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Most disconcerting of all was his laugh. Had she ever heard it before? True, he didn’t smile a whole lot, but she must have heard him laugh at some point. She just hadn’t noticed her chest vibrating to its deep resonance.

Since Nate had called ahead and reserved the back room, he and Adam felt safe enough to let their guard down. In this relaxed state, joking and laughing with her crew, she could see where some women might find Adam attractive.

Good thing she wasn’t one of those women.

She shifted her gaze from Adam to the Renaissance painting on the wall behind him.

Her chest tightened and a lump rose in her throat. How did a simple two-tone image of a couple clearly in love, elicit such overwhelming emotion? The man peered into his lover’s eyes as he reached to caress her face, while she gazed back with absolute adoration. His possessiveness was depicted as clearly as her devotion. Although there was nothing to indicate it was a picture of a Dominant and his submissive, she was left wondering.

Where had that thought come from?

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She must be smashed. What would make her think those would be the dynamics between a Dominant and his submissive? Wasn’t it only about power and control without any emotion or devotion involved?

What would it be like to have someone think she was the most precious thing in the world? How would it feel to be cherished?

Her gaze slipped to Adam and she found him looking at her like a lion prepared to pounce on dinner. She shivered and dropped her gaze to the table. He may want her, but he only wanted her physically. And even in that capacity he only wanted to control her.

She reached for her bottle of wine and considered the notion he probably wouldn’t
know how to show true affection.

But even as she had the thought, a voice in her head cried
liar
and a memory swam through the haze. She closed her eyes and let the movie run, remembering the long-ago night with startling clarity.

She’d run out of laundry detergent and had gone to Nate’s to borrow some. Adam had been sitting in a chair directly across from the front door with a full-figured blonde on her knees at his feet. She hadn’t thought anything of it at the time, other than to observe what a pig Adam was for sitting in the chair while the woman sat on the floor, but now it made sense. She must have been one of his subs.

As she’d come out of the laundry room her gaze had swept back to Adam. And this time she’d stopped in her tracks. He’d been leaning over, feeding the woman from his plate with tenderness she’d never have thought him capable of showing. For some stupid reason her chest had tightened and she’d had to fight the urge to cry.

As a similar cloud of sadness floated around her now, she heard chuckling and Nate’s deep voice. “Nik, let go of the bottle.” She opened her eyes and found her hand clenched tightly around the neck of the bottle, to the point it should’ve cracked.

“Nobody’s gonna drink your wine. Relax.”

“Yeah, well, one can never be too careful.” She laughed. “Especially with a group of supposed friends like this.”

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Alannah Lynne

Only after she’d refilled and chugged did she chance a glance across the table.

Somehow, someway he knew she’d been thinking about him. It was written all over his face. However, instead of the smug, arrogant look he’d been giving her all day, this expression came dangerously close to mirroring the tender one he’d given the blonde.

The honesty of it took her breath away.

God, what’s with these mushy, emotional thoughts and feelings?

She had to get away from him. Since dinner hadn’t arrived, she excused herself and practically ran to the ladies’ room.

A large sitting area situated directly inside the door provided much needed privacy.

She dropped into one of the chairs and stared at the ceiling, hoping to either find answers in the vast white space or allow the blankness to suck her up and take her away.

She closed her eyes and fought the dizzy spins. She’d had entirely too much to drink and instead of making her numb and immune to Adam, it was making him more appealing. And sexy. God, was he ever sexy.

For the past year and a half, she’d been telling herself he was an overbearing asshole who needed to be avoided. She did not need to see this nice, personable side of him.

If she thought she could have quick, meaningless sex with him and then move on, she’d do it in a heartbeat. But it wouldn’t be quick—somehow she knew he would take his sweet time and it would be a long, memorable experience. And, despite her attempts to block him from her life, she already cared for him so it wouldn’t be meaningless. Her only hope of surviving the weekend was to resume her campaign of avoidance.

