Dangerous (The Complete Erotic Romance Novel) (29 page)

Taking her home with him.

Taking her to an isolated cabin.

Getting on a private jet for destinations undisclosed to her. There’d be time on the flight to play and again at their destination. If she arrived in his luggage, no one would even know she was there.

Talk about a thrilling secret.

The best part was that Reid was pretty sure Miss Jones would like that as much as he would.

Was she perfect? She couldn’t be. But she might be as close to the perfect sexual partner as he was likely to find in this lifetime.

He wouldn’t think about the inevitable termination of their contract. He wouldn’t consider how at some point, one of them would disappoint the other, and that would be the end of it. The contract made it possible for them to just walk away, with no ties left to bind.

Reid pulled on his jeans, and refused to think about another man tying up Miss Jones and fulfilling her fantasies. That was where he was going to fall down, he could sense it now. She wanted to be shared, or to fear being shared, to have him not just decide but watch the outcome. Could he do it? Reid feared he was too possessive for that.

Maybe just once? Maybe she wouldn’t really like it, if they tried it.

He strode back into the living room and retrieved his cell phone. His discussions with Rex needed a nudge in the right direction. He knew Rex’s taste, given that he’d met the man originally at a private BDSM club.

Maybe he could offer a suggestion that would sweeten the allure to Rex of doing business with Esperanza, and give Miss Jones’ fantasy a test run. If she liked it or Rex, well, he wouldn’t be in town very often. If she didn’t like it or Rex, all the better.

Reid rationalized that he was eliminating a surprise before it became an issue.

It was synchronicity that it was his turn to call Rex about their potential business liaison.

The call took twenty minutes, with much innuendo from both men, and considerable interest from Rex. They resolved that Rex would visit the plant on Wednesday, then visit Reid’s home for dinner, and a particular kind of dessert. They parted amiably, even as Reid fought against his own impulses.

There was nothing saying that Rex would desire her.

There was nothing saying that he had to give her away to the other man. He could use this as a test, although Reid realized it was as much of a test of his own resolve as of Miss Jones’ training.

Fortunately, the call had taken some time, so he could stop watching the clock so closely. Reid dressed casually, tucking a new pair of leather gloves into the pocket of his jacket. He left the hotel even though there was still plenty of time to spare, then hired a sequence of cabs.

Cautious. It paid to be cautious. He didn’t need to have these kinds of games linked publicly with his name and reputation. It was a risk he took, and one he didn’t like.

But there was nothing for it, not if he was going to have satisfaction.

Reid walked the last three blocks to Miss Jones’ apartment, his desire multiplying with every step. No one followed him. No one seemed to be watching him. There was no one in the lobby, no one to see him use his key to enter the building. There was no one in the elevator, no one in the corridor, no one to witness him putting his key into the lock of her apartment.

Was the roommate home?

Miss Jones had said not. He had to trust her.

He had to surrender complete control to get what they both wanted. Even knowing it was a logical exchange didn’t make it easy to loosen his grip.

Reid took a deep breath, turned his key, and stepped into the dimly lit apartment. He could smell a floral shower gel and feel the humidity of a recent shower. He looked around, taking inventory of the place she lived. He’d expected cheap modern furniture, practical and cheerful, but instead the place was decorated with vintage finds. There was a floral wallpaper on one wall that would have been at home in an English manor, then stripes painted in the kitchen. The furniture was solid and older, re-upholstered in many cases. It was homey and comfortable, with a big bookshelf against one wall.

He rolled his eyes, knowing he had to stop being surprised by Miss Jones. He could imagine having sex with her in at least ten different places in this apartment—and all he could see was the small kitchen and living room.

Maybe this would be the refuge where he kept her captive.

Reid became so hard that he thought he’d explode, but he closed the door quietly behind himself, locked it and listened.

It felt outrageous to be in her apartment like this, invited but not. He pulled a black velvet balaclava from his pocket, one he’d impulsively added to his order at Alicia’s, and tugged it over his head. His heart was pounding as he looked again. The drapes were pulled tightly shut against the night. There was a light on in the clean kitchen and a nightlight glowing in the bathroom. Two doors were shut, two doors that must lead to bedrooms.

Light shone beneath one door.

He heard motion in that room.

Reid strode toward it silently, ready for his dreams to come true.

* * *

In Kendra’s imagination, this was stage one of her kidnapping fantasy. She wanted to explore the idea of being captured in her own home by Reid, to be held down and used. Violence didn’t excite her: she didn’t want to fight him and she didn’t want to be afraid for her survival. She wanted to be complicit with him, in league with him, helping him to take advantage of her in her own bed.

Wanting it made the fantasy forbidden.

It had to be rough. It had to be fast. There was no question of her being wet and ready, not the way Reid had ensured that she’d be tormented and unsatisfied. The thing was that she didn’t know how much longer she could stand it. She had to tempt him to claim her right away, at least to take the edge off her desire.

Otherwise, she’d come no matter how hard she tried to avoid it. She didn’t mind if he disciplined her, but she didn’t want him to be so disappointed that he walked away.

Fortunately, she already had a heavy brass bed. It had been a fantasy buy of hers and an expensive indulgence, but Kendra had always said that if she had only one thing to her name, it would be that bed. It was sturdy, so she had no fears about tying herself down to it.

The question was how.

The escalation of her kidnapping fantasy was the much hotter version. It relied upon the success of stage one, and involved an actual abduction. She had high hopes for Reid, given that he’d already mentioned the idea of putting her, bound, in the trunk of his car. She wondered if he knew how hot she thought that idea was.

