by Cassie Ryan
Ralston’s gaze slid from side to side as if nervous they would be overheard even in his closed office. Dex wondered if he needed to mention the possibility that Ralston’s office was bugged to his team. It couldn’t hurt to make them aware.
“You remember the picture that was taken yesterday of Mark Stanton?”
Dex couldn’t help what he was sure looked like a smirk. “Yes. Why?”
Ralston straightened his cuffs again. “Mr. Stanton received a blackmail note this morning, along with several pictures. The note said there were many more, and that all of them would be released if he didn’t pay three million dollars.”
Dex frowned. “I’m assuming he didn’t call the authorities. What did he think you could do about it?”
Ralston scowled. “He wanted the club to pay for it, since we allowed him to be put in that situation.”
Dex bit back a laugh. Mark Stanton was a presumptuous ass. “What did he say when you turned him down?”
“That he would ruin the club, and ruin me personally.”
Pictures of Stanton getting dick-punched, even wearing a sleeveless leather vest and surrounded by women in various types of skimpy lingerie, would only enhance his reputation in Hollywood.
He wasn’t married, and had never had any type of serious relationship as far as the FBI could tell. The man was a self-professed playboy, and with the media, actively cultivated the persona of a skilled and adventurous lover. There might be some personal embarrassment and many jokes at his expense in the media, but that would be the worst of it. So Dex wasn’t sure why Stanton would care if the pictures were released. Unless they included something besides the incident yesterday. A distinct possibility, given Stanton’s past activities.
That information made Dex even more impatient to be done with this meeting and move on to other things.
“Don’t worry about a thing, Ed. We’ll look into it, and see what we can do.”
Ralston blew out a harsh breath as his expression relaxed. “Thank you. It’s hard enough to deal with all the high-profile personalities that mix here, but being threatened with blackmail is on an entirely different level.”
Dex nodded, letting the man babble on as relief set in that Dex would help him.
“I need to be going, Ed.” Dex stood and walked toward the door, not willing to spend more time listening to Ralston drone on about this issue. “We’ll talk again soon. Let me know if you see anything suspicious or out of the ordinary.”
“Of course,” he said automatically as he stood and followed Dex to the door. “I didn’t know you knew Merrick Caldwell. Is he with the FBI too?” Ralston asked as he seemed to shake off the stress about the blackmail from a moment ago.
Dex shook his head, not wanting him to know he and Merrick were working together. “No, I just met him there in the hallway. I’ve never seen him before today.” Which was absolutely true.
Not that Dex had any issues with being a good liar when necessary. After all, that was part of being a field agent.
Ralston nodded once in acknowledgment and then opened the door for Dex, following him out into the hallway.
Dex didn’t stick around. He needed to check on Kate, and Merrick had his number when he was done with Ralston and ready to talk.
Chapter 12
Small pinpricks of pain rhythmically massaged Kate’s back, pulling her out of the deep, dark place she’d fallen into. It was a wonderful cocoon of warmth and peace, and she wanted to enjoy it for as long as possible.
She tried to lose herself in it again, but the insistent points of repetitive pain intensified and were joined by a loud meow and a firm nip on the back of her left shoulder.
She forced open one eye, relieved when the muted darkness of her room greeted her. She must have remembered to pull down her blackout shades before falling into bed last night.
The doorbell rang three times in quick succession, followed by loud, continuous knocking that pulled her farther into the waking world.
With a few of her favorite curses, she flailed out an arm to the headboard and slapped her palm over her phone. When she held it in front of her face so she could look at the screen, she saw that it was already noon. A groan rumbled inside her chest.
It had been a long time since she had slept this late. No wonder Rusty was impatient for her to get up. She scanned the notifications on her phone and found several missed calls from various numbers, including two from Master Dex. She also had numerous text messages and emails, from both Master Dex and clients.
After seeing the latest text from Dex from six minutes ago, indicating that he was at the front door, she quickly sent a return text of “brt,” hoping he was used to the “be right there” abbreviation.
As soon as she hit send, she gave in to the heaviness in her body and let her head sink back against the pillow. A few heartbeats later, the doorbell and knocking stopped, and the penthouse fell silent.
Sleep started to pull at her again, but a combination of head-butting in the face from Rusty and the knowledge that she had told Master Dex she would be right there to let him in made her force herself into a sitting position.
She was completely wiped out, and it wasn’t hard to understand why. Her body had been through a lot yesterday. She’d experienced a huge flood of pleasure, bigger and better than she’d ever had before.
As Master Dex had pointed out, the flogging had left her with what her body saw as wounds to be healed. And healing took energy, and required rest.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed and grabbed her robe where she had tossed it on the floor last night. With a large breath for strength, she pushed to standing and forced herself to shuffle down the hall barefoot toward the front door.
She stopped to key in the alarm code before she went to the door and peered through the peephole.
Even the distorted vision of Master Dex made her mouth water. His profile showcased his clean-shaven strong jaw and his sexy, muscular arms.
Damn, she loved nice arms on a man. And Master Dex had great ones.
