Dangerous (The Complete Erotic Romance Novel) (16 page)

Then suddenly he was gone.

She was bound and the room was silent. She couldn’t feel the heat of his body, or even hear another person breathing.

Where had he gone?

Was she alone?

Kendra heard a zipper then and stiffened as she listened hard.

There wasn’t another sound, except her racing heart.

She felt rather than heard her ankles being unclipped, first one, then the other. She felt the brush of leather, but couldn’t tell who was untying her. She hoped it was Reid.

She hoped he was going to bind her another way. The shackles remained around her ankles, but the spreader bar was removed. Before she could move her feet together, they were grabbed. Strong male hands closed around her arches and lifted her feet from the ground.

Strong male hands wearing leather gloves.

Reid.

She was tossed upward with powerful ease, a move that nearly stopped her heart. Before she descended so that her weight hung from her wrist bonds again, those hands had caught her butt. He drove into her in one quick stroke, opening her wide and filling her up, as perfect a fit as ever. He spread his hands wide, as if to ensure that he touched as many welts as possible, and squeezed.

Kendra began to shake.

He drove deeper, burying himself inside her, just as she’d hoped. He was wearing a condom with heavy ribbing so she felt every inch of him. To her dismay and delight, he’d secured it with a penis ring that had a latex knob. He drilled that knob into her throbbing clitoris, pulsing it against her so that Kendra could think of nothing else. She moaned and writhed, and he tightened his grip on her buttocks.

The squeezed welts send waves of heat through her body.

“Are you thinking of me, Miss Jones?” he murmured and she nodded vehemently. “Then seduce me. Work with me. And if I think you’re doing a good enough job, I’ll give you permission to come.”

Kendra knew she wouldn’t last, so she threw herself into his challenge. She rubbed herself against him. She rolled her hips, she drew him deeper, she matched his rhythm. She tipped her pelvis so that the latex knob rubbed harder against her clitoris. She drove herself into a frenzy, feeling how her arousal affected his own. He moved slowly at first, as if intent upon taking his time, but his pace increased quickly. His grip tightened on her. His thrusts became harder and deeper. Kendra urged him on, locking her legs around him, then running her feet down the back of his legs. She tried to dance, she tried to moan, she struggled against her bonds to prove to both of them that she was completely captive. She felt the heat growing between them, heard his breathing become faster. He slammed her harder, filling her as she’d never been filled before. She imagined him doing this to her in the office, in the back of his car, in her own bedroom, in a shower stall, and her mind went white with desire.

“Now, Miss Jones,” he said, his voice strained. She felt the most profound sense of gratitude to him, then let herself go. He buried himself deep inside her, ground himself against her and came with a roar.

He’d lost control.

Because she’d made him do it.

Kendra’s orgasm shot through her with explosive heat, at that triumphant realization. She roared into the gag and shook in her bonds, locked in his embrace as she came and came and came. They stayed there for a long moment afterward, their breathing labored.

Then she felt him unfastening the gag. She kept her legs locked around his waist, not wanting to lose contact, needing a kiss after this tumultuous experience.

But he withdrew and stepped back.

Kendra bit her lip, and his fingertip brushed across her mouth. “Not now,” he murmured. To her relief, he sounded as shaken as she felt.

He’d stepped back and his hands were on her bound wrists. The shackles were unhooked from the overhead chain and her hands lowered before her. When she was on her feet again, her face was wiped with a tenderness that brought tears to her eyes. He cleaned her up with a wet cloth, then dried her gently.

He caught her head in his hands then, his thumbs pressing over her mouth, and she could feel him studying her. He’d shed the gloves and she welcomed the touch of his skin against hers. Kendra’s heart was pounding, her desire enough to burst her skin.

She was sure he would kiss her. She wanted him to kiss her, but he just kept his thumbs pressed against her mouth. Kendra rubbed her lips against his fingers, unable to resist now that her body was aching for more sensation.

“Demanding,” he charged and Kendra caught her breath. “But maybe that’s a natural reaction to the first time.” He stepped away from her then, and she was sure she could hear the faint sounds of him getting dressed.

When he stepped back to her side, she heard the tread of his boot on the concrete, felt the brush of the zipper on his leather jacket against her skin. He released her from her bonds then and Kendra felt her knees weaken. He chuckled and lifted her effortlessly in his arms, cradling her against his warm chest. His touch was so tender that Kendra didn’t care if the whole world was watching. The blindfold still worked its magic, making her more keenly aware of her surroundings.

No. She was more keenly aware of Reid. His arms were strong beneath her shoulders and knees, his chest solid against her side, his shoulders broad. He moved decisively and she liked his aura of command. She was left boneless and compliant after his discipline of the day.

His to command.

The idea pleased her so much that she could only lie languid in his arms and smile. It was easy to fantasize about him carrying her off to some remote location, someplace where they would make love repeatedly until they couldn’t anymore. Kendra thought that might be paradise.

She pinched one of her welts at the thought and sighed contentment. She heard Reid chuckle, then smiled herself.

He carried her some distance then set her gently on her feet. Kendra assumed they had retraced their steps to the fitting room, so wasn’t surprised when he helped her into her coat. He knelt before her and lifted each foot in succession into one of her own boots, then zipped up the boot, his hand sliding up the outside of the sleek leather in a possessive gesture that thrilled her. Her belt was knotted and she was spun in place again, then led away.

Kendra had been so overwhelmed by sensation that she was nearly numb. Yet at the same time, she’d never felt so aware of her body, much less the sensitivity of her skin. She wasn’t just tingling from head to toe: she was burning.

