by Tawny Taylor
I didn’t ask. I merely nodded.
He reached into the bedside drawer and pulled out a padded satin sleep mask. “I think you’ll enjoy this,” he said as he strapped it in place. Now blind, I waited, body trembling, blood pounding, heat pooling between my legs. If I thought the torment would ease with him gone, I was wrong. Dead wrong.
By the time he returned to me, I was almost breathless. Whether it was one minute or an hour, I couldn’t say. Time seemed to drag.
He said, “I have a few things for us.” The bed’s mattress sank under his weight. He was next to me. That side of my body tingled. Still, even though I knew he was right there, I startled when he touched my thigh. “Anxious?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” He wrapped something around my leg, a strap of some kind. Then he pulled my legs wider apart and fastened another one around the other leg. Right away I could tell I couldn’t move them. Now both my hands and legs were bound and I was blindfolded. A wave of nervous anticipation rushed through me.
What would he do next?
“How do you feel when you’re bound?” he asked. “Are you afraid?”
“No.”
“Perhaps you should be?”
A shiver zipped through me. “Why do you say that?”
“I warned you, you have no idea what you’re in for.” He was bent over me now. I could feel his breath gusting over my chest. It was like a feather-light caress. Soft. Fleeting. In the next instant a sharp pain pierced me again. My nipple. I jerked, muscles clenched. When it didn’t ease up, a little sob slipped out.
“Too much? If it is, say red. If it isn’t, trust me. You’ll like what comes next.”
I held on. My fingers clenched into fists, fingernails digging into my palm.
Finally it stopped. His warm, wet tongue swirled around the hard little nub, soothing the pain, and a strange sensation zoomed through me. Adrenaline. A rush of energy and pleasure. Oh, it was intense.
“Now you see why?” he said, his voice husky.
“Why . . . ?” I echoed, barely able to speak. It was as if my nerves had become supersensitive. I could smell his skin. I could hear his breaths and the slough of fabric as he moved over the cool sheet stretched under us. Everything was amplified. Intensified.
“Can you say red?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Say it for me,” he murmured as his teeth grazed my other nipple.
“Red.”
“Good.” Something cold and hard pinched my other nipple. But I didn’t shrink away from the pleasure-pain this time. I tightened all over, gritted my teeth, and waited, knowing there would be a wonderful reward coming soon.
“Your trust is so exquisite,” he said softly, his voice reflecting deep emotion. “I am in awe of you.”
Ever so gently, he laved that nipple with his tongue, drawing out the pleasure, easing the pain. With each lick, the heat pounding through my body intensified. With each lick, I became more desperate for his next touch.
He licked and kissed and nibbled his way to the cleft between my breasts, then continued lower, down the center of my stomach. As he came closer to my aching center, I tilted my hips up, tightening everywhere, silently pleading for just one touch between my legs.
His little kisses skirted around the area that burned the hottest. He bit my inner thighs, and my legs trembled. I strained against the restraints holding them in place. I wanted to open them wider, to open myself to him fully.
Something brushed across my nether lips, and I jumped.
“Patience, Abigail.”
Patience? How could he say that to me? I’d been patient. For a lot longer than he realized. “Take me,” I whispered, tipping my hips up.
“Now, that is an intriguing invitation, but I’m not ready yet.”
I whimpered. “If you’d untie me—”
“No, what fun would that be? You make a small effort at seduction, but only because I’ve put you in the position of having to. You prefer it like this, being powerless.” A light touch meandered up the inside of my thigh.
My entire being focused on that fingertip or toy or whatever it was as it traveled inch by inch closer to my center. Beneath my skin, my muscles quivered. My heart rate raced. My blood pounded in my veins. He was right. Absolutely. I craved this, how he tormented me, drew out my longing until it was nearly excruciating.
He did that now. His touch strayed up over my mound across my body and back down the other thigh. My skin tingled, goose bumps puckering in the wake of that light, teasing stroke. But I was in agony, and there was no reason to think it would end anytime soon.
