The Billionaire's Ink Mistress: Billionaires in Bondage, Book 2
Page 23
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Evan swept his hand behind Katsu’s head and pulled her in for a swift, soft, promising kiss. She tasted of deep sweetness that hit him as a straight shot of visceral memory. They were breathless when he backed away. He dropped his hand. Withdrew contact. The way she leaned so slightly into his space was a dead giveaway. God, did she realize how she responded to him, or how he responded to her?
Four years hadn’t changed a thing. They were still detonator meets plastique.
“When I look into your eyes, I see need.” He was glad they weren’t touching, because a fine trembling had overtaken his hands. Christ, he’d need to be a lot more restrained if he was going to make her obey. “I see needs that dovetail with mine. You want order. I know you do. Tell me the truth. Some days that apartment of yours bugs the ever-lovin’ fuck out of you.”
A sheen covered her magnetic eyes. She barely nodded.
“Then why not do something about it?”
“I can’t. It’s…it’s overwhelming.” She shook her head and stared through the windowpane. Since when had she taken hold of the door handle? “I don’t know where to start. And there’s no one there… Shit. Never mind. Forget I said anything.”
“I will not, Katsu. Finish that sentence.”
The shiver that rippled across her shoulders shouldn’t have turned him on, but it did. His words affected her. His voice and his commands. Goddamn that was sexy.
“And there’s no one there to tell me I did a good job. It’s fucked up. I should be able to live the way I want to. But I can’t. Mom, so perfectly composed. Dad, Mr. Marine Corps poster boy. The quest for perfection at boarding school, with all its precise rules. Who the fuck gives a damn now?”
“I do,” he said firmly. He got out of the car and came around to meet her at the passenger side. She was barely a head taller than the roof of the long, squat Oldsmobile. “And you were right, by the way. I won’t tolerate vulgarity from you anymore. If you cuss any more, I will spank you. Bare ass. My hand. Got it?”
She rolled her eyes, but again, there was the spark of what could only be yes, please, more.
Rather than kiss her, he grabbed their bags and angled his head for Kat to follow. He trudged down eight steps that led to the basement residence.
The building also housed a coin-operated laundry, which meant the brick-sided walls were thick with industrial paint. Constant traffic in and out of the small parking lot did well to conceal comings and goings. Soon Evan would duck back out and hide the Oldsmobile around the corner for the night.
Evan used the thumbprint detector hidden behind a loose brick to open the electrified steel door. From the outside, it looked like old wood in need of some TLC. Kat raised her eyebrows. Funny thing though, the tension in her shoulders loosened. She might be pretending to shrug off Evan’s protective measures, but those same measures seemed to set her at ease.
He flicked on the light just inside the door then made his way down another six steps. The corridor was narrow and painted stark white. Once Katsu was out of the way and he dropped the bags in the small living room, he went back up to secure the door.
“It’s technically a fire hazard, isn’t it?” she said, assessing the place. “No windows.”
He met her in the living room, hands in his pockets. “Some of the best safe houses have views of concrete. Now stay put. I’m going to ditch the car. Then I have another small task to attend.”
Fifteen minutes later, Kat watched as he moved around the apartment. Her gaze was like a touch as he went from security camera to security camera…and turned all of them off. He needed to smash two. There were eight in all, even one in the bathroom. Normally he’d consider that invasion of privacy a small exchange for the protection afforded him.
Tonight, however, he didn’t want anyone to witness whatever took place between him and Kat.
“Privacy?” she asked quietly, still rooted to the avocado-green shag carpet.
“Yup.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s not just for you.” He smiled, and it felt good. “Believe me.”
“No?”
“Would you want to go into work in the morning and know everyone had seen what you were up to the night before?”
“Hell no.”
“Shall I give you a warning or—” He crossed his arms and fisted his hands beneath his armpits, trying to ignore the painful jump of adrenaline in his chest. “No, fuck it. You got your warning in the car.”
“You…” She backed up as he advanced. “You can cuss but I can’t,” she said, her words petulant.
“Don’t take another step away from me.”
She stopped, dropped her head, exhaled.
Holy shit.
Only then did Evan really take in the full extent of her body language. He dug past his damn libido and assessed her with the eyes of a man who read people for a living—among other things. She was exhausted. It showed in the slight pout around her sharp chin and the extra softness of her cheeks. In truth, he was exhausted too, which was probably why he couldn’t stop this runaway train. First, he needed a release. Maybe she did too.
“Katsu, be honest with me. Right now. This is important. Lift your head and look at me.”
She did as she was told, but her mysterious eyes were clear of the subservience he craved. She was herself. And she was ready to be serious. “Yes?”
“You’re tired. You’re scared. None of this is normal.”
“All true.”
“Do you want this?”
“What is…this, exactly?”
“I intend to own you tonight.”
She actually covered her throat with one hand, but Evan saw the tight swallow where it shifted her stubborn jaw. She never looked away. “I want this.”
“Then here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to give you the spanking you just earned yourself. Then we’re going to go get something to eat.”
“That simple?”
It wasn’t that simple, not really. Considering the break-in at Katsu’s apartment, the stakes were obviously escalating. They had to have gotten some sort of information out of Laurie for Katsu to have been found. But she needed something light to cling to. Her eyes were huge and her fingers trembled.
If Evan could give her this, it would be worth staying carefully on guard. “Do you want it to be complicated? Because I can tell you what to wear if that floats your boat.”
Her whole body jolted. Her eyes brightened until onyx burned like fire. The pout leached out of her mouth, and her dusky pink lips fell open on a silent gasp.
Evan was in serious trouble here.
He did the only thing he could. He took it out on Katsu.
“Come here,” he said, his tone gratifyingly even. There would be no anger, no roughness. It felt right. The calm of the moment felt so damn right. They were perched on the edge of something life-altering, and he didn’t care. It was like floating.
Kat walked to where he stood by the couch.
“Turn, now. Face the armrest. Unzip your jeans and pull them down to your knees.”
She did, with a quiet whimper. He was going to fucking explode.
“Your panties too. Down to your knees.” He watched her hands tremble as she complied. “Bend over.”
With one hand on the too-soft cushion and the other braced on the back of the couch, she leaned over the armrest. Her ass was bare, smooth, pert. The lighting was too harsh, but he could still admire the perfect golden glow of her skin. It wouldn’t be perfect much longer.
“What did you do to deserve this, Katsu?”
“I cussed.”
“That’s right.”
Without warning, he slammed his hand down on one firm ass cheek. She yelped. Her knuckles went white where she gripped the back of the couch. A bright r
ed palm print the exact size and shape of his hand welled on her skin. It was all he could do to resist sliding his fingers between her folds. Was she as wet as he was hard?
“Now,” he said, still eerily calm despite his raging arousal. “Panties and jeans up. We’re going to get you dressed.”
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Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
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The Billionaire’s Ink Mistress
Copyright © 2015 by Joely Sue Burkhart
ISBN: 978-1-61922-674-6
Edited by Tera Cuskaden
Cover by Angela Waters
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First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: April 2015
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