She heard footsteps in the living room before bacon was finished. Kyle, presumably. And Gallagher? They’d both arrived at the same time. She wondered what business Kyle had with the photographer that was so urgent he couldn’t take his turn with breakfast. She wanted to see him, kiss him, not make him and everyone else bacon and eggs. But she could wait, if that’s what it took.
Breakfast was done a few minutes later and all the men sat down at the table for it. Having Gallagher as a third wheel had made things awkward, but with Roger there too she was distinctly aware of the excess testosterone on the island. Gallagher was watching her intently as well, and she was all too aware that his eyes were keeping track of her tits. Kyle, on the other hand, was watching Gallagher, and clearly getting annoyed.
“Where would you like me, Sir?” she asked.
He looked up at her, startled for a moment, and then his face relaxed. “Next to me,” he said softly. “Kneeling, on the floor. Get a cushion from the living room.”
She had been afraid he’d say something like that. Or had she been hoping? She went to the living room, got a small cushion and put it on the ground to support her knees. She knelt.
He shook his head. “Under your bum. It will improve your posture and take more of your weight.”
She adjusted the cushion. He was right, it was better, although her knees weren’t fond of the hard floor. Still, at least she had jeans.
He turned the chair in front of her around and set her plate on it. Then he reached down and buttoned a button on her shirt. She looked up at him, questioning. That wasn’t what she had expected. But maybe he didn’t like Gallagher looking at her. Her position on the floor as well as the chair blocked her off from him.
Kyle ignored her glance and looked at his food. He tasted a small bit of the bacon and then a little of the egg, as if he didn’t expect them to taste right. Well, thanks a lot.
“Thank you for making breakfast,” Kyle said. “I’ll get tomorrow and we’ll be good. I suppose you’ll be leaving after that.”
“May I stay, after that, Sir?” She hadn’t meant to blurt it out. She’d meant to choose the right moment. Maybe when he was inside her, ready to come. But somehow it came out.
“Don’t you have a plane to catch?”
“Of course you can stay,” said Roger.
Kyle glared at him. Roger pursed his lips and nodded. Kyle shook his head. For a long moment the two men stared each other down.
“I’ll talk to you later,” Roger said to Kyle.
Now what was that about? It didn’t matter. She was embarrassing herself, kneeling next to a man who didn’t even want her around. She could feel tears welling up and that would be humiliating. There was no way to get up gracefully from the position she was in.
Then Kyle smiled and ran his hand through her hair. “You may stay, Teresa,” he said softly. She looked up into his eyes. Was that sadness she saw there? His touch was so gentle. She wasn’t used to it. It seemed more his style to grab her hair and pull. Maybe he was holding back because of the audience.
She took a breath. She could see Roger at the head of the table and he could see her too. Was it her imagination or was he studying her?
“The bacon and eggs are good, Teresa. Well done.” Kyle wasn’t holding back now, eating his food with relish.
“Yeah, thanks for cooking for us,” Roger added.
Gallagher said nothing, which was fine. If he had said something, she was pretty sure it would have been snide. Something had changed between the men and the air was heavy with it. She wished she knew what it was.
In five minutes she was the only one with any food left on her plate. “Excuse me for a moment, Teresa,” said Kyle, ruffling her hair again. “I need to talk to Roger.”
Don’t leave me alone like this with Gallagher, she silently pleaded, but Kyle seemed distracted. She missed having his full attention, even if that attention was sometimes painful. She watched as Roger and Kyle stepped outside and slid the door behind them.
Gallagher shifted chairs to where he could see her better. “You’ll be staying, all right.” The softness of his voice, pitched low as if he was afraid the other men would hear him, did nothing to conceal the menace.
She didn’t know why that was supposed to bother her so she ate another rasher of bacon.
“You should have gotten with me when you had the chance, darling,” Gallagher said. “Now look at you. Good luck with your boyfriend.” He got up and then smiled suddenly. He looked out the door at Roger and Kyle, who were conversing intently, and then in the other direction, toward the pier. He walked that way and pulled on the sliding glass door. It didn’t budge.