Surrendering to it, I absorbed all the sensations fueling the fire burning deep inside. The sound of my own little gasps and moans. The scents of my need and Kam’s skin and his minty breath. The sensation of my body quivering and tightening as my need grew and grew.
I didn’t beg. I didn’t plead. I merely accepted every touch, every stroke, every pinch.
“Ah, yes. You’re learning so quickly.” Now his voice was smooth and low, the vibration humming through me. I didn’t allow myself to think about what might come next. I didn’t allow myself to think at all. I just felt.
This time, when that soft touch wandered up my thigh, it didn’t wander off its target; it dipped between my wet folds. I felt them open to him, welcoming his exploration. A pulsing throb vibrated there as his exploration grew more aggressive. A light touch turned to a firm stroke. And that turned to a series of circles over my clit. And that turned into a series of thrusts inside. I couldn’t help clenching my inner walls around his invading digit. I wanted to hold him there, keep him there forever.
He stopped, and I bit back a cry of agony. My tissues were twitching, odd little prickles between my legs. Still, I didn’t move, didn’t plead.
I heard the slough of clothing. Yes, finally! Soon I would feel his skin against mine. I would feel his arms around me. I would feel his thick rod stroke away the ache he’d ignited deep inside.
The sound of lube being squirted cut through the tense silence. At last, there was another touch. Something slick pushing between my buttocks. When that thing pushed at my entrance, I relaxed the muscles, taking it inside. It sank deep, then remained there.
“You are going to like this,” he said. He unfastened my legs, pushed them wide apart. The mattress shifted as he lowered himself over me. “Mmmm,” he hummed as he dipped down and kissed me. His kiss was a gentle seduction. Lips. Teeth. Tongue.
Oh yes, I liked that very much.
He kissed my cheeks, my eyelids. He swirled his tongue in the whorl of my ear.
I liked that too.
The skin of my shoulders prickled. Goose bumps. I shivered, despite being so hot I thought I might combust.
The tip of his cock nudged at my nether lips, and I shuddered. The heat swirling through me amped up another hundred degrees.
At last, he pushed inside me.
So full. So gloriously full.
Yes, I liked it. Yes, oh yes.
“Nothing like being filled, ass and pussy?” he murmured against my neck. “Am I right?”
“Yes,” I somehow managed to say. After only a few thrusts, I was on the brink of orgasm already. Trembling. Burning. Tight. I could barely breathe. Couldn’t think.
“You’re going to come.”
“Yes,” I said.
“Tighten that pussy. Hold me like a fist.” He thrust harder, faster.
I tightened the muscles deep inside, and a huge blast of heat raged through me. I was burning up. Oh yes. The first pulse of a powerful orgasm shot through my body, and I cried out. My insides rhythmically convulsed around him, and he drove into me, stroking hard and fast.
His voice joined mine as he too found release. His skin was blistering hot, pressed against mine. His hips slammed forward and back, his rod pounding mercilessly inside my quivering depth until we were both breathless and limp.
I made a little mewling sound when he pulled out of me. A
nd another one slipped from my lips when he gently eased the toy out of my ass. After setting the toy aside, and taking off the mask and untying my hands, he lay down and pulled me into his arms.
I nuzzled him, smiling, still gasping, still shaking all over.
I’d never thought sex could be like this. It was so much more than what I’d ever experienced with anyone else.
“Sleep,” he murmured as he smoothed my hair back from, my face. “We’ll stay here tonight. Together.”
“Yes, sir,” I muttered as I sank into warm darkness.
I woke up to the sensation of a gentle stroke between my legs, and I realized I was lying on my side, one of my legs thrown over Kam’s hip, the other bent at the knee and resting on the mattress. Even though I’d been asleep, my body had been responding to his patient caresses. I was wet. Hot. My insides coiling into little knots.
He entered me from behind. No warning. His invasion took me by surprise and was so deliciously decadent, I couldn’t help groaning loudly.
“This is the way to wake up,” I mumbled as I arched my spine, taking him as deep as he could go.
