by Leah Braemel
Sam’s fingers tightened slightly on hers. “Open your eyes, Rosebud. It’ll help you concentrate on something other than the pain in your ass.”
The flogger struck again. Strangely enough the pain changed to heat that radiated from her ass to her pussy. It got worse when Sam let go of her hands and slipped his hand beneath her, teasing her nipples. When he tugged on them sharply, the sensation shot straight down to her core and had her moaning. Her hips writhed beneath the third punishing strike. Her thigh muscles trembled, clenching together, the dildo exciting her already inflamed sheath. Wow, now she understood Spencer’s reaction.
She bit the inside of her cheek to try and distract herself from the impending orgasm.
No, she wouldn’t come. She wouldn’t come when the attention didn’t come from Sam. That was for Sam. Only Sam.
The flogger hit for a fourth time. Then a fifth.
Oh, God, she couldn’t hold back. She needed to come. But she didn’t want to get off knowing it was someone else administering her punishment. “Sam?”
“It’s all right, baby. Just let yourself feel it.” He was further away now. Standing beside Spencer?
Another punishing strike that had her barely able to hold back her orgasm.
“Sam? I have to come, please, Sam. I don’t want to do it for anyone but you.”
She cried out when the leather harness holding the dildo in place was removed and again when the dildo itself slid from her body. Oh, God, was this part of her punishment to feel so empty?
The flat of a hand cracked against her already heated cheek, then quickly hit the other. And then she felt warmth against her thighs, and a blunt object, a cock, slid into her pussy in one smooth stroke. Tears ran down her face as she struggled against the straps, struggled against her body’s internal need to clench around the cock no matter whose it was, to milk it dry.
“No. Oh, please, no. I want Sam. Only Sam.”
“It is me, baby,” Sam said from behind her. “Thalia and Spencer left.”
Before he’d finished speaking, conscious thought took flight and her body responded, her head arching back and her body tightening around him, milking him as he pumped into her.
—
Sam bent over Rosie, holding himself up on shaking arms. He’d been so angry that Thalia had insisted on the game. But he was also grateful. If Rosie had changed her mind, if she’d used her safe word, she’d remember Thalia as the giver of pain, not him.
Beneath him, around him, her muscles continued to spasm and quiver, stroking every inch of his cock. A lightning sensation speared from the base of his spine and through his balls. He reared back and shouted as a second climax rocketed through him.
He tried to hold his weight off her as his legs gave out. Nope, no good. Fumbling, he released her ankles from their restraints, then padded around to the front and similarly freed her wrists. “Come here, baby.”
Slinging one of her arms around his shoulder, he carried her into the bedroom and collapsed onto the bed. He cradled her on his chest, smoothing his hands over her warm behind.
Bath. That’s what she needed. He should get up and run one for her. In a minute.
The minute turned into an hour before he was ready to take his arms from around her. He rolled off the bed and plodded to the bathroom. While the tub filled with water, he tossed in a cup of Epsom salts. Once the water was to the right height and temperature, he went back to the bedroom and lifted Rosie, who slumped in his arms, utterly content.
Leaving her to soak, he wandered out on the terrace and lit up a cigar. He lifted a hand to Jocelyne’s husband on the balcony across the way. Robert waved back then ducked his head to look through the telescope pointed at Sam’s building, but several floors below. Ah, the couple in 906 were giving Robert a show tonight also.
What the hell was he doing? He’d gotten carried away back there. He’d forgotten to use a condom when he’d replaced the dildo with his cock. He’d forgotten what it felt like to take a woman bare. He’d felt every tremor of her pussy, like a thousand tongues lapping his cock, how the heat increased as she’d come, the tiny rippling aftershocks. She’d wormed her way so deep into his heart that he’d never be able to let her go now. Not after tonight.
The cigar was almost a stub by the time the door to his bedroom opened. Rosie padded out, wrapped up in one of his bathrobes. The danged thing trailed behind her like a queen’s mantle.
“When did Thalia and Spencer leave?”