She flipped both deadbolts and opened the door.
Dex filled the doorway, his presence both overwhelming and somehow soothing at the same time.
He pulled her against him with one strong arm, his hard body pressing against hers, reminding her that she still wanted him inside her. But she wasn’t so sure her body was up for much of anything at the moment.
“Are you all right, Kate? I was worried when you didn’t respond.”
She vaguely noticed that he set something just inside the door before he wrapped his other arm around her too.
She mumbled an answer she hoped was intelligible, and he scooped her into his arms, kicking the door closed and carrying her into the living room.
She shamelessly snuggled into his warmth, burying her face against his chest and letting out a little sigh of contentment. She wondered if they could stay like this for the rest of the day. Logically, she knew she couldn’t allow herself to ignore her clients for that long, but right now she didn’t care one bit about logic.
Dex set her gently on the sectional and lowered himself beside her, taking her chin between his strong fingers and turning her face to look at him.
“Kate, did you just wake up?”
She tried to nod, but her head just lolled forward.
He cupped her cheek in his large palm, his heat seeping into her like a healing balm. “If you just woke up that means you haven’t eaten. We can work with that. Do you mind if I use your kitchen?”
She knew there wasn’t anything in there for him to make, and tried to explain that, but he silenced her with a slow but thorough kiss.
She waited for the sexual heat to rise between them, but instead, a sense of serenity slid through her. When he slowly ended the kiss and pulled away, she wanted to grab his shirt and pull him back, but her body wouldn’t cooperate.
Her eyes slid closed and she relaxed against the sectional, dangerously close to falling back to sleep.
As he stood, Rusty streaked past him and curled up on his mistress’s lap.
It was a good thing Kate had sent him that text when she did. He’d been about to go downstairs and talk to the building manager about checking on her. He didn’t want to invade her privacy, but the drive to make sure she was all right was strong. Not to mention that if she was embroiled in this plot with terrorists, even if only as an unwitting participant, the possibility of danger was very real.
He shoved those thoughts aside. He needed to stay alert for something like that but hoped it wasn’t needed.
He retrieved the bag he had set just inside the front door and took it into the elaborate kitchen, setting it on the gleaming granite countertop.
Caffeine first, he decided. She’d had a vanilla latte yesterday, so he knew she at least liked coffee. He took the tin of ground beans, a small bottle of vanilla syrup, and a container of cream out of the bag, and set to work brewing a fresh pot.
Next, he took out the breakfast sandwiches he’d bought at the bagel shop down the street. He’d also picked up some egg bagels and cream cheese, but after the day Kate had yesterday, she needed protein as well as carbs.
He wasn’t surprised she was as out of it as she was, even after all that sleep. Having endorphin levels spike and then drop several times in a short time frame was very taxing on the body.
A vision of her restrained against the St. Andrew’s Cross, with fresh red marks decorating her beautiful pale skin, made him instantly hard. It was all he could do to walk away from her last night, when he wanted nothing more than to take her to bed and lose himself inside her heat until the sun rose.
But that wasn’t what was best for Kate. She had needed rest and time to recover.
That didn’t stop him from wanting her.
It had been only a short time since he’d met her, and already she was burrowing inside him. She dominated his thoughts and drew him to her in a way no sub ever had.
Before he could dwell too much on that, he searched the cabinets for a large coffee mug. Once he found one—green, of course—he poured her a cup, adding a liberal dose of cream and some of the vanilla syrup. He also unwrapped one of the bacon, egg, and cheese bagel sandwiches and found a small plate to put it on.
He took everything into the living room and set it on the coffee table in front of the sectional before sitting beside Kate.
She hadn’t moved since he’d left to gather her breakfast. Her chest rose and fell in a slow, even rhythm. Her dark hair fell over her shoulders and fanned around her face, beautifully tousled from sleep. Her full lips were slightly parted, sending his mind back to the sensual thoughts from last night.
He considered just letting her sleep. But she needed food, and he wanted to make sure the two places on her back hadn’t gotten worse. Once those two things were done, he could tuck her into bed and let her sleep for as long as she needed.
Gently stroking her cheeks made her eyelids flutter, but not fully open. So he gave in to the temptation to slowly kiss her awake.
Degree by degree she began to respond and kiss him back. She looped her arms around his neck, and her long fingers brushing against the short hair at his nape sent fire shooting through his veins.
He held himself in check to keep from pulling her under him right here on the couch.
Soon, he promised himself. Soon, he would slide inside her and watch the passion in her eyes as she convulsed around his cock.
Finally, she moaned and her eyes fully opened.
The way she looked at him made his chest tighten and broke a sigh from his lips. “Hey, beautiful. I would say good morning, but it’s already noon.”
Her gaze became more intense. “I have to check on my clients.” Her voice was soft and husky and she looked deliciously rumpled, but still exhausted.
“You won’t be any good to your clients in this state.” He pushed the button on the power recliner to slowly lower the footrest and straighten the back of the chair. “I made you some coffee and brought you a breakfast sandwich. I hope you like bacon, egg, and cheddar on an egg bagel.”