She wanted Reid to kiss her the way he had that first time, to kiss her slowly and thoroughly, to reassure her that she wasn’t just a tool or a toy but that there was more than a contract in play. She wanted to know that even this game had an emotional root, that she wasn’t the only one feeling so wound up and vulnerable.

He stopped her when they stood in the parking lot and the car’s locks were audibly released. He opened the door of his car and helped her in. Kendra quickly pulled up the back of her coat and put her bare butt on the seat, wanting to show her obedience. By the time he got into the driver seat, she had fastened her seat belt, removed the belt of her coat and wrapped it around her wrists. She had her knees apart and had parted her lips.

“Very good, Miss Jones,” he said, then started the car. The approval in his voice warmed her inside, and awakened that thrum in her puss yet again.

She’d had a lot today but not nearly enough.

She bit her lip.

Reid drove quickly, apparently oblivious to her signal, but Kendra wasn’t fooled. He had to be the most observant man she’d ever known.

He was denying her.

Again.

Which just didn’t work for Kendra this time. She could defy him and speak, but then he’d need to discipline her again. He’d said he didn’t have much time. Did that mean he’d abandon her for good, if she pushed him too hard? Kendra couldn’t stand the possibility of that. Still, she couldn’t just let him walk away without saying anything more. She had to have some reassurance from him, after what she’d experienced.

He drove, continuing to ignore her signal. Her frustration rose, and she had to admit that he might have been right.

A good slave would be content with whatever she was given.

But Kendra wasn’t.

When Reid parked the car, she dared to hope that he had a plan, but he simply unfastened her blindfold with deft fingers. The light seemed too bright, and the world too mundane. The expression in his eyes was too businesslike.

Kendra feared then that she’d been the only one overwhelmed and transported. Hadn’t he been as profoundly affected as she had been?

He unwrapped the belt from around her wrists and handed it to her as if he was giving her a form to copy in the office.

He eyed her, unsmiling, his gaze dropping pointedly to her bit lip. “You will learn, Miss Jones, that I set the schedule,” he said, his tone firm.

Before she could protest, he got out of the car. He opened her door and helped her out, then his finger landed on her lips. He loomed in front of her, all male, and she wanting that kiss more than she wanted air to breathe. “Don’t tempt me to discipline you again today, Miss Jones. I have a flight to catch.”

“I want a kiss.” Her voice sounded breathless, not at all the way it usually sounded, and her gaze locked on his mouth.

“You’re out of luck,” he replied. “As you should already know.”

He walked her to her car and opened the car door for her. When he would have urged her into the driver seat, Kendra didn’t move.

“Mayday,” she said firmly.

He granted her a simmering look, one that made her wonder if he was more aroused than he wanted her to believe. His eyes seemed incredibly blue. He didn’t say anything, just waited and watched.

“I
need
a kiss.”

“Yet you will not have one.”

“Not today?”

“Not ever again.” His gaze turned hard, then he pivoted and walked away. He got into his sleek sports car and started the engine, backing up and squealing the tires.

Kendra wished the windows hadn’t been tinted so dark, because she wanted to know if he was watching her. The engine roared as he turned out of the lot and she was alone, standing beside her car in a desolate parking lot.

It was only past noon.

Her entire world had been turned upside down and inside out.

But his hadn’t been shaken at all.

* * *

Reid made a call from the airport lounge to his home. He was having a Scotch, thinking about Kendra Jones, too restless to do any work while he waited for the plane to be available for boarding. He’d shoved his leather gloves down deep into his garment bag, but he was sure he could still smell her skin.

His enticing new project.

He could still envision her.

Easily.

He wondered why the hell he was leaving town.

Jackson answered on the second ring, just as anticipated. “Stirling residence.”

“I trust all is well there.”

“Yes, sir.” The butler’s tone warmed in recognition of Reid’s voice. “Very well. And your small adventure is complete?” Jackson echoed Reid’s choice of language to explain his visit to the newly acquired company, the one he hadn’t intended to keep for long.

“No, actually. I need you to find me a house here.”

“Indeed?”

“There’s unexpected potential in the business. It could possibly be built into something of greater value, then sold.”

“Indeed.” Jackson’s voice betrayed his assumption about just what kind of potential Reid saw in the business. “Is it wise to explore such potential, sir?”

They had known each other a long time. Reid would never have accepted such a question from a more junior staff member, but Jackson knew the majority of his secrets.

“Probably not, Jackson, but I’m tired of playing it safe. I want a challenge.” He thought then of Kendra again, of her declaration that she only felt alive when she was taking a risk, and decided they were common spirits. He’d been living without risk for too long. He might as well be dead.

“I see, sir. And the house?”

“At least six bedrooms, triple garage, enough grounds for privacy, a secured entrance.”

“Fence?”

“Preferably, but not imperative.”

“Staff?”

“You might as well begin. I’ll be here for the next few months.”

“Yes, sir.”

Reid paused, then added the one detail that was consuming his fantasies. He was hesitant to say it aloud, because if it was done, he’d feel committed to continuing the game. But he wanted very much to have the option. He cleared his throat. “It’ll need a safe room, Jackson.”

“One cannot be too cautious in these times, sir,” Jackson replied without missing a beat, revealing that he knew the exact kind of safe room Reid desired. “Are you returning directly there from Asia, sir, or coming here first?”

“I’ll be back here for a few days first.”

“Would you like the car? Forster could be there with it by the time you return.”

“That’s an excellent thought, Jackson, but I won’t need it immediately. As soon as you find a house, then move it.”