“Dammit,” he said. He looked around the door as if looking for a latch but didn’t find one. He did, however, notice the lock on it.
“Any idea where the key is?” he asked her.
She shook her head. “No idea. Why don’t you ask Kyle or Roger?” She got up and sat down on a chair to finish her breakfast. She wasn’t going to stay kneeling while Kyle was out. If he was disappointed, what was he going to do? Spank her?
She grinned at the thought. Now that she could look forward to.
Gallagher’s eyes went to a cabinet near the door. He cast another glance over his shoulder at the two men. They were still talking. Arguing, from the looks of it. He started going through the cabinet. He could scarcely be more obvious about the fact that he was doing something he didn’t want them to know about. Presumably he was looking for the key. Something was going on. She thought of going to tell Kyle, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to interrupt either. Besides, there was no reason Gallagher shouldn’t be on the dock as far as she knew. If he actually found the key, she’d knock on the other door to get Kyle’s attention.
My boyfriend. That’s what Gallagher had called him, but was he? And if he was—well, was he her Master as well? She’d heard stories about people in such relationships, but didn’t know any personally unless that one singer-actress was involved the way the rumors said. She didn’t know her well, anyway. Was that sort of thing really practical? But she couldn’t imagine a relationship with Kyle going any other way. That only made him more attractive to her. There wasn’t any doubt with a man like Kyle. He was going to be in charge.
She didn’t know any other men quite like Kyle either. Maybe Roger had a little of the same thing in him, but it was different. She suspected Roger would be gentle, even if he insisted on having his way. Kyle was rough and demanding, and would put her over his knee as soon as argue with her. Probably sooner.
She saw Kyle glance over and breathed a sigh of relief. He saw what was going on. Good. She didn’t need to worry about it anymore. She finished off her eggs, instead.
A few moments later, Kyle and Roger came back in. Gallagher made a show of having been just leaning against the cabinet, for all the good it did him.
“Hey, Gallagher,” said Kyle, “come with me.” If he noticed or cared that she had gotten up off the floor, he didn’t show it.
Gallagher paled. He clearly didn’t want to go but he followed Kyle anyway.
Roger sat across from her rather than resuming his seat. “Do you love him?” he asked.
She blinked. Yes, I think I do. “Kyle? Shouldn’t he be the first to know?”
Roger chuckled. “Right you are. He told me you were smart. I suggest you tell him, if it’s true. In fact, I suggest you tell him everything. He’s going to want to hear it all from you and not from anyone else.”
All what? That I love him? That I want him to keep doing those wicked things he does to me—whenever and wherever he wants? She didn’t understand how he could possibly hear that from anyone else but her.
Suddenly there was a thump from upstairs, and another. She got up and ran toward the stairs, and Roger moved just as quickly to grab her around the waist.
“It sounds like they’re fighting up there!” she cried, trying to get free. His arms were about as movable as steel bars.
�
��Do you have any doubt about the outcome, if they are?”
Terry glared at him. “I guess not. But I want to be at his side.”
“Hostages only confuse things.” Roger’s expression went dark. “If anyone knows that, it’s Kyle.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think it would be best if you heard that story from Kyle himself, if at all. But don’t press him too much. It may take him time to be willing to talk about it, if he ever does.”
“I meant why am I a hostage?”
“You’re someone he has to look out for.” He looked up and listened. The thumping had stopped. “Looks like they’ve worked out their differences. Gallagher’s a damn fool.”
“You just met him.”
Roger raised his eyebrows. “Do you disagree?”
I have to watch it with him. Every question and every statement he makes is designed to get some kind of response out of me. He’s testing me. Maybe he’s just looking out for his friend. “No, I don’t disagree. I just wonder why you’re so sure.”
“Doesn’t matter. The question is, are you a fool too?”
Her eyes narrowed. She wasn’t sure what the right response was to that one so she kept it simple. “No.”