With her resolve back in place, she took care of business then washed her hands. She flung open the bathroom door and yelped when she saw a dark figure looming in the hall.

Nate was leaning against the wall opposite the bathroom door, his arms crossed and a concerned expression on his face. “Shit, Nate. You scared me.” She glanced around the hallway and saw they were alone. “What are you doing?”

“We were worried about you. The back room is safe but we didn’t want you walking through this dark hallway without someone watching you.”

“Where’s the babysitter?”

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“He thought maybe it would be best if I came back and checked on you, since you seemed upset.”

“I’m fine. But I’ve got one question for you. Why did you insist Adam come with me? Why him of all people?”

Nate didn’t hesitate in answering. “He’s the only other person I trust with your life.

Besides me, there’s nobody else I’d rather have protecting you.”

Nikki’s breath caught in her throat. She knew Nate thought a lot of Adam but she didn’t know he thought
that
much of him. “You don’t know what you’re saying, Nate. I don’t think you know him as well as you think you do.” No way could he know about Adam’s secret perversions and still be so gung-ho on having him be her bodyguard.

Nate’s expression became unreadable and an uncomfortable silence squeezed in on them as he studied her. Finally, he sighed and said, “Yeah, Sis. I do know what I’m saying. I know him very, very well and I’m telling you, I trust him completely.”

Nikki’s feet were rooted in place. Nate was trying to tell her something without coming right out and saying it, which wasn’t like him. It was the Kincaid Curse. They always said what was on their mind—without much prior thought—and never left anyone wondering where they stood.

But right now she definitely wondered, and what he’d implied left a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Did Nate know about Adam’s lifestyle and, if so, was it something he condoned?

Before she had time to consider all the implications, Nate motioned for her to go ahead of him. “Our food’s getting cold, let’s go eat.”

She sat at the table and looked at the mostly empty bottle of wine. It must be the wine making her paranoid and silly. Nate couldn’t have possibly told her he knew Adam was a Dominant, and, knowing how he treated women, still trusted her to his care.

While everyone else ate like they hadn’t seen food in weeks, Nikki pushed her pasta around on her plate. About halfway through the meal she pulled her head up and found Adam looking at her, a lopsided grin on his face.

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Alannah Lynne

“Better eat,” he said, pointing to her food with his fork. “You’ll need to keep up your strength.”

Nikki blinked then looked around the table. A few of the guys were looking at her, amused, while the others had their heads down, faces damn near in their plates, trying to ignore the conversation.

She turned and called the waitress over to the table. “May I please have a glass of sweet tea. A big glass of sweet tea.” This was getting ridiculous. The wine, along with his previous brash remarks, had her reading all kinds of things into the most innocent of remarks. She had to get her mind off sex and back on business.

Damn Adam for the whole conversation in the car. If he hadn’t told her about his sexual preferences and all the things he enjoyed doing to his subs, making her want those same things for herself—

Whoa… What the fuck?

She didn’t want those things. She was only mildly curious.

Yeah right. Keep telling yourself that and you’ll be fine.

She dropped her head into her hands and rubbed her forehead. Sleep. After a good night’s sleep her entire life would be back to normal. It still might be crazy, but at least it would be a comfortable crazy, and that she could handle.

Nikki got a to-go container for the pasta and had the waitress take away the remaining wine. Considering the bizarre thoughts she’d had about Adam while on her little wine-induced trip, she’d probably never drink again.

As they left the restaurant, she found herself closely flanked by Nate on her left and Adam on the right. Focused on ground and not paying attention, she was surprised to look up and see her crew in a circle surrounding the three of them, all moving as a single unit through the parking lot. They hadn’t told the crew about the threats but Adam’s presence, and Nate following her to the ladies’ room, had obviously tipped the guys off that something was wrong.