She should tell him.

Never mind the safe room. Wow. That was Kendra’s idea of heaven.

She had to make sure this first round went well. She had to think about what he liked and make it work for both of them.

He liked the look of rough bonds, Kendra knew that already. He liked that leather gag particularly. So, she went shopping for more.

Kendra spent some time in a hardware store that afternoon, walking up and down the aisles, checking out her options. She wore her highest black patent leather heels, with stockings, a garter belt and nothing else under her coat except that chain. She felt wicked and excited at the same time, titillated. What if Reid found her in the hardware store? What if she ran into him, doing his own shopping? She had to believe he’d take one look at her and know what she was wearing—or what she wasn’t wearing. And then what? He’d punish her, for sure.

Where?

Kendra could think of a dozen possibilities, and they all made her wetter. She finally chose two lengths of heavy jute rope. It was more than an inch wide and anything bound with it would look securely trussed.

Even her. She wasn’t wearing panties, just as Reid had commanded, and that chain slid over her skin and puss in a persistent reminder of her status as his sex toy. Her nipples seemed to be beaded tightly all day, a kind of sweet torment filling her body and mind as she prepared for his possession of her.

Too bad he hadn’t left the nipple clamps on.

She wanted to earn a collar more than anything in the world. She could just imagine how it would feel, locked around her neck. He could put it on her when he captured her, then use it to chain her to a wall in his safe room. Kendra was aching to know what it felt like to be so helpless, to have no idea of time, to be completely subject to his will.

To be a completely helpless sex toy.

She thought she’d love it.

For a while.

But it wouldn’t be up to her to decide when the game ended. Kendra shivered at the danger of that.

She bought some more black duct tape, because she really liked the look of it. On impulse, she added some heavy black cable ties to her cart, feeling naughty when she went to the cash with her supplies. Afterward, she went to a fabric store and found some soft fabric that she could cut into strips. It would protect and pad her skin, but also be easily untied. She bought a set of pale pink satin sheets, too.

Once home, she cleaned up her room, shut the drapes and set the scene. She made up the bed, then arranged the options on her dresser, just as Reid had done the night before. She showered and shaved, hurrying back into her room to make final arrangements.

She’d do her best to bind herself spread-eagle for him, making herself available in every way.

It was a kind of surrender.

Her heart thumping, Kendra wrapped one length of rope around the end of the footboard, knotting it to the corners securely. She did the same with the other length of rope, knotting it in the middle of the headboard.

She wrapped a length of cloth around each of her ankles, passing it over the arch of her foot as well before knotting it securely on the inside of her ankle. She did the same with her wrists, wrapping the cloth around her wrist, then over her palm in a figure-eight. She stood in front of the mirror and wound another length of cloth over her face, putting it right over her mouth and knotting it behind her head. She wrapped it again and again, pulling the cloth tight and winding each lap in a slightly different position to ensure that her mouth was completely covered.

Her hands were shaking when she found the end of the black tape and unfurled it. She pulled the tape taut over her mouth, then wound it to the back. When it was sealed in place, she stared at herself, acknowledging how excited she was. She worked quickly then, wrapping four more laps but erratically, as if she’d been struggling as she was bound.

She looked like a kidnapping victim.

And even better, she couldn’t make a sound.

It was five to nine.

Kendra sat on the satin sheets and bound one of her ankles to the footboard with the heavy rope. The rope coiled around her ankle, then her instep repeatedly, knotted firmly each time and secured several times to the bed.

Her breath was coming quickly when she tied down her other ankle. She wriggled, knowing this was better than the spreader bar for keeping her puss accessible. She slid backward over the satin and broke off a length of the black tape. She left the roll beside her, in case he wanted to augment what she’d done, then laid the broken piece adhesive side up on the mattress. She held her wrists together and rolled them across the tape, wishing she could use her teeth instead of wriggling around so much.

But given the choice between gagging herself for him and binding her wrists, Kendra thought the gag was more important. Reid liked gags. He’d love that she’d silenced herself for him. She laid on her back and stretched out, reaching to pass the rope tied to the headboard beneath her bound wrists. With an effort, she managed to loop it into a half knot.

She was working the ends with her fingertips, pulling it tighter when a key turned in the lock of the apartment door.

Kendra froze.

Was it Jade?

Fortunately, she’d shut her door.

Even so, it would be mortifying to be caught like this.

She listened but heard nothing, nothing except the closing of the door and the pounding of her own heart. The deadbolt shot home then. No one said a word. It couldn’t be Jade, then. It couldn’t be. Jade always shouted hello.

But if it was Reid, why didn’t he say anything?

Could it be a real kidnapper? The door knob began to turn and Kendra stared at it, fear and excitement mingling so vehemently that she couldn’t move.

The door was flicked open suddenly, banging slightly against the stop. A hooded man in black surveyed her from the threshold for a heart stopping moment. She saw the flash of his smile as he lunged across the room. He was wearing a black leather jacket and jeans, and black leather gloves. She couldn’t see his face because of the hood, but his lips were drawn in a taut line.

“Let me help you with that,” he murmured, his voice familiar and velvety. She could smell his cologne and the heat of his body and nearly came on the spot.

Reid.

Kendra barely had time to be relieved before he had seized her wrists. He knelt over her, ripping off another length of tape and binding her wrists together more tightly. Then he used the rope to lash them to the headboard with quick strokes. Kendra thrashed and struggled, but he only sat back and smiled at her.