by KB Alan
“Why are you here?”
Her eyes closed, but not in physical pain. She had an answer ready for this question that wasn’t in opposition to the magic that held her captive. But she was still afraid to answer. Afraid of his response?
“I was hoping you could help me.”
He rested his arms on her legs, her wrists secured in his grasp. Studied her.
“Do you wish to harm me?”
“No!” Her gaze flew to his, searching his face, desperate for him to believe her. He caressed her arms with his thumbs in an absent, soothing gesture.
“Does someone else mean for you to harm me?”
She looked down, her body tightening, hunching over their arms.
“Stop. Don’t answer.”
She let out a relieved sigh.
“Can you give me a name?” He hoped that by not being specific she would have some leeway, but her answer was an immediate shake of the head.
“No,” she gasped.
“Am I in danger tonight?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Will you attempt to harm me, physically or with magic?”
“No.” This time her answer was easy and immediate. A spy then, not an assassin. She’d been given some means of entering his study, but had stayed, intending to get caught. Her instructions, her compulsion, obviously hadn’t been specific enough to include removing herself before he appeared, and she had taken advantage of that.
He needed to find out what was going on. Whoever was using the girl had strong magic at their disposal and didn’t mind hurting others to get to him.
Kyriana opened her mouth, but then closed it without speaking. He smiled and transferred her left wrist into his right hand, easily holding both. He brought his free hand up to her neck, testing, feeling, caressing.
Her pulse sped up but then steadied. Her wrists jerked and she gave a tiny sigh when his fingers cupped her slender neck, his thumb resting against the pulse in her throat. Here was someone who needed to give herself into stronger hands. He had one more test, one he was second-guessing himself about making. But he needed to be sure he was reading her correctly—that she disliked being immobilized by the spell, but her reaction to being restrained by him was completely opposite. Determined, he let go of her wrists and re-enacted the immobilization spell.
Her response was immediate and intense. Similar to the pain reaction she’d shown when he’d asked her a question she couldn’t answer—her stomach clenched, her eyes closed and her face drew in tight. He removed the spell, freeing her back to almost full movement. Her arms wrapped around her body and she hunched over herself. A tear fell from her eye but she was already setting her jaw, swallowing hard and forcing her eyes to meet his. She very deliberately returned her arms to her lap, where he’d dropped them.
A test. She didn’t know if she’d passed or failed, but she knew she’d just been tested. God, it had sucked. Not painful like the questions had been, but somehow worse. Being forced, magically restrained, horrified her on a basic and primitive level. Something she hadn’t been aware of until he’d frozen her when he walked into the office. She’d been concentrating so hard on what she might say to him, what words she could use that would get past the damn block in her head but give him the information he needed, that he’d taken her by surprise. She wasn’t a total idiot. She’d considered the fact that when he came in she would have to be careful to make no sudden or threatening motions. She just hadn’t thought about a spell that would freeze her. Hell, even if she’d thought about it, she wasn’t sure she would have realized how terrifying it would be.
Thankfully, he seemed to be catching on quickly. At the very least he’d realized she’d been forced here and was trying to warn him. He was smart and powerful, and she felt hope that he would figure out what she was trying to do. It was probably a stupid plan, but it was the only one she’d been able to come up with after almost a year. And once he knew what it was, if he didn’t think it would work, then maybe he would have other ideas.
“Tell me what you were going to say,” he said as he picked up both her wrists in his large hand. She swallowed, just to feel his other hand tighten around her throat.
“Magic.” It was so hard to say things that were important without triggering the spell. “Loophole.”
His thumb tipped her chin up, prompting her to meet his eyes. The fierce look from earlier had thawed considerably. He’d figured out that she herself was not out to harm him. She had no delusions that he would now go easy on her. She was still a danger to him and they both knew it. But he would be more careful. She hoped.
Holding his stare was hard, but since it was what he wanted, she forced herself to do it. His eyes were a rich brown with warm yellow undertones. His hair was brown too, but with so many highlights from the sun it was hard to pinpoint the final color. He must spend a lot of time outdoors, which was probably normal for mages, who depended on the earth for some of their magic. Her breath caught as she considered one of the other major means of replenishing and practicing magic. Sex. Earthy, elemental, sex. He moved his thumb back down, tacitly giving her permission to drop her gaze, which she did, immediately. She stared straight ahead at the chest covered in a soft-looking sweater. A sweater molding itself lovingly to his—Focus! She needed to focus. Yes, she was hoping that his skills as a mage would help her, and was aware of his reputation as a sexual Master, but that didn’t mean she was here to stare at his chest.
She started to speak, then thought better of it. Was she still allowed? She dared a quick look up again and he gave her a small nod, his expression serious.
“I saw you.” She tried to figure out what else she could say to point him in the right direction.
“You know I’m a mage,” he said slowly. “And you know that I visit a sex club.” He considered. “Did you see me there?”
“Yes.”
Oh, had she seen him. She still wasn’t sure what force had prompted her to go to the club that night. She’d known exactly what sort of place it was, exactly the clientele it catered to. Her neighbor was a regular. A submissive who had no steady Dom, Danni had told her all about Loophole. Kyriana had feigned disinterest but Danni had known, had seen, and so had continued to invite her despite her repeated refusals. Until last week, when Kyr had said yes.