“After the fifth strike.” Spencer had simply tapped him on the arm with the flogger and presented it to him, then turned around and left. Thalia had smiled at him then silently wheeled out behind Spencer. Quid pro quo for Rosie walking out on him earlier perhaps?
Whatever, he was grateful to have had the chance to be alone with her. And furious that he’d been a spectator rather than a participant.
“Was that planned? For you to switch over like that?” She flipped a strand of hair out of her eyes, tucking it behind her ear.
“No. But I’m glad he di—”
Without warning, she’d hooked her leg behind his and pushed him to the ground, splaying her body over him.
Sam chuckled and wrapped his arms about her waist, cinching her up higher so he could nuzzle her neck. “Honey, if you wanted to do it out here, all you had to do was ask. You didn’t have to ambush me like that. Not to mention I’ve got some perfectly fine furniture over there with pillows that’ll make it a helluva lot more comfortable on my ass. Or your knees.”
“Stay down,” she whispered. “There’s someone across the road with a rifle.” She patted her waist. “Damn it, I left my Berry in the bedroom. We have to get you inside.”
Sam jerked as if he’d been tasered. He flipped her over, shielding her body with his. “You’re tryin’ to shield me from a sniper? Are you fuckin’ insane?”
“Of course I’m trying to protect you. It’s my job, remember?”
The thought of Rosie willingly taking a bullet had him seeing scarlet. “Where is this fucker?”
“Penthouse. Middle balcony. I saw a flash off his scope.”
His muscles relaxed when he realized what she’d seen. He rolled off her, leaning against the concrete planter while he fought the adrenaline rush. “That wasn’t a rifle scope you saw. It was a telescope.”
“What? How can you be sure?”
He leaned his head back, forcing oxygen into his lungs. “That’s Jocelyne’s apartment. Robert’s a voyeur—he spies on his neighbors with a telescope. That’s who you did your little show for earlier. I saw him out there while you were in the tub. He was watching the couple in 906 getting it on—they always leave the drapes open for him.”
“Eeew. You mean there really was someone watching me? That’s sorta creepy.” Rubbing her arms, she scooched over to peer through the slit in the balcony then scooted back out of the way. “Are you sure it’s just a telescope and not a gun?”
He couldn’t do this.
Things were right back to the way things were eight years ago. How had he forgotten someone was out to kill him? He couldn’t make Rosie a target. Couldn’t let her be hurt. Couldn’t lose her the way he’d lost Jill.
But damn it, he couldn’t set her aside either. He needed her more than he needed the air around him. He loved her. And would do anything to keep her safe. Whether she wanted him to protect her or not, dammit. Even if that meant making her as mad as hell to keep her away from him, to keep her safe. And safe meant away from him.
His jaw clenched, Sam pushed himself to a stand and stalked to the bedroom.
“Ay!” Rosie scrambled after him, catching the door before he could slam it shut. “I’m sorry. All right? I didn’t mean to ruin your game. I’ll be good and obey you. Master.”
Sam glared at her. “I will not have someone else die because of me. I’ll not have one hair on your head hurt. Not now. Not ever. Do you understand?”
Damn. He was thinking of Jill. How had she forgotten what he’d lost already
? In an effort to distract him, she sank on her knees in front of him and once again assumed a subservient position. She caught the laces of his fly in her teeth and tugged.
“Stop it, Rosie.”
“Princesa, remember?”
“Stop it! It’s not a fucking game, Rosie. This is important, why don’t you see that?” His shout echoed off the walls.
“Sam…”
He retied the laces and folded his arms across his chest. “We need to slow things down between us, Rosie. It’s best if you sleep at the other apartment from here on in.”
He was sending her away? After what they’d just shared? After he’d held her for the past hour as if she were fragile porcelain, even drawn her a bath?
When she moved toward him, he took a step back, the distance between them forming an uncrossable abyss. An overwhelming agony compressed her chest. She was losing him. “You mean break things off, don’t you?”
He shook his head. “No. I don’t know. I can’t… I just know I need… I can’t do this again.”