She made an “mmm” sound in the back of her throat that made him smile as he handed her the coffee.
She glanced at the cup and then took a slow sip. “Yum. You even made it vanilla.” Her words were stronger, but still a bit slower and thicker than normal. “It’s great. Thanks.” She took another long sip and then set it on the side table next to her.
Dex handed her the small plate with the breakfast sandwich and she watched him as she rested the plate on her lap. Her green eyes were still heavy with sleep.
“Did you already eat?” she asked him.
Dex shook his head. “No. I bought another breakfast sandwich and some egg bagels and cream cheese. I can grab one of those after you’re finished.”
Her brows bunched and she pinned him with a sleepy gaze. “Go get some food. You can eat while I do. There’s no reason to watch me to make sure I eat. I’m starving.” She gestured with the plate toward the kitchen, making him laugh.
“All right. You start, and I’ll be right back.” He grabbed the other breakfast sandwich and a cup of the coffee from the kitchen and returned to sit next to Kate while he ate. He noticed she had already eaten a quarter of her sandwich, and he smiled his approval.
“Thanks, this is really good.” She took another bite and a long sip of coffee, but then she set them both aside and frowned. “I need to check on my clients. I have a ton of texts and emails from them this morning.”
Dex resisted the urge to tell her what to do. He might be her Dom, but she was still a grown woman, and an independent one at that. Besides, if he was going to get her to talk to him more about work, he didn’t want her to shut him out. He sensed that work was one area where she would balk at being dictated to.
“You can check email while you eat, can’t you?” He reached over her to pick up her empty cup. You keep working on that and I’ll get you another cup of coffee. Deal?”
She smiled up at him, her eyes clearing a bit more, and her expression became more animated. “Thanks for taking care of me, Dex. I really appreciate it.”
He ran his finger across her lips, unable to resist touching her, and smiled as her full lips parted and her eyes threatened to slip closed again. “I’m the one who got you into this state, remember? It’s part of my job to make sure you’re all right.”
Her smile stretched wider. “I do remember. Every delicious lash of pain and pleasure. Thank you.” She swallowed hard. “But it’s not your job to spoil me like this. Although I have to admit, I’m enjoying it more than I should.”
Dex was enjoying it much more than he should, too. And he could admit, at least to himself, that while he considered it his duty as her Dom to check on her and make sure she was all right and taking care of herself, this was going above and beyond. He was sure not a lot of Doms went to these lengths for their subs.
He tried to tell himself it was all for the case, but he knew better than to buy the outright lie. Kate was already important to him, even beyond the investigation. And he couldn’t bring himself to regret it.
“Finish that sandwich. I’ll get the coffee.”
By the time he returned with a fresh cup, she had polished off the rest of the sandwich and was frowning at her iPhone. “What’s wrong?”
She sighed. “I don’t think I’m caffeinated enough yet to read these yet.” She shook her head. “They will just have to wait. Maybe another cup of coffee and then a shower.”
Dex handed her the cup and smiled as she blew on it and then slowly sipped the hot brew.
He wasn’t surprised she was ravenous, after yesterday. “Are you still hungry? I have another sandwich and some bagels and cream cheese.”
He sat next to her again, resisting the temptation to touch her, no matter how much it pulled at him. “Do you want me to help you read those emails? That way you could make sure there’s nothing urgent.”
She nibbled her bottom lip, as if considering his request. Finally, she nodded. “Thanks. That would put my mind at ease.”
She pulled up her email program and then handed him her phone.
Dex scanned the emails until he found one from Merestone Resorts. He was impatient to get to that one, but started at the top of the list.
Most of them were asking for small changes like adding another option in a drop-down menu, fixing a web link, or asking for a color update. As Dex read them to her, Kate just nodded, her expression relaxing with each one as she slowly sipped her coffee.
When he read the name of Merestone Resorts, she sighed and shook her head. “What busywork do they want today?”
Dex laughed, even though he was carefully watching her every reaction. “That bad, huh? Hopefully they pay well.”
She smiled at him over her coffee cup. “They do. They take up more time than most of my other clients combined, but they do make it worth it. That’s why I put up with most of their requests, and their sometimes very tight deadlines.” She shrugged. “Dealing with them allows me to take on some other clients pro bono who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford me, like the NKLA Adoption Center here in L.A. It’s a no-kill animal shelter. And PATH, which provides services for the homeless in several cities.”
Dex looked at the beautiful woman in front of him. The fact that she dealt with Merestone in order to donate time to worthy causes gave him more hope that she had no idea what Merestone was doing behind the scenes.
He knew he couldn’t count on that, but he very much wanted to.
“All right. Tell me what my high-maintenance client wants today.” She ended her sentence on what sounded like a resigned laugh.
He scanned the email. “They want you to add three large diamonds into the logo on the L.A. site page. They specify that they want them well hidden and blended into the logo, but still visible. And they want it completed by two p.m. today.”