by Lexi Blake
Hell, he wasn’t going to pick her anyway. Any connection he’d felt had been cut by her answer about how she’d gotten involved in the lifestyle. He wanted, no, required someone who needed to submit. Not for relaxation. Not for kinky fun.
Yet he found himself drawing out the interview, wanting to see how right he was about the calm oasis of a woman in front of him. So self-possessed. Every hair perfectly in place. He wanted to muss her up a bit. The need was there, a nasty kernel rolling around in his gut.
“Ms. Summers, could I have a demonstration of your skills?”
“Of course. Who would you like me to spar with?” She was still holding that Louis Vuitton bag of hers, looking as petite and feminine a woman as he’d ever seen. A good four inches of her height came from those brilliant red Louboutins she would have to take off in order to fight.
Dec put his hands up. “Hard pass. I like my face the way it is.”
Shane shook his head. “I’m telling you, man. She is everything she says she is and I don’t want to fuck with her. I’m a bodyguard. I was a cop once. She was a CIA agent, and not the kind who didn’t get her hands dirty.”
But her hands were so fucking perfect.
“Jared?”
Jared stood up, a smile on his face. “Sure thing.” He walked up to Kayla Summers. “Don’t worry. I’ll go easy on…”
Before Jared could get another word out, his air seemed to be cut off. How had she gotten the strap of that Louis Vuitton bag around his throat that fast? How had she gotten it around his thick neck at all? Even in the heels, Jared had a good foot on her. Before Josh could stand up, Jared was on his knees beside her, his handsome face turning a nice shade of purple.
“I don’t spar with civilians,” Kayla explained quietly. She held the designer garrote in one hand, the rest of her body relaxed as though she took out two-hundred-pound men on a daily basis. “It’s dangerous for them. Should I let him go or was this all an elaborate ruse to take out the competition? Are you two up for the same role or something? You can think about it. He’s got maybe another thirty seconds before he loses consciousness, and another forty or so after that before he dies. Maybe a little longer. He’s in good shape.”
For Jared’s part, he managed a semi smile, as though being praised was something he liked even as he was fucking dying.
“Let him go.”
With a flick of her hand, Jared was free, sucking in air as fast as he could.
“I told you,” Shane said under his breath.
Kayla reached out a hand to help Jared up. The dumbass took it and practically hopped up.
“That was awesome,” Jared croaked. “Can you teach me that? Although I’ll have to start carrying a handbag for it to work. I think I can make it masculine.”
Her smile practically lit up the room and he wondered if that wasn’t the first real piece of Kayla Summers he’d seen the whole interview. She reached up and brushed back Jared’s hair. There was nothing sexual about the gesture. It was almost sisterly, as though she had a bunch of brothers and knew how to comfort them. “We can work something out, I’m sure.” She turned back to him, her smile dimming. “That is, if I have the job now that I’ve proven I’m not some secretary trying to sneak into Joshua Hunt’s bed.”
Oh, he liked this side of her very much. There was something running under her surface. Something dark and twisted that would fight like hell with that unbelievably sunny smile of hers. Something he would like to explore, but she’d lied to him.
Or she hadn’t, and that was even worse.
“I don’t think we’ll make a good match, Ms. Summers. Thank you for coming by.”
The room seemed to still as though everyone in it was shocked the words had come out of his mouth. As though not a one of them believed he would dismiss her because she was obviously perfect.
He didn’t trust perfect.
She settled her bag over her shoulder and held a hand out. “Thank you for taking the time, Sir.”
He didn’t want to touch her, didn’t want to know how silky her skin would be or how small her hand would feel in his. Social conventions were a bitch on a guy.
“Thank you for coming in.” He shook her hand as briefly as politeness allowed.
She turned and started walking out, her shoes making no sound on the floor this time. Like Shane and Declan. But the first time, she’d clicked and clacked her way in.
“Why did you make all that noise when you walked in?” He was curious.
She stopped, her brows rising over gorgeous dark eyes. “Excuse me?”
“When you walked in the first time, I heard every single step. But it’s obvious that’s not your nature. You made a choice to be loud when you can walk silently.”
“I don’t use my gifts against my friends. I consciously made noise so you would know I was coming. Yes, I could have been silent, and then I might have heard something I shouldn’t have or caught you in a moment that would have given me the upper hand, but I didn’t want to play that way.”
He nodded, her explanation making perfect sense to him.
She started to go again, but stopped. She didn’t look at him this time. “I said I wanted to play fair, but I lied to you, Sir. I lied about how I got into the lifestyle.”
Interesting that she would own up now. He thought briefly about telling her it didn’t matter, but he was curious. Or maybe he was simply a bit desperate to keep the conversation with her going. “Gentlemen, would you give us the room?”
Jared sent him a look, but Josh merely nodded, letting him know it was okay. He was sure he was in for a thorough grilling from his friend. He hoped the bodyguards would be cool with his decision, but hey, if they weren’t, they were replaceable, too. Everyone was.
No one stayed for long.
When they were alone, he turned back to her. “Why would you lie?”
