn't stroking her fingers, he ran his fingertips up and down her wrist and up the inside of her arm.

it was addicting. he was addicting, and the scary thing was that their relationship had yet to go beyond a simple touch, a light caress or a sizzling look. he could spell trouble for her in a big, big way if she wasn't careful.

he drove to the same restaurant they'd had their first meeting at, and they were ushered back to the private dining room. at night, it took on a whole different atmosphere. the lighting was dim and more intimate. the drapes were drawn back from the large picture window, and the city skyline twinkled brightly on the horizon.

"i feel decidedly underdressed," she murmured ruefully as she looked down at her jeans and t-shirt.

"i'm not wearing anything dressier," he reminded her. "besides, we are alone, and there is no one to see us."

her expression eased as she smiled. he made it so easy for her to relax and not worry about anything beyond the immediate moment.

he settled her into her chair and then took the seat across from her. a waiter hovered close by, and damon ordered a bottle of wine.

"would you like to see a menu?" damon asked her.

she sat back in her chair, holding her wineglass to her lips. "you choose," she said softly. she knew it would please him to do so, and she didn't question her burning wish to accommodate his desires.

damon related his choices to the waiter in a low voice, and in another moment, they were left alone.

"tell me more about yourself," she said as she set her glass back down on the table. "i don't even know what you do for a living. do you have family? are you alone?"

he gave a self-conscious grimace, and it was the first chink she'd seen in the self-assured manner he always wore. "i was fortunate at an early age to have gotten in on the ground floor with what turned out to be very lucrative stocks. i love a challenge, and so i buy struggling businesses and turn them around."

"and have you ever failed?" serena asked, though she already knew the answer.

he stared levelly at her. "no," he said simply.

"what is your latest acquisition?"

he tapped his fingers on the table, and an excited gleam entered his eyes. "i picked up two chip mills farther east that were on the verge of bankruptcy. i fully expect to have them showing a profit in under a year's time. it's all in hiring the right people and making sound financial decisions."

"you sound much more cutthroat than i am when it comes to business," she said. "i fully admit that i don't always make the best business decisions and let my heart get ahead of my brain. carrie tells me that i'm way too soft and that i'll never wear brass balls."

damon smiled as he leaned back in his chair to study her. "and yet your business is profitable, you have no debt and you have happy clients."

"you've been checking up on me again," she muttered.

"not again. just the once. i just made sure it was a very thorough investigation. i'm very curious as to how you ever got into this sort of business. i've never known of another like it."

she shrugged but couldn't contain the bite of excitement that gripped her when she talked about her business and what inspired the idea behind it.

"it started off quite fanciful, actually. i've always been somewhat of a dreamer. okay, a big dreamer. my mother used to swear that i spent ninety percent of my time with my head in the clouds."

"dreamers never die," damon said.

serena smiled. "that's so true and such a lovely sentiment. at any rate, even at an early age, i loved to fulfill other people's wishes. if i overheard a friend or a family member express a desire for something, if it was in my power to give it to them, i did.

"after i graduated with my mba, i spent a couple of years working in office management. long enough to figure out i was bored stiff, and i hated working for other people."

"ah, a rebel," he said in amusement.

she wrinkled her nose. "'fraid so. it's not that i can't get along with people or that i buck authority. i'm just happier when i'm making my own decisions and i'm working in a job that motivates me. in short, i didn't love what i was doing. i do now, and that makes all the difference."

"i bet you get a lot of interesting requests."

she rolled her eyes. "that's an understatement. some of them are obviously crackpots out for a laugh, but the worst are the insanely off-the-wall serious requests. these come from people who genuinely want and expect that i can fulfill their bizarre fantasies, and as weird as i may find them, they're still just people who are longing for something just out of their reach. it's hard to have to tell them that i can't help them."

"you have a soft heart," he said in a gentle voice.

she grimaced. "coming from you, i doubt that's a compliment. my business decisions would probably horrify you."

he looked at her in surprise. "do i come across so ruthlessly? i sincerely meant it as a compliment. and as your business is a success, and you've made so many people happy, i hardly think your decisions would horrify me."

warm pleasure suffused her cheeks at the approval she saw in his expression. "i'm sorry. i didn't mean to imply that you were ruthless. it's just that, as you discovered in your research, i've subsidized more than a few of my client's fantasies when it was clear they couldn't afford the expense involved."

"and you think this is a weakness," he stated.

she shifted uncomfortably. "maybe not a weakness, but i lecture myself on setting limits and then find myself unable to say no to a client because their fantasy doesn't fit their budget. don't get me wrong; i'm choosy. i don't particularly feel sorry for a guy whose fantasy is to orchestrate the photo shoot for the sports illustrated swimsuit issue, but when a mother comes to me because her daughter is ill and wants to be a princess on a cruise ship, i won't tell her that i can't help her because she's several thousand dollars short."

"i think what you perceive as a weakness is your greatest strength and attribute," damon said as he reached across to take her hand. "you have a generous soul, but you're also practical."

she let him turn her hand over so that her knuckles rested on the table. he touched a finger to her palm and traced a path across her skin. in turn, he stroked each of her fingers as if he savored the sensation of her flesh.

how she loved his touch. she could sit for hours and simply let his fingertips glide over her hands, her arms. she shivered as she remembered how his hands felt tangled in her hair, massaging her scalp and caressing her neck.

"you said-" she stopped and cleared her throat. "you said you had arranged the auction?"