He wrapped an arm around my waist, holding me in place with that hand while kneading my breast with the other. “Glad you’re enjoying yourself.” He nibbled my shoulder, making little goose bumps erupt across my whole back. “I thought you deserved a little bit of pleasure this morning.” He slammed harder, and I trembled. “Do you agree?”
“Oh yes.”
He rammed into me again. “How’s that?”
“Good.”
And again. And again. And with each thrust, I said, “Thank you.”
Within minutes, I was on the verge of orgasm. I spread my legs as wide as I could and tipped my hips back to allow him to jam that hard cock deep inside. I set one hand on top of the hand that was now tormenting my breast, weaving my fingers between his. My breaths came in little gusting huffs. In, out. Hard, sharp. I could feel the burning heat of an orgasm igniting. Swirling. Building.
Then he pulled out and bit my neck. I cried out, shocked, frustrated.
“I said you deserved a little pleasure,” he said as he laved away the sting on my neck. “A little.”
Through gritted teeth, I snapped, “You’re mean.”
He chuckled. “I warned you.”
Using the hand resting on top of his, I pushed down, forcing pressure onto my aching breast. “You aren’t going to leave me like this.”
“I am.” He pinched my nipple, then rolled it between his finger and thumb. Cruel bastard.
“No, you’re not.” I glared at him over my shoulder.
“Oh yes.” Wearing a wicked grin so deviously sexy I was seeing stars in my eyes, he pinched my nipple again. “I am. Because you are still trying to tell me what I will or won’t do.” His tongue swept across his lower lip. “Did you read the contract, Abigail?”
“No. You told me to forget it.” I hooked a hand around the back of his neck and pulled, trying to coax him into kissing me. “But I didn’t throw it away. I will read it. I promise.”
He pressed his mouth to mine, and a moan swept up my throat. I curled my fingers in his hair and held him. My lips parted, and I hoped, prayed, his tongue would push inside and do all the naughty, wonderful things it tended to do inside my mouth.
“Hmmm.” He angled his head down but not close enough. His breath caressed my face, tickling my lips and making me suck in little gasps of air.
Hmmm, indeed. His front teeth depressed his full lower lip, giving me an almost irresistible impulse to kiss it. I pulled harder on his neck, but he resisted.
His gaze focused on my mouth. “I think you need some training. Lots of training.”
I had no doubt I was going to enjoy every minute of that training. Every second. “I think you may be right.” I wrapped the other arm around his neck, and this time he didn’t fight me as I pulled. “I think we should start now,” I whispered against his moist lips. The fleeting contact between our mouths made my lips tickle and tingle. A little giggle bubbled up my throat.
“No,” he said against my mouth. “It’s time to get moving.” He sat up, pulling me with him. And before I knew it, he was carrying me across the room, toward the bathroom. He turned on the water before setting me on my feet, and when I tried to kiss him again, he growled, grumbling, “Would you like to have a cold shower this morning?”
“No, thanks.”
“Then you’d better behave.” He gave my bottom a sharp smack. The sound was amplified in the tiled room, making me jump. The stinging that followed made my skin warm. And that made me warm everywhere else.
He took a long up-and-down look at me and shook his head. “You’re insatiable.” Then, much to my disappointment, he left, shouting through the door after he closed it, “If you touch yourself, I swear, you’ll be sorry.”
I turned the water to steamy hot, grabbed the soap, and smiled.
Sorry? We would just see about that.
15
An hour later I was on my way to work . . . with a big, goofy smile on my face. While I was still extremely worried about my brother’s future, the night I’d spent with Kam had put me in a very different frame of mind. I trusted Kam when he said Joss’s safety wasn’t currently an issue. All I needed to focus on was doing what I could to find the real guilty party.
Determined to do just that, I went into my office with a solid plan. The assumption was whoever had done it knew my brother fairly well. This person also had no qualms about allowing an innocent man to be fingered for the crime. That kind of planning and underhanded deviousness had to have shown itself in other areas of the person’s life. In other words, I believed he or she would have a criminal record. Thus, I would start there.