A chill rippled beneath her skin at the fierce look on his face. Until she remembered that she wasn’t just his girlfriend or his lover. She stood up and rounded on him, jamming her finger into his chest. “I’m your bodyguard, remember? I’m supposed to protect you. So if I have to jump in front of a speeding car to push you out of the way, I will. If I have to cover a grenade with my body to protect you, I will. If I have to push you down on the pavement and cover you with my body, I will. I will not let someone kill you.” She poked him again. “Got that?”
Sam shook his head but wouldn’t look at her. Instead he stared over the terrace, a bleak look on his face. “Don’t sacrifice yourself for me, Rosie. Ever. Promise me.”
“I won’t. I mean, I won’t promise you that I wouldn’t do that again.” She flattened her hand on his chest, felt the muscles bunched beneath her fingers, the thick scar down the center. “Even if I wasn’t your lead op, I couldn’t stand by and watch you get killed.”
He whirled away and slammed his fist into the wall, punching a hole in the drywall. “Damn it, promise me! You will not get yourself hurt because of me. Please.” He lowered his voice. “Please, Rosie. Don’t you ever put yourself in the path of a bullet for me. I’ll transfer you to Australia if that is the only way to keep you safe. I’ll fire you if I have to. I’ll destroy your credibility so you’ll never be hired by another protection agency, you’ll never be able to get a job that’ll put you in the line of fire again.”
“You wouldn’t do that.”
“Damned straight I would.”
She searched his eyes, saw his determination. He wasn’t exaggerating. “All right. I promise I won’t put myself in the path of a bullet for you.” For the first time in her life, she made a promise she knew would willingly and knowingly break.
God forgive her.
Sam forgive her.
—
His back to the wall, he sipped his Guinness, only half paying attention to the flatscreen over the bar. Chad allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction as the Saints’ quarterback heaved a pass to the end zone. According to the phone call he’d received, Sam was completing his own pass. Thalia’s hare-brained scheme had worked.
As a cheer went up when Washington intercepted the pass, the door to the bar opened. A frown on his face, the bar’s newest patron scanned the crowd and found his target. He pushed his way through the throng and slumped into the booth.
“What are you doing here, Andy? Why aren’t you at Sam’s place?”
Andy signaled to the waitress and ordered a cola. “Because he just fired me.”
“What? Why?” Had Sam found out about their plan? Would he be next?
“He said I put Rosie at risk by letting her go with Thalia into the public part of the club.” Andy worried his goatee. “I didn’t know she’d left the security office until they returned. But he’s right. I should have been in the office with her and at least gone with her.”
“Crap. All right, first off, you’re not fired. Take a week’s vacation while I talk to Sam and calm him down. It’s my damned sister’s fault, not yours. When Thalia gets something into her head, there’s no stopping her.” He waved toward the television. “Those football players have nothing on her when it comes to offensive strategy.”
Look at him. He’d let her talk him into assigning Sam and Jill to her club in the first place. And ended up in front of a media firing squad, his career in flames.
Andy chugged half his drink before the waitress had managed to get two steps away from the table. “You guys may have to come up with a new plan ’cause there’s trouble in paradise.”
Acid from his stomach slicing at the back of his throat, Chad stilled. “They were fighting?”
“Rosie thought she saw a sniper in the building opposite and threw herself over him. Livid doesn’t even begin to describe Sam right now.”
Crap. Crap. Crap. When Thalia had proposed the scheme of having Rosie as Sam’s bodyguard, he’d argued against it for this very reason. All they needed to make Sam withdraw from Rosie was to remind him of how he’d lost Jill. He rubbed his temple against the headache that stabbed behind his eyes.
“All right. We’ll wait and see how things shake out. Rosie won’t let Sam pull away without a battle.”
“And if she does?”
“Then I guess I have to call in the big guns.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
When Chad walked into his office, Sam held up his hand motioning for Chad to wait. “Isn’t there any way we can get someone in there without raisin’ their suspicions?”