Mages rarely identified themselves as such and she might not have recognized him for what he was if she hadn’t just seen his picture in her boss’s files. But she was positive she still would have been mesmerized. Magic was only a part of who he was and wasn’t all that made up the power that surrounded him. He’d been flogging a submissive while the lucky woman’s Master watched. The sub was strapped to a Saint Andrew’s cross, her bare back to the room while Connul worked her over. Nothing remarkable, a scene that probably played out in the club every night of the week. But somehow, he had made it different. More. Every eye in the vicinity had been riveted to them. The girl’s moans had sent shivers down Kyr’s spine and she’d felt every slap of the flogger like a too-distant echo.
For over an hour he’d worked her, bringing her up then back down before escalating even higher. Her Master had stood by, watching. Finally Connul had brought her to what had to have been an exquisite climax based on the bound woman’s cries. Kyriana had sighed with her own small release. And she’d wondered.
She’d always secretly had a desire to be bound. It was this forbidden need that had kept her interested whenever Danni had told her about the club. Spankings and whippings, though. She’d heard about them, of course, but never really given it much thought. Pain was pain and didn’t have any place with pleasure. Not that she had much experience with pleasure. What she’d seen at the club told her that just because she hadn’t understood the pleasure of pain, didn’t mean it didn’t exist. Didn’t mean it didn’t work. Didn’t mean it couldn’t work…on her.
“When?”
She licked her lips. “Last week. Thursday.”
“What was I doing?”
Both of his thumbs started moving, one caressing her wrist, the other her neck. How could she feel so vulnerable and yet so safe at the same time? He leaned in close, rested his forehead against hers. Though he was barely touching her, she felt as if his whole body was covering hers. She grew damp between her legs.
“Did you like what you saw?”
So much for damp, she was full-on wet now. She tried not to squirm and mostly succeeded. “Y-yes.”
“What part did you like best?”
“Uh—” she stuttered. Irritated, she closed her eyes briefly. He must think she was such an imbecile. The need to answer him was strong, but she hadn’t thought about it before. The whole thing had been so amazing. The woman’s cries, his careful precision, the intense orgasm. Oh, yes, now she knew.
“The end.”
“The orgasm?”
She swallowed hard. “No, after that.”
His long fingers around her throat tightened just a tiny bit. Why did that feel so good? It should scare the crap out of her. But it didn’t—not by a long shot.
“Is anyone going to come looking for you tonight?”
“No.”
He stood up, stepped back, and her body cried out at the loss. What was wrong with her? He’d put a spell on her to make her talk. Had he done something to make her need him too?
“No magic tonight. No more spells.”
She blinked up at him. No, he wasn’t talking about his spells. He meant the one she wanted him to remove. He wasn’t going to help her, he wasn’t going to try to remove the spell.
“Not tonight. You have to trust me first.”
“I—” She stopped herself. Of course she didn’t trust him. She wanted to. She prayed to any god that might listen that he would be able to help her. But she didn’t trust him. Hell, she’d just been wondering if he was messing with her.
Since he’d stood, her stare was now directed at his cock, which had made a considerable tent in his pants since he’d first stood before her. Oddly gratified, she relaxed, waited to see what he would do.
“I need you to let me earn your trust.”
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. He understood—knew what she needed. She could do this. She would do this. Hell, she wanted this.
“Okay.”
“You understand, I can’t remove the truth spell, either. Or the compulsion spell.”
She hadn’t even considered it, would never have asked it of him. Which didn’t mean she didn’t hate it immensely, but there were other things at the top of her hate list right now that held much higher priority.
“I understand.” She wished he’d come back and hold her again.
“Stand up.”
She untucked her legs and rose, irritated at how unsteady she felt.
“What experience do you have?”
Oh crap. She ducked her head and whispered, “Not much.”
“Don’t hide from me.”
Damn. She lifted her head. “Not much.”
He began to move. He walked around, pushed the chair back and circled her, but touched her only with his look.
“Not much BDSM? Or not much sex.”
“Not much sex.”
“Pain?” He was keeping his voice neutral, not giving her any clues.
“No.”
“And no BDSM.”
“No.” Should she feel embarrassed about that? Probably not, but she did. She wouldn’t drop her head again, but she couldn’t stop the blush from firing across her face and down her neck.
Finally he touched her, trailing a single finger along her collarbone as he circled her again. How could such a simple touch ignite a fire all the way to her sex?
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Also by KB Alan
Perfect Fit Series (Erotic Romance)
Perfect Formation (Book 1)
Perfect Alignment (Book 2)
Perfect Stranger (Book 2.5)
Perfect Addition (Book 3)
Perfect Temptation (Book 4)
Fully Invested (Contemporary Romance)
(Part of the Wildlife Ridge World)
Coming Home (Book 1)
Breaking Free (Book 2)
Finding Forever (Book 3)
Wolf Appeal Series (Paranormal Romance)
Alpha Turned (Book 1)
Challenge Accepted (Book 2)
Going Deeper (Book 3)
Stand Alone
Bound by Sunlight (Erotic Romance)
Keeping Claire (Fantasy Romance)
Sweetest Seduction (Contemporary Romance)
kbalan.com
About the Author
KB Alan lives the single life in Southern California. She acknowledges that she should probably turn off the computer and leave the house once in a while in order to find her own happily ever after, but for now she's content to delude herself with the theory that Mr. Right is bound to come knocking at her door through no real effort of her own. Please refrain from pointing out the many flaws in this system. Other comments, however, are happily received.
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Copyright © 2021 by KB Alan
Edited by Kelli Collins
Cover Art by Syneca
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