by Leslie North
“Twenty minutes.”
“Cool. I’m going to go take a shower and change for tonight.” He stalked out of the kitchen, barking orders as he went. “Don’t let anyone in and don’t answer the landline if it rings. Wait until I’m back out here before you shower or change. Understand?”
When she didn’t say anything, Hunter turned around to see her giving him another salute, this one of the one-fingered variety. He hurried into his bedroom to hide his smile. She didn’t take any shit from him, and damn if he didn’t like that. After he stripped, showered and shaved, he pulled on a clean pair of faded jeans and another black T-shirt, same uniform as the night before for consistency’s sake. He ran his fingers through his damp, short hair then headed back out into the living room to wait for the food while Alex got ready.
She barely said two words to him as she passed and he hated to admit that he missed that tiny glimpse of intimacy they’d shared earlier in the kitchen. Had she really liked that emotional crap he’d spewed that afternoon? As an ex-SEAL, he was used to keeping all his feelings bottled up inside. Spouting off about being picked on and feeling sad was a fast trip to an ass whooping in the military. And it wasn’t like he and the guys at Norse Security sat around all day talking about their emotions. Loki would have him sent for a psych eval if that ever happened. He slumped down on the sofa and pulled out his phone to check his emails. Mostly junk and a few new baby pics from Cam and Everly.
Little Annika Rose was so stinkin’ cute. Instead of fluffy pink bows, Evelry had her decked out in a tiny set of gray flannel overalls with embroidered tools on them. Next to her in the pic was one of the many tiny stuffed toys with tech inside that Cam had made for her, saying that babies learned at an exponential rate. Their little minds absorbed information like sponges and the earlier you started teaching them the better. That little girl was one lucky kid.
Alex walked out just as the doorbell rang with their food. Seeing her in the cat suit, with the brunette wig and glasses, brought back all his fiery reactions from the night before and Hunter pushed to his feet, heading for the door to distract himself before he did something stupid like sweep her up into his arms and carry her to the bedroom, strip off that leather inch by delectable inch and make love to Alex all night long.
“Uh, go on into the kitchen,” he said, his words emerging harsher than he’d intended. “I got this.”
10
“Tell me about your family,” Alex said, making small talk as they dug into their food. She usually didn’t indulge in all this high-sodium, high-fat goodness so this dinner was a special treat. As Hunter bit off half of his eggroll in one bite, she guessed it must be one for him too. Funny, in the few days they’d been working together, she’d not seen him go to the gym once. She’d assumed a guy like him with a killer physique would spend a lot of time looking after it, but it appeared he came by his bulk naturally, just like his good looks. She picked up her chopsticks and took a bite of her spicy pork with noodles. Flavors of cinnamon, brown sugar, and garlic filled her mouth and she couldn’t help doing a little squirm of happiness in her chair. “This is fantastic. So, do you have brothers, sisters? Parents?”
He swallowed his bite of food and swiped a paper napkin across his mouth before answering. “Two brothers, one older, one younger. And yes, I have parents. I wasn’t born in a test tube.”
“Are they still alive?”
“Are you always this nosy?” He gave her a narrowed stare. “Yeah. Both alive.”
When he didn’t continue, she prodded some more, wanting to keep the conversation going and, honestly, to learn more about him. He was surprisingly quiet and self-effacing, way different than most of the ego-maniacs she met around Hollywood. It was refreshing and sweet and intrigued her to no end. “Tell me about them.”
“All of them?” he asked, scrunching his nose. “Seriously?”
She shrugged and nodded.
“Okay, then. Well, my mom’s the perfect suburban housewife. Kind, caring, was always ready with fresh-baked cookies when I got home from school. But she could go full Momma Bear too if needed, like when I got bullied. She told me that if I was just myself around the other kids, they’d like me more and I’d have more friends.” He took another bite of his chicken and fried rice. “She’s still my top supporter, no matter what I’m doing. It means a lot to me, her unwavering confidence in me, even if I don’t always deserve it. Her name’s Rebecca.”