She came to an abrupt halt and looked around at the men who had instinctively fallen into this protective circle. Laughing to keep back the tears, she scanned her gaze over 30

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each of them. “Look at you guys redeeming yourselves. Shit, I can’t fire you now.”

Becoming more serious and mushy, undoubtedly due to the wine, she said, “I love you guys. Thanks for being my crew.”

She was met with lopsided grins and nods as Adam snaked his arm around her waist.

“Keep moving, sweetheart. It’s pretty dark in this parking lot. Let’s get you to the car.”

She looked up to respond to Adam and sucked in a shocked breath. Suddenly, she’d become the brunette she’d watched Adam leading to the car outside of Nate’s. And dammit…it was nice to have his arm around her and have him concerned about her.

Damn wine. She’d never drink again.

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Alannah Lynne

After dinner Nikki, Nate and Adam went back to Nikki’s motor home to analyze the letters she’d received and compile a list of potential suspects. The general consensus was—surprisingly—Nikki didn’t make enemies. She was a smart ass with those close to her but otherwise, she let her driving do the talking and had earned the respect of her fellow competitors. Nikki said she didn’t know of any disgruntled employees and, despite the rumbling noises she’d made all afternoon and the tinderbox atmosphere at dinner, Adam agreed with her. There was a mutual respect and admiration between Nikki and her crewmen and he didn’t believe any of them would want to harm her. Especially not after seeing their remarkable display of protectiveness.

Since she hadn’t dated anyone for quite some time, they nixed the idea of a pissed-off ex-boyfriend, which left them right where they’d started. With nada.

“I’m going out with Nate,” Adam said, as Nate rose to leave. “I need to make a phone call and do some checking around. I won’t be gone long.”

He waited while Nate hugged Nikki goodbye, then stood and moved to where she sat on the couch. He leaned over, rested his hands on the back of the couch on either side of her head and whispered, “When I come back, be wearing something a little…less.”

Her mouth dropped open and a flash fire ignited in her warm brown eyes while pink spread across her cheeks.

He winked, stepped back and exited the coach before she had time to respond, either verbally or physically.

If this hadn’t been so important to him he would have found her outrage humorous.

Instead, he found himself uncharacteristically unnerved. Since the first time they’d met, her jokes and body language had been like jagged stepping stones. They’d led him down 32

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a path to her private thoughts and fantasies and he’d come to the conclusion she was a sexual submissive.

Even though he knew she felt the same attraction he did, she’d been determined to keep him at a distance, making him wait a year and a half for the opportunity to confirm his suspicions. Based on the questions she’d asked in the car, and the way her heart had raced when he’d held her wrist, she was at least curious about dominance and submission. Now, he had to get her to understand the dynamics of the relationship and give him a chance to prove how incredible it could be.

As he walked back to the coach fifteen minutes later, he found himself holding his breath and considering two possible scenarios awaiting him. The first being, in some form or fashion, she’d have done as he asked. Or, she’d be waiting at the door with a baseball bat.

Cautiously, he pushed open the door of the coach and cast a quick look around. Not immediately seeing her, he eased inside, edgy as a beat cop walking into a possible trap.

As he moved through the kitchenette toward the back of the coach, he caught sight of her through the partially opened bathroom door and stopped dead in his tracks. She was brushing her teeth and wearing the sexiest bra and panties set he’d ever seen. It wasn’t the contrast of the teal fabric against her dark skin or her well-toned body that knocked the air out of his lungs—although her long legs, narrow waist and round breasts definitely demanded attention. What made her so incredibly beautiful to him was she’d followed his request.

He’d intentionally been vague when asking her to change, allowing her to feel, at least to some degree, in control. Since she was wearing nothing more than her bra and panties, his suspicions about her submissive tendencies were confirmed. And the Dominant in him came roaring forth.

He moved to the bathroom door and watched as she finished brushing her teeth and then began pulling a brush through her thick, black hair. Although she pretended not to know he was standing there, her shallow breathing and beaded nipples gave her away.