Dangerous (The Complete Erotic Romance Novel) (27 page)

“It was generous, sir. Unforgettable.”

“Yes, I expect it is. I’m going to add another item to our addendum, Miss Jones.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You’re forbidden to pleasure yourself. You’ll only have a release when I allow it.”

She swallowed.

“A comment, Miss Jones?”

“You are merciless, sir.”

“Isn’t that the point of surrender? That captivity should be helpless?”

“Oh, yes, sir.”

“I notice that you aren’t using your safe word.”

She smiled, a quick mischievous smile that made his heart skip. “No, sir.” Then she bit her bottom lip.

“A question, Miss Jones?”

“Is that why you gag me, sir? So I have no chance to protest?”

There was truth in that, but she didn’t need to know it. “I’m teaching you about complete surrender,” he said softly, watching her shiver. “Isn’t that what you want to know, Miss Jones?”

“Oh, yes, sir.” She exhaled the words, so sensuous a sound that he was tempted to bury himself immediately inside her.

But no. He’d make them both wait for it. He moved his cock back and forth, teasing both of them. He lifted his hands so that he held her jaw, then pressed his thumbs across her lips. She shook involuntarily, her labia trembling against his cock in pure temptation. “Tonight, Miss Jones, you will remain completely silent.”

She nodded and exhaled shakily, then bit the side of her lip in that alluring way.

“You have a question, Miss Jones?”

“What if I want to be punished, sir?”

He chuckled, then leaned closer, cradling her against his chest. “Don’t worry, Miss Jones,” he whispered in her ear. “You will be punished when I feel like it.” He ran his hand down her back and caught her butt in his hand, ensuring that he squeezed the new welts. She jumped and shuddered. “Right now I want you silent, and silent you will be.” He whispered in her ear. “Or you’ll never be allowed to orgasm again.”

Her mouth worked as if she’d beg him, but she silenced herself with an effort. She nodded, already struggling to obey, and a wave of tenderness flowed through Reid.

By the end of this evening, she’d know she was his alone.

He spun her in place, making her dizzy, then coaxed her across the room. She followed his lead, trustingly, unsteadily, making it easy for him to fling her abruptly over the padded ottoman. “Kneel,” he commanded and she did as she was told, her butt high in the air. He spread her legs wide with his hands, keeping her feet tucked beneath her butt. He removed her shoes with their lethal spikes and clipped her ankle shackles together. Her chest and chin were on the ottoman, as well as her elbows.

“Hold the pose, Miss Jones,” he instructed, even though she had very little choice. He went back to their display of toys to get the black tape and the lubricant.

He was certain he’d need both soon. Reid set the vial of lubricant down deliberately on the glass coffee table, making sure she’d hear it, then removed one glove and methodically began to spank her pink with it.

Miss Jones shuddered from head to toe, then spread her knees wider. She arched her back, presenting her butt for his blows, and clamped her mouth shut. Reid appreciated that she was a quick study. The spanking would encourage her to think she could anticipate his choices, but Reid had a surprise for her. It wasn’t his preferred pose, but she was curious to try everything.

He wasn’t going to disappoint her by exploring only his own fantasies. Their partnership was too addictive to compromise it early. He considered her ass, liking the prospect of surprising her. He wouldn’t hurt her, as that was part of their deal, but she might change his mind about this pose. He’d use the lubricant and take it slow. She’d be tight and he was hard. It might not last long, but they’d both remember it.

When she inevitably did make a sound—probably surprise at feeling his cock in her ass—he’d gag her with tape. Rough, as she’d said she wanted.

Then he’d take her again to show that the decision was his to make.

And again and again, as many times as necessary to find
something
Miss Jones didn’t want to repeat. She couldn’t possibly be as amenable to everything and on this night, Reid would inventory her limits.

He hoped it would take a while.

* * *

Kendra couldn’t believe it had really happened.

She laid in her own bed at three in the morning, both exhausted and excited. Her skin was burning, her ass and the back of her thighs spanked pink, those new welts hot on the underside of her butt. Her ass felt stretched in a strange way, her nipples were aching from the clamps, and her puss was thundering with need.

Reid Stirling knew how to ensure she couldn’t think of any other man.

He’d spanked her pink.

He’d taken her up the ass.

He’d gagged her with electrical tape when she’d made that first sound of surprise.

He’d kept it rough and fast, satisfying his pleasure over and over again. He was a sexual machine, able to perform repeatedly with only slight breaks to tease or to punish her. To give her something to eat or drink before he claimed her again. To make her keenly aware that she hadn’t had a release.

And when he’d been done with her, he’d cleaned her up and sent her home.

Because she’d made that peep of sound on the ottoman, he hadn’t given her permission to come.

Kendra couldn’t believe it. She was on fire. That fucking chain was sliding over her skin, incredibly distracting and thrilling, too. This mark of his possession made it impossible to forget that she was at his command. It also made it impossible to forget how aroused she was.

It was a mind game and a good one: Kendra understood as she’d never understood before that she was a toy, contracted for his pleasure and relief. Her own was immaterial, according to their contract. And when she disobeyed, she would be disciplined.

Not always with pain.

Sometimes with denial.

It was excruciatingly effective. She laid in bed, moving restlessly against the clean sheets, aching for him. She couldn’t stop thinking of him or wanting him.

He was brilliant, and diabolical.

Which only made her want him more.