Alex tilted her head, wanting to ask why he felt he didn’t deserve her support and confidence, but not wanting to break the sense of intimacy that had formed between them now. “Go on. What about your dad?”
“His name’s Trent and he’s an accountant.” Hunter gave a sad chuckle. “I think he was always more confused by me than anything else. He’s a smaller guy, maybe five-ten, and he could never figure out where all this came from.” He waved a hand over himself dismissively. “Plus, he’s an accountant, so super smart and great at math. He works as a controller for some Fortune 500 company. All those facts and figures were never really my thing, so we didn’t have a lot in common.” His expression grew dejected. “I think he took my difficulties with math to mean I wasn’t all that smart. He never came out and said that, but the way he was always steering me toward sports, hoping I’d get an athletic scholarship for college, kind of said it all.”
“Hmm.” Alex twirled another bite of noodles around her chopsticks. “Believe me, I understand people judging based solely on the way you look.”
Hunter watched her a moment, chewing quietly. “Does it bother you?” he finally asked. “People thinking you’re nothing but a dumb blonde?”
Alex frowned slightly. “At first, yeah. It hurt. But now it’s how I make my money, so I go with it.”
“Must be hard, hiding your intelligence all the time though. Don’t you just want to scream sometimes and tell everyone where to get off?”
“Sometimes,” she admitted, grinning. “But I learned my lesson when I was younger that being too smart isn’t always such a good thing either.”
“How so?”
She hadn’t intended on dredging up her painful childhood memories, but Hunter had shared things about himself with her, so it only seemed fair. “When I was seven, my parents had this dinner party. All their friends came and at my bedtime, my parents had me come into the room to perform a goodnight song for their guests. Even back then I was a little performer.” She laughed. “Anyway, after I did my spiel the adults all applauded for me. I took that as encouragement to show off how smart I was and began to wander around the room spouting off trivia and asking all sorts of smart ass questions that no kid that age should be asking. Things about politics and world affairs and stuff I’d overheard my parents discussing. Eventually all the party guests went back to their conversations and cocktails without me. Never wanting to be ignored, I wandered over to where a couple of women were talking about my dad’s skiing hobby. They didn’t know I was there, I don’t think, because next thing I knew they were talking about my dad sleeping with one of them. Maybe both. Who knows? The point is, if I’d just been a regular dumb kid and gone to bed when I was supposed to instead of staying up to impress everyone with my big brains, I’d never have discovered my father’s affairs and my parents might still have been married.”
“You can’t blame yourself for that, Alex.” Hunter finished his food then stood to take his plate to the sink. “You were a child. A precocious child, sure, but still just a kid. And if your dad was sleeping around then it sounds like the divorce was on him, not you.”
“Maybe.” She ate a few more bites of her food before taking her things to the sink too. “I’ve just always wondered what it would’ve been like if I’d not known. If that night had gone differently. And honestly, it’s helped shape who I am. Like I said, these days it’s easier and less risky for me to play stupid and get the parts and the fame and the money, than to reveal who I really am.”
“Wow.” Hunter cleared the table and put the
ir leftovers in the fridge while Alex washed and dried the plates and silverware. “Tough stuff.”
“What about your brothers?” she asked as she dried the dishes. “You didn’t tell me about them.”
“Oh. Well, Carter’s my older brother. He’s a lawyer and thinks he’s all that because of it. Lives in the Midwest and has a successful practice there. I actually saw him the other night at the movie premier. He said he was in Hollywood on behalf of one of his clients who’s an investor.”
“Nice. And the younger one?”
“Ben. He graduated from college last year.” Hunter flashed an indulgent smile. “Kid’s off backpacking across Europe trying to find himself. Good guy, if a little spoiled. He was a ‘surprise’ baby, so all of us treat him special because of it.” He shook his head and gave a self-deprecating snort. “What about you? Any siblings?”
“Nope.” She smiled up at him, arms crossed. “I’m an only child.”
Their conversation was interrupted by loud banging on the front door. Alex’s pulse pounded as she stared at Hunter. “He’s early.”
“Where’s the collar?” He headed out of the kitchen and down the hall toward the bedrooms. “And the leash.”