“Sometimes smart people can be more foolish than less gifted ones. And less able to admit their foolishness.”
She frowned, trying to figure out what he was getting at. “You think I’m a fool to get involved with Kyle?”
Score one for me, she thought as he looked surprised at her response. He smiled slowly and shook his head. “No, I think that’s very brave. Being brave isn’t always foolish though.”
The sound of feet on the stairs brought an end to the awkward conversation. Kyle appeared. She checked him over for black eyes or cuts, but he appeared fine. Maybe the bruises were underneath his clothes. Maybe I’ll get to look soon. He didn’t look ruffled though.
In fact, he grinned, although it didn’t look entirely sincere to her. “Gallagher fell on the last step, but I helped him to his room. He’ll probably spend the rest of the time he’s here in bed.”
She didn’t buy the bit about the last step for a moment. “Is he okay?”
Roger and Kyle both looked at her and Kyle quit grinning. She had the impression that she was being studied.
“I mean, he’s a jerk and all, but if he needs medical attention, he should get it,” she said.
Kyle frowned. “He’s fine. Just a bruise or two. But good point. Roger?”
Roger shrugged. “All right, I’ll go check on him.” He shook his head, amused about something, and walked up.
Kyle turned to her. “Kneel,” he said.
Her heart melted suddenly with the words. Her knees went weak too. Maybe her body obeyed before her brain consciously decided to. She found herself on the floor, looking up at him. She glanced at his crotch and was disappointed. He wasn’t aroused, or at least his cock wasn’t hard.
“Why do you want to stay, Teresa?”
She remembered what Roger had said. Because I’m falling in love with you. But she’d much rather he say it first, even though that seemed unlikely. “Because I love—the things you do to me. I want more. And I want to please you too.”
“You don’t want to be around for the movie shooting?”
“If you’d rather go somewhere else and take me with you, that would be lovely. I’ve never been to most of Australia. Just Darwin and out toward Uluru, and Brisbane on the way in. But I’ve never been to the cities.”
He looked thoughtful.
Roger came back downstairs. “He’s fine,” he said.
“Good to hear,” said Kyle absently.
“How are you?” asked Terry. “It sounded like a fight, not a fall.”
“I’m fine, pet. Take off your top. I want to look at you.”
She wasn’t sure how she felt about being called pet, but what he asked her to do stopped her from dwelling on it. The moment had suddenly turned sexual and she ought to be used to how he could do that. She looked at Roger. She didn’t want him to see her naked but she had a bra on. And yet the idea that his presence wouldn’t stop Kyle from doing whatever he wanted made her tingle. “Here? In front of him?”
“Yes. And I want you to remember how to address me properly too.”
“Yes Sir.” She took a deep breath and unbuttoned the sleeves on her shirt. When she was finished with those, she took her time with the others. Maybe he’d change his mind. Or Roger would take the hint and leave. But the two men exchanged glances and Roger not only didn’t leave, he moved to the left of Kyle, where his view was unobstructed and she couldn’t pretend he wasn’t there.
She expected Kyle to tell her to take the bra off next. He crouched down instead, and took her left hand in his right, then lifted her arm and examined it in a way that reminded her of a nurse looking for a vein to stab. Then he did the same with the other arm, examining it intently. Only when he was done did he trace a finger along the plunge of her bra. He looked as if his mind was far away. She couldn’t imagine what he had in mind that made her arms that much more interesting than her boobs. She pushed her chest out, hoping to get his attention. He noticed and smiled, but nothing more.
Something rattled upstairs. “What’s that?” Terry asked. Gallagher, trying to open a locked door? What the hell was going on?
“I’ll go check,” Roger said and headed up.
Kyle gazed at her for a long time. “You’re perfect for me,” Kyle said at last with a hint of sadness in his voice.
“You could keep me,” she said, her heart clenching up. Begging him to let her stay would be more embarrassing than stripping in front of Roger or kneeling. It would be humiliating. She wasn’t going to do it.
“Can I? I wonder. Do you have work to do today?”