Kendra had been sure she’d come on the spot when he’d finally removed the ball bearing and washed her genitals clean of that dangerous unguent. He’d reminded her with a stern finger tap, though, and she’d grit her teeth, holding back the hope that he’d claim her again.

He kept his word, that was for sure.

Maybe his word was her bond. Kendra might have found that funny under other circumstance. As it was, she was in agony. She could almost have hated him, if he hadn’t given her every pleasure short of that one. She tossed and turned in bed, knowing that sleep was out of the question.

That fucking chain.

Come to think of it, he’d been exploring
her
fantasies, not his own. Or maybe they dovetailed together. Kendra gripped the sheets and wondered if it really had been as one-sided as she’d thought.

Which of her fantasies was he going to fulfil next?

Any of them?

All of them? Kendra wanted to know. It was all too easy to imagine every scenario she’d suggested to him, and all the ones he’d suggested to her. All too easy to both imagine them and be aroused by them.

Him fingering her in the office.

Him banging her in the office.

Her binding herself at his command, and him coming to her apartment.

That one was powerful. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to get a grip on her spinning thoughts.

On her burning desire.

If she laid still, the chain should stop driving her crazy. When she rolled to her back, it tumbled over her engorged clitoris, cold enough to tickle and torment. There was just enough slack in the chain to cascade over her and make her close her eyes in anguish. She spread her legs wide and gripped the mattress on either side.

Would he know if she came?

Kendra would have bet that he would. He was counting on her having a pent-up desire, one that he’d satisfy at his leisure. She didn’t think it was humanly possible to get herself into this state again in enough of a hurry.

Phone me the first night your room mate has plans.

It just figured that Kendra’s roommate had to be the most cautious woman about sex on the planet.

Even if Jade was in love, it could be weeks before she did anything about it.

Months.

Kendra closed her eyes and moaned softly. Somehow, she had to bring her roommate into the twenty-first century.

Soon.

Even Monday seemed too far away for Kendra to last. Plus there were all those buyers coming to Esperanza Enterprises. It might not be possible for Reid to satisfy her. Tuesday was a thousand years away. Kendra knew she couldn’t survive that long without release.

No, Jade had to stay out Saturday night. Kendra didn’t care what she had to do to make it happen.

One thing was for sure: Reid had motivated her.

* * *

The stranger found the perfect spot in the forested park on the far side of town from Reid’s new house. The undergrowth was thick enough that his prize could remain undiscovered for a few days, but his chosen spot was close enough to the path that a dog left to run free would find the scent.

His parcel was becoming rather fragrant.

He checked his surroundings and verified that there was no one around. There were no sports facilities at this end of the park, its forests and paths left to dog walkers and bicyclists, neither of which tended to be out three in the morning. It wasn’t even close enough to homes or a parking lot for teenagers to gather to furtively drink.

He opened the protective plastic covering from the package in the trunk, grimacing at the smell.

The freezer had done its job, but three days of driving had prompted a thaw.

It wasn’t her anymore. It was simply a shell, a tool, a means for his revenge. His beloved was locked in his memory, as perfect as the day he’d met her.

He didn’t want to think of her after she’d been with Reid. He didn’t want to think about what that man had done to her, how he’d tainted her. Contaminated her. Made her into a whore.

Stolen her from him.

Compelled him to set everything right.

Rage rippled through the stranger, unsteadying him with its force. He deliberately swung the package so that one end collided with the edge of the trunk. He waited as a stain was created, then closed the package again. He carefully let it drip as he carried it into the forest to his chosen spot, then pulled away the plastic.

It didn’t even look like her. Not anymore.

Using a plastic bag to cover his own gloved hand, he removed a lock of hair, then returned to the car. He tossed the plastic into the trunk and let the hair catch on the hinge, savoring his own touch of whimsy.

He was doing this for her.

He then got back in the car and drove away from the scene. The stolen luxury sedan with out-of-state plates would be discovered in the parking garage at the airport.

Maybe it would be found by dogs, too.

The stranger smiled at the prospect, making a list in his mind of all the items that had to be incinerated lest they incriminate him instead of his Reid Stirling. He’d planned this for years, and was sure he hadn’t missed a single detail.

Reid could have been complicit in taking so long to find another woman.

Or it was a sign that all of this was meant to be.

* * *

Chapter Eleven

“You didn’t show up last night,” Jade complained when Kendra went into the kitchen the next morning. As usual, Jade was staring into the depths of the toaster, willing her bread to brown more quickly. She glanced up with a smile. “You get a better offer?”

Kendra managed to laugh even as she lied. “Hardly. I was so tired that I just came home and crashed.”

“Your new boss is quite the slave driver, isn’t he?”

Kendra ignored that opening. She wasn’t going to confess any of this to Jade. “Well, he’s trying to turn the company around and save it. I can’t exactly
not
help with that.”

“So, he’s one of the good guys?”

“Looks like it.” Kendra deliberately changed the subject. “So, what did I miss? Who
was
there?”

That was clearly the invitation Jade had been waiting for. She seized her toast and dropped into the chair opposite Kendra, buttering it madly as she talked. “Omigod, it was great. There was this guy, a friend of Blake’s, and wow, I noticed him right away. He came to sit with me and bought me a drink, and never danced with anyone else. It was electric, Kendra, like kismet, and he’s a great dancer. Never mind the way he kisses...” Jade rolled her eyes and took a bite of toast. “I was seriously tempted to bring him back here, but we have rules.”

“We have rules,” Kendra agreed, hoping. “But you know, sometimes there’s kismet.”

“Kismet?”