“I’ve got them,” Alex said, following behind him. Somehow asking him to kneel at her feet like a dog seemed wrong after what he’d just shared with her. “You don’t have to wear them though. We can figure something else out.”
“No.” He took the items from her and fastened the black leather studded collar around his neck. “There’s no time. Besides, being your bitch wasn’t as awful as I thought it might be.”
He winked and Alex felt a white-hot flash of pure desire straight to her core. He liked giving up control during sex? She’d never really considered taking on the role of dominatrix outside the club, but she knew her stuff and if he liked her being in charge, maybe they should explore that connection further. Later, of course, once they got this meeting with the club boss out of the way.
She nodded, lowering her gaze, feeling suddenly shy. “Oh, right. Okay.”
“Hey.” Hunter tipped up her chin with one finger, his gray eyes warm as the pounding on the door continued. “Not all men are like your dad. We don’t all cheat and lie and cut down a woman’s worth and intelligence. I happen to like my women smart and sassy.”
“You do?” Alex adjusted her fake glasses and wig.
“Yep. I do. Now, would you like me to answer the door, Mistress?”
As it had the previous evening, having this huge, muscled, gorgeous man serving her gave her a rush of need she’d never felt before. She wanted to control him, not because it made her happy, but because it pleased him. And damn if that wasn’t the most potent aphrodisiac in the universe.
At her signal, Hunter opened the door to the same two bodyguards they’d seen the night before at Club Xcite, with the club boss standing behind them—looking as portly and mobster-ugly as always.
“Mistress,” he said, shoving the two guards aside and jostling his way into the house. He gave Hunter a dismissive side glance, sneering at the leash Alex was leading him around by. “Slave.”
Hunter gave no outward indication of the slight, other than a quick glare in the boss’s direction before lowering his gaze obediently again.
“Well, show me around this dump so we can get moving. I’m behind schedule as it is.” The boss reeked of cigarette smoke and liquor from the club and his tacky cheetah print bomber jacket and black shades were straight out of cliché central. Alex managed not to roll her eyes at his cheesy persona and shut the door behind them. “Where you gonna keep the girls?”
“Basement,” Alex said, walking toward the stairs, the lead on Hunter taut as she tugged the leash. “Slave, lead the way.”
“Yes, Mistress,” he murmured, brushing past her. His arm bumped hers, and even through the leather of her cat suit, Alex’s skin prickled with awareness. They made their way downstairs, the wood creaking under the weight of the boss and his thugs. Once there, they stared around the space like it was the Taj Mahal and not a tiny underground lair in the middle of suburbia.
“Fuck. Them gals are gonna think they died and gone to heaven in this place.” The boss cackled as he checked each of the bedrooms and the small but well-appointed bathroom. And yeah, maybe it was way nicer than they should have made it, but after the horrors those poor women had been through already, they deserved a clean, safe place to rest. “Looks like you’re running a goddamned hotel, not a sex slave ring.”
“Are you questioning my choices?” Alex asked, using her most commanding voice. She met the boss’s glare with a steely stare, not giving an inch. Perhaps all those nights of method acting in the club would pay off after all. “I don’t like it when people question me.”
She reached for her whip then halted as the guards revealed the guns holstered at their waists. Instead, Alex flipped the dark hair of her brunette wig over her shoulder and made for the stairs again, Hunter in tow. “I’ll show you the rest of the house quickly, so you can get on your way.”
Upstairs once more, they made a fast tour of the bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, and ended up back in the living room where they’d started. Unease still lingered inside Alex. This was all going so smoothly. Too smoothly. But she wasn’t about to argue at this point. Maybe the club boss was really as dumb as he looked.
“When can I expect my new slaves?” Alex asked, holding the door for their unwelcome guests. “And it better be soon.”
“Tomorrow night, Mistress.” The crime boss said as he passed her on his way out to the porch, his bodyguards flanking him once more. “There was a slight delay in the shipment. I’ll have them here by ten p.m. at the latest.”
Alex watched them walk away, not aware of how cold she was until she felt Hunter’s warm hands