“So I wouldn’t give you an advantage, but now I can see that was wrong of me. D/s is hard. It’s supposed to be. I’m not talking about the spanking or play. I’m talking about the emotional part. That part is difficult for me. I don’t like being vulnerable.”
He stood in front of her, well aware he was too close for social norms. “And yet you say you prefer to submit.”
Her eyes came up, catching his and giving him the open honesty he’d been looking for all afternoon. “I don’t prefer it. I need it. I was a double agent for most of my adult life. Some of the things I saw…some of the things I did…I can’t take them back and I can’t pretend they don’t play out in my head every single night. When I left the Agency, I was wired, completely incapable of living in a world where I wasn’t on guard twenty-four seven. I could smile and joke and laugh, and then I would round a corner and have a knife at my friend’s throat because some sound reminded me of a time I nearly died. There were many of those and my hearing is quite acute. And that was when Damon Knight told me I could do one of three things. I could see a therapist, leave the company, or try D/s. I don’t like talking about the past and I had nowhere else to go, so I took the class and I hated it.”
Now she was giving him some truth. It was there in her eyes and the way her skin flushed, as though she hated admitting any of this. “Did you fool your trainers?”
She nodded slowly. “Again, I’d learned how to read people and I gave the proper responses. I don’t know if Damon believed me or if he was merely trying to keep the peace. I’d done the group a large favor and firing me would have been difficult. I decided this was our trade-off.”
“He would keep you around and you would pretend D/s helped?”
“Yes. It wasn’t that I minded the pain. I can handle pain. It’s the questions, the needling a good Dom can do that bugged me. So I found the ones who did it because they thought topping a woman was sexy. Hey, when they got too close to me, I could have some nice, athletic sex and numb out.”
Was sex her drug of choice? It wouldn’t bother him if it was. Everyone had a drug of choice, whether it was alcohol or cocaine or
“I faked my way through every session until one night a Dom named Clive wouldn’t let me play him. He knew I was hiding. He knew Damon was watching and I couldn’t walk away. And somehow, he knew what I needed. By the time he was done, I’d cried for the first time in ten years. For the first time in almost as long, I let a man hold me and comfort me, and it was about something other than the job I was working. I got into the lifestyle because I’m fucked up beyond all recognition, but sometimes when I’m playing I remember how far I’ve come that I can trust another human being with my body. It gives me hope for my soul.”
She turned, but he could move quickly, too. He stepped fully into her space, reaching for her hand.
They stood there for a moment as he studied her face, saw the glimmer of tears behind her eyes. She wasn’t going to shed them, but they were there—a gift to him that he couldn’t help but honor.
“My place tonight. Seven p.m. Bring your things and we’ll take a look at the contract. When you show up, you will wear your hair down. I want you in a skirt or a dress, no underwear and no bra. Make sure your grooming routine is taken care of.”
“I lasered my kitty a long time ago, Joshua. The grooming routine is quite easy,” she said with a smile that kind of kicked him straight in the groin. And the way she said his name—like it was a secret between them. “Are you sure? You didn’t seem to want me a minute ago.”
“I wanted you. I just changed my mind about letting myself have you.” He stepped back. “Don’t be late. We have a contract to go over and I would enjoy a session with you if at the end of the night you still want the job.”
“I’ll want the job.”
“We’ll see after you’ve read the contract and you understand what I need from you.” He reached out and put a hand on her face, unable to keep himself from touching her. Yes, she was every bit as silky smooth as he’d thought. “I will want sex. Quite a bit of it.”
“Good because it’s been a long dry spell for me and I’m looking forward to breaking it.”
“It doesn’t bother you that sex will be contractual between us?” He was used to most women wanting a romantic façade around what was essentially a biological function.
“It’s always contractual. Always. Most people merely don’t see it,” she replied. “I like the idea that it’s all on the table. It’s one of the things that attracts me to the lifestyle. You should understand that I haven’t dated the way other people my age did. I was a studious teen and then I was an operative. My brain doesn’t work the same way. I don’t need you to pamper me or boost my ego. We can make this work by being honest about what this relationship is.”
“And what is it?”
“You’re my boss and I protect you, and we fuck like rabbits when the time is right. Oh, you’ll probably spank me, too. Other than that, I hope we can find something that resembles friendship.”
Friendship. He wasn’t sure about that. He had few friends, but he rather thought this was a woman who made them easily. At least on the surface. She would use that guise of friendship to keep the emotional stuff at bay.
He stepped back even though his instinct was to lean over and let his mouth find hers. No. He wasn’t going to give in to that instinct. They weren’t going to be friends. He wouldn’t give her the safety of distance. Master and submissive.
He had a sudden and deep hunger to peel apart her layers and find the woman on the inside. It was a dangerous impulse, but one he couldn’t quite deny.
The key was to open her up to him while he held that essential piece of himself apart.
“Again, don’t be late,” he said solemnly. “You won’t like the punishment that will come.”
“I won’t be, Joshua.” She turned and walked out, her feet utterly silent against the concrete.
As though declaring her game. She would feint and hide. He would pursue and find.
For the first time in a long while, he was ready to play.