With one conversation with Kam, I had access to someone who could help me find out which of my brother’s friends had shady pasts and which did not. This someone turned out to be an old friend of Kam’s from school named Dave. Having no criteria by which to eliminate anyone, I gave Dave a fairly lengthy list of names and then went on the Internet to see what I could dig up on my own. Better to do something than to sit around and wait for the phone to ring.
By a little after ten, however, I was in need of some caffeine. My mood was good, but my energy level, not so great. I cracked open my door, catching Kam saying my name in a conversation with someone on the phone. Hoping it was Dave, with information about Joss’s friends, I peered through the crack, noted that he didn’t see me, and stepped to one side to eavesdrop.
Once, I’d been told it wasn’t ever a good idea to eavesdrop on someone else’s conversation. Rarely do you hear something you’d like to hear.
Truer words had never been spoken.
But, despite that fact, I’d also learned a long time ago that even though I might not like what I was hearing, there was still a good likelihood that what I heard would be useful in one way or another. In fact, as a kid, eavesdropping had kept me alive.
Considering the situation with my brother, I wasn’t going to pass up this opportunity either.
“No, she’s never mentioned her parents. Why?” he said.
A prickly chill shimmied up my back. Were they talking about someone who knew Joss, or me? If it was me . . . Oh no. I leaned closer and held my breath. I couldn’t miss a word. Not one.
“I don’t know about that. Are you sure?” Kam asked whomever he was talking to. His voice was laced with doubt. Little did he know what he was probably hearing was true, if they were talking about me. I had a lot more skeletons in my closet than most anyone would guess.
“Okay. I think you’re wasting your time. But you’re being paid to do a job. I get it.” He paused to listen to the voice on the other end. Then he said, “Call me when you get something,” and hung up.
I took several slow, deep breaths before opening the door.
His gaze jerked my way. His eyes widened for a split second, then returned to normal.
I forced a smile. “Hey, have you heard back fro
m Dave yet? I’m expecting a call.”
“No.” Turning his attention back to the computer on his desk, he started poking keys. I didn’t like the way he was acting—distant, cold.
“Okay. I hope he gets back to us soon. I thought I’d head down to grab some coffee. Would you like some?”
“Sure. Black. Thanks.” He snatched up his phone again but didn’t dial.
I felt his gaze on my back as I walked across his office to the door.
Wow.
Crap.
Ugh.
Just last night I’d fallen asleep in that man’s arms. I’d felt not only accepted but cherished. And safe. So safe. Now . . . the way he’d watched me made me feel as if last night had never happened.
What had he been told? What did he know?
The instinct to run was almost unbearable. I’d followed that instinct before, when someone had gotten a little too close to the truth. Would I be forced to run again?
Not again, please!
Dammit, Joss. If only you’d been able to stay out of trouble.
This time it isn’t his fault, I reminded myself.
My mind raced as I rode the elevator to the lower level. The door rumbled open, and I stepped out, hurried into the café, and poured two cups. As I was about to pay, my cell phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number, but something told me to answer.
“Hello?”
“Sis.”
Leaving the coffees sitting on the tray, I scurried into a corner, cupped my hand around the phone. “Joss? Are you okay? What’s happening?”
“I’m fine. Got myself a nice hotel room. I wanted to call you to tell you not to worry about me. I’m okay. I talked to Sue. She told me you called her.”
“I’m trying to find out who is really behind the theft.”
“You still believe me, then? You believe I didn’t do it?”
“I believe you.”
I could hear his sigh of relief. “Do you think it’s someone I know?”
Hoping I wasn’t being eavesdropped on, I peered over my shoulder, checking to see if anyone was close enough to overhear my conversation. I didn’t see anyone within earshot. Stephanie was stuffing coins into a vending machine. And a few other employees I didn’t know were sitting, scattered, at tables, eating, drinking, talking. “I don’t know what to think, to be honest. I’m not Brenda Leigh Johnson, and this isn’t an episode of The Closer. But I have to figure it out soon. Kam said the company has hired an investigator. I think he’s digging into our past a little too deep for my comfort.”