She felt, in one sense, that taking more pictures wasn’t going to help the movie one bit, but that was largely because she thought the movie was hopeless. More and more she wondered if she was simply cover—Stegner ignored her suggestions because he’d already decided he was going to shoot where he was going to shoot come hell or high water. He had a location scout because that’s what a big movie producer did. But still, he was paying her. She sighed and nodded. “I should take some more pictures in the jungle, probably, and see if that’s usable for anything.”
He handed her shirt to her. “Get dressed for it, then, and I’ll see you back here for dinner. Do try to be done by then. I have plans for us for the evening.”
Again she thought there was sadness in his smile. “Sir, would you like to come with me?”
He shook his head. “No. I have a few things I have to take care of. The jungle is safe enough—the spiders can give a bad bite, but it won’t kill you. Don’t let them get at you though. I prefer to deliver your pain myself.”
She blushed. Why does that sound like love? I’m probably fooling myself. Kyle was cold, distant. Something significant had changed and she was hoping it was for the better. Maybe this was just his way of processing.
“Do a good job, Terry.” He bent down and kissed her, then took her hands in his.
“Yes Sir.” As he helped her up, she realized that he’d never called her Terry before. Something was definitely amiss. She wished she knew what it was. Clearly, however, she’d been dismissed. She put her shirt back on and headed out, her cell phone already in her pocket. When she glanced over her shoulder, she saw him watching her from behind the glass door.
For the next few hours, she focused on her work. Kyle was too confusing to think about and made her heart ache too much. She’d always thought she was at ease with uncertainty, but this time she wanted very much to know where she stood. Or knelt.
* * * * *
Kyle closed Terry’s suitcase and shook his head. There was no trace of drugs anywhere in her belongings. There had been no needle tracks on her arms. There was nothing to indicate that she used illegal drugs or that she had them in her possession. But why would she? If she was involved as Ga
llagher said in a drug smuggling operation, there was no reason to have small amounts in her personal luggage. And there was no reason a pusher had to be a user. Although at least he understood why users would sell drugs—maybe they at least believed that a high was worth the consequences. The ones who just tried to get others hooked were worse.
He didn’t know whether Gallagher was telling the truth or not. On the one hand, he wasn’t sure why the man would lie. Just because Teresa wouldn’t sleep with him? It seemed weak to Kyle, but Gallagher was a weak man. Some men couldn’t take no for an answer. If Gallagher was one of those it was probably a very good thing that he was now locked up in his room.
He had found nothing to back up Gallagher’s claims. But still the doubt lingered. He was used to not knowing everything about the women he played with. If he was just playing with Teresa, as he’d intended, he wouldn’t be stressing quite so much. He still wouldn’t want her to be a drug dealer. He cared for everyone he played with—if he didn’t, he couldn’t keep their safety foremost, and that wasn’t optional as far as he was concerned. But he felt something more for Teresa. He had to find out the truth, and he didn’t have a way to do it. If she was guilty, maybe. If she was innocent though, there’d never be any proof.
The police had asked them to keep both suspects there until the rest of the movie people arrived. Then they intended a giant raid. Kyle wanted to get Teresa off the island and out of the country. It wasn’t rational, he knew. The police would question everyone and probably find out the answers he wanted. But they weren’t infallible, and if sending Teresa away from him was what he needed to do to keep her safe, he would. He couldn’t be sure she wasn’t involved, but he wanted to believe she was innocent. He wanted to trust her, and that meant acting as if he did.
Which meant, logically, having her sleep in his bed tonight.
Roger had argued for that. Act normal. Don’t let her suspect you suspect, he’d said. And yet Roger had also told him that he wasn’t sure Gallagher was telling the truth about Teresa. He’d known Roger for years, and he usually knew where his friend was coming from. This time, he didn’t. Roger probably thought of him sleeping with a woman as a “step” on his “recovery”. Kyle wasn’t sure he needed to recover. He’d seen hell—having nightmares was a perfectly sane response. It just wasn’t pleasant.
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