Chapter Three
Kayla watched as the driver turned off PCH and made his way to Old Malibu Road. The Range Rover made quick work of the turn, a perfect California vehicle. It would be capable of handling the beaches that were to her left as well as the Santa Monica Mountains to her right.
She was surprised though at the turn. She’d expected to go the opposite direction, up into the canyon where the houses were huge and the security was simple. The houses in the canyon were separated by acres of land and high-tech fencing. The canyon and mountains themselves were natural security measures. Above, the view would be stunning and privacy insured.
But Old Malibu Road didn’t lead up into the mountains, and here the houses were stacked against each other.
“He lives right on the beach?”
The older man tipped his head. He’d introduced himself as Barry when he’d picked her up, insisting on taking care of her luggage himself. “Yes, ma’am. He lived here with his first agent for a few years and moved back in when she left the house to him after she died. He’s got several houses, of course, but those are mostly for show. Investments, I think he would say. This is where he lives. He prefers it down here, and honestly, for the most part it’s perfectly quiet. It’s only every now and then we get someone disrespectful.”
She glanced out, seeing the multimillion-dollar houses that lined this road. They would all have a front row view to the Pacific Ocean.
Like the small house she’d grown up in.
You’ll always be able to hear the ocean, Kay. No matter where you go. You’ll close your eyes and hear that sound and you’ll be home where you’re so loved, my darling girl.
Fuck. She was not going there. This was Malibu. Not Santa Barbara. This was a job. Not home.
She wasn’t sure she had a home anymore. It was funny because while her fathers had told her she would always be able to hear the ocean and think of home—and she did—it was the moments when their kind voices broke through all the crap in her head that truly sent her into a tailspin.
It was better to concentrate on the job at hand. She’d received a text that she would be picked up at five thirty at her hotel and that she should feel free to check out.
Everything was a go even after how badly she’d bungled things earlier.
“How long have you worked for Mr. Hunt?”
The driver was an older man, likely in his mid-to-late sixties. He glanced up, his eyes meeting hers. “I don’t work for him. I’m retired now and sometimes help out the members of the club with odd jobs. He doesn’t keep a driver on retainer. He’s a bit of a loner, that one.”
Cool. She felt more comfortable around a lifestyler. “Dom or sub? Wait. Let me take a stab at it. You bottom for your wife.”
He winked at her in the mirror. “For over forty years. Miss her like crazy. I don’t play anymore. No need to now that she’s gone, but I do like the camaraderie. I like that people remember Mistress Glo. That’s for Gloria.”
The love in his tone softened her heart. There was something about older couples that always got to her. She supposed they were the goal—to find a love that lasted long after the lust had taken a backseat to reality. Her dads were like that, and one day, they would be separated, too. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
He slowed down as the street narrowed. She could glimpse the beach every now and then. The houses were built quite close together. That had to be giving the bodyguard boys fits. From this side, the houses looked unremarkable, with the exception of the stunning colors that surrounded them. Massive swaths of bougainvillea coated the fences and terraces of the houses like blankets of bright colors. Pinks and purples she’d seen nowhere else in the world brought back other memories of home. Of her papa clipping the vines to try to make them go where he wanted. Then giving up and saying Mother Nature was a stubborn bitch and she would go where she would.
“I was, too,” Barry said, accepting her sympathy with kindness of his own. “She liked Joshua. You have to understand he came to The Reef after he hit it big. Jared brought him. He was worth millions and was far more successful than any of the rest of us, but he never once put on airs. He wanted to learn, wanted to train. He takes this seriously, and therefore we take him seriously.”
It was obvious that the members of The Reef took care of their own. It was time to start making her way in. This was her true skill as an operative, making a place for herself in a group. “I do, too. And I take my job seriously. I promise he won’t get hurt on my watch.”
“Good, because what that man goes through…” Barry said with a shake of his head.
“What’s it like?”
“I couldn’t handle it, but then I never made anything of myself the way he has. I was a character actor for a long time. Bit parts. Had a secondary role on a sitcom during the eighties for a couple of years. I’m the kind of actor no one notices. That might have bothered me early in my career, but when some of my friends hit it big, I realized how terrible the price of fame can be.”
“I think most people would say he’s living the dream.”
“Nightmare is more like it. Now I know I’m the lucky one. I live right down the road from him. I worked steadily in guest parts and secondary roles in films, and somehow it made me rich. Not half a billion rich, but enough that I never have to worry about money. I got the wealth without the fame. Josh can’t walk outside without the whole world knowing his name.”
“They bug him here at home?” She knew the answer to the question, but was interested in Barry’s point of view.
“There are always paparazzi around, though they tend to be a bit thicker when they smell a story or something changes in Josh’s lifestyle.” He sent her a pointed look through the mirror. “You should expect to be photographed often in the next few weeks. Once they figure out he’s got a new woman in his life, they’ll be all over you.”
That was to be expected, though she intended to be the quietest of Hunt’s lovers. And Ezra and Levi would be there to direct the information in whatever way they liked. It would actually be quite difficult to figure out her name unless they had someone on the inside feeding the press information, and then that would give them intel, too.
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