“Sorry, Watson,” squawked a voice from the speakerphone. “Your guy Phillips’ escape made the terrorists frickin’ paranoid about the rest of the hostages. They’ve doubled the guard on the camp and have booby trapped all the buildings. They’re suspecting their own shadows right now. There’s no way you’re going to be able to put a new face in their midst without having them suspect something.”
“I’m not about to let my guys rot in that hellhole they’ve taken them to. I want them out of there by whatever means necessary. I’ve got manpower and I’ve got money. Just tell me what you need and you’ve got it.”
“I appreciate the offer, but at the moment, you have to put your faith in the American and Colombian governments’ negotiations. I’ll call you when I hear anything else. Sorry I couldn’t be more help.”
Sam stabbed the button, cutting the connection. Another curse befouled the air. He rubbed his temples against the headache forming at the back of his eyes. “What do you want, Chad?”
“Got a question for you.”
“What?”
“What the fuck is going on with you? Why are you being such an ass to Rosie?”
Good question. Things had spiraled out of control ever since that night he’d tried to slow things down between them. “None of your fuckin’ business.”
“You made it my business when you tried to fire Andy.”
“Yeah, okay.” Sam’s shoulders slumped and he stared at the ceiling. Shit, he missed Rosie, but he couldn’t take the chance while there was still a stalker possibly gunning for him. But Chad was right; it wasn’t Andy’s fault that Thalia—or Rosie—had deliberately kept Andy out of the loop. “Yeah, I was pretty pissed off that night and took it out on the wrong person. I’m glad you told Andy he’s not fired. I need to apologize to him for that.”
He stalked to the bathroom and grabbed a bottle of Tylenol from the cabinet and downed two caplets dry. When he returned, he stayed in the doorway to the bathroom and met Chad’s gaze. “As for what’s going on between me and Rosie, that’s between me and her. It’s none of your business.”
“It is my business because it’s possible you’ve given her a reason to sue the company for sexual harassment. I’m in charge of the D.C. office, remember? It’s my job to look out for the company even if the owner doesn’t like my advice.”
“Rosie won’t sue.”
He rubbed his eyes. Shit he was tired. Between worrying about Rosie and the Colombia situation, he’d been putting in twenty-hour days. Hell, he’d fallen asleep at his desk the night before. Make that early this morning.
Chad waved an arm toward the door to the outer office. “Then let’s talk about how you’ve got Sandy on edge, how Troy’s about to throttle anyone who walks into his office, and the whole accounting staff is having fits over your last memo. Not to mention that you look like shit, Sam.”
When Sam flipped him off, Chad sighed. “You’re exhausted because you’ve been staying here late every night for the past week. Go home, Sam. Go talk to Rosie. Straighten this mess out before you lose her completely. Before she comes and asks me for a transfer because damn it, Sam, that’s going to happen too fucking soon.”
“This from the man who let his wife slip through his fingers because he was too fuckin’ busy feeling sorry for himself to pay any attention to her.”
Chad stiffened. When he spoke his voice was quiet, but he couldn’t disguise the bitterness filling it. “Who better to give advice? Yes, I fucked up a good thing with Lauren. I was too blinded by everything that happened to see that I was driving her away. That’s why I hate to see you make the same stupid mistake.”
“It’s not a mistake, goddamn it. It’s for her own damned good. I won’t see Rosie hurt.”
Chad slammed his hand flat on the desk. “Goddamn it, Sam. What the hell’s wrong with you? You’re hurting her!”
Because then she’ll continue to be in harms’ way. “You may be my manager in the office, which gives you the right to make suggestions about my business decisions but you sure as hell have no right making judgments on my love life.”
“Someone’s got to get through that thick skull of yours and make you see what you’ve got right in front of you before you crash and burn. You’re Hauberk, Sam. You go down, we all go down with you. Rosie loves you. Or is that what’s scaring you?”
“I’d rather lose her and know she’s alive than have her in the stalker’s cross hairs. Or have you forgotten I’m a target right now?”