Bound to You

“How about this one? It would look amazing on you.” Val’s voice said, distant in Eliza’s mind as her thoughts were a hundred miles away from shopping, which was something she’d never cared much for anyway.

She couldn’t stop thinking about what Gates had said this morning when he’d walked into the bedroom.

He says he has plans for negotiations, if we’re willing to listen. Are we?

What had he meant by that? Who was there for negotiations? What was being negotiated? What, if anything, did this have to do with her? And why had Zack needed to get her out of the house to do his business? If it were only a business meeting, there would be no need for her to leave the house.

“Eliza?” Val’s voice said again. “Oh, wait. I forgot, you’re blind.”

Eliza’s face contorted in annoyance when she heard her friend’s sentence. No, she thought. She wasn’t blind, she was pretending to be blind. And she had had no choice in the decision, either. She was more exhausted than she had been ever before in her life. She had a feeling it was because of all the stress she was putting herself under.

“I’m sure it’s fine.” She said, giving her friend a fake smile. “It’s got to be if you like it.”

Val laughed, and then hugged Eliza. “You’re too nice for him, you know.” She said. “I mean, he’s a good guy and everything, but he’s nowhere near good enough for you.”

Eliza smiled at her friend as she shuffled her way through a few racks, stuck somewhere between agreeing with Val and disagreeing.

In some ways, she felt that she and Zack would never belong together as a couple. He was obviously someone of a much different league than her own, and though he might pretend to care—pretend, because she still wasn’t convinced that he was being sincere—she knew that, because she was human and he was not, that she would never be enough for him. Just like with Sean. She hadn’t been enough for him.

But there were other ways in which Eliza felt they were perfect for one another. She had always had a type of personality in which she needed someone to protect her; she needed an alpha male, and though she hated to admit it, it was true. She may act tough and confident, but it was why she always ended up with the “assholes.” And while Zack definitely showed his dominance over her, he had yet to hurt her. He had yet to do any kind of harm to her at all, Eliza realized. And that was one of the reasons she hadn’t yet tried to escape.

“Eliza?” Val asked her, her voice worried.

“Hmm?” Eliza asked, bringing her attention back to the store. Val gave her a half-smile, and then pulled her towards a rack of clothes.

“I know you and Zack aren’t exactly a perfect relationship or anything, and that there’s a high probability that nothing’s going to happen emotionally on either of your part, but…In the event that it does…I found something that’s going to look amazing on you, and that he’ll like immensely.”

Eliza sighed, but then nodded. She had the feeling that Val always got what she wanted, and she clearly wanted to help make whatever Zacky was trying to start between them work.

“Sure.” She said, looking at the black and pink satin lingerie set. She had to admit that it was pretty, and she wouldn’t mind wearing it. Val squealed a little and did a happy jump as she put it into the cart of growing clothes, all Val’s picks and most of them in various shades of green.

She and Val didn’t shop for very much longer, and they ate together at a small hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant, splitting a chicken salad between them. As they waited for their food to come to them, they didn’t say much. They said nothing during lunch itself, and on the drive back to the mansion, Eliza fell asleep yet again.

-x-

When Eliza woke up, she was lying on the bed again, still in the same clothes she’d worn to go shopping in. The room’s lights had been dimmed to a romantic, moody setting, and she had a feeling that Val was behind that. She groaned as she got off the bed and straightened her shirt out and walked over to the arched window on the furthest wall, pushing aside the lush, forest green drapes to look outside.

For the first time, Eliza saw the view from the room, and gasped in awe. It was more beautiful than she’d thought. From the window, she could see straight to the Pacific Ocean, the water sparkling black underneath the full white moon.

Eliza heard the door open, and turned to see Val walk in. She was holding a bag, presumably the one with the lingerie set.

“I put everything else away, but I’m never sure if Zack’s going to rummage to sneak peaks at your clothes, so I kept this with me just in case, so it’ll be a shock to his system.” She smiled at her, tossing her the bag from the door. “He should be upstairs in about a half hour, so change quickly. Have fun. He’s an asshole, yes, but he would never hurt you.”

Eliza nodded, catching the back and then walking into the bathroom while Val walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. She stripped off the tank top and jeans as well as her bra and panties, pulling the sexy scraps of satin out of the bag and looking at them for a few moments before beginning to slip them onto her body. The cloth was smooth against her creamy legs, and she realized that she’d gotten a perfect fit for her average body.

When she was satisfied with her appearance, she slowly walked back into the bedroom and laid on top of the mattress, waiting for Zack to make his appearance in the bedroom.

A few minutes after she’d sat down, she heard the doorknob turn, and kept her gaze fixed on the door as Zack walked into the room. When he saw her, his eyes darkened significantly,

“Where’d you get that?” He asked after a few moments of silence, his eyes never leaving her body. Eliza did her best impression of a sexy grin as she met his eyes in a heated stare.

“Val and I found it this afternoon while we were shopping.” She said, keeping her voice quiet. Her heart beating rapidly against her chest, she began speaking again. “You look tired. Why don’t you come sit on the bed?”

“Don’t disillusion yourself into thinking that nothing is going to happen if I do as you just said while you’re dressed like that.” He told her. Eliza nodded, having figured this out before.

There was no denying this anymore. There was chemistry between herself and Zack. Whether or not that turned into something more than just a sexual attraction had yet to be figured out, but right now, Eliza didn’t care about any of that.

Without another word, Zack walked over to the bed, not even walking over to the other side as he positioned his body above hers, straddling him, both of his legs on either side of her knees as he let his hands trace themselves in intricate patterns over her soft skin.

Eliza closed her eyes, forcing herself to let her body enjoy the feeling of Zack’s callused fingers on her, teasing her and taunting her in ways that she hadn’t felt since Sean.

Zack leaned his face down dangerously close to hers, and Eliza could barely se the glint of a small fang in his mouth, sending a shiver of excitement down her spine. Zack smirked at her reaction, and covered her lips in a chaste kiss before lifting his head from hers only to attach his lips next to her neck, shoulder, and down between the valley of her breasts.

“Tell me now if you don’t want this.” Zack groaned, his arousal pressing against her stomach. Eliza moaned at the feel of it, and nodded.

“I want this.” She said breathlessly. “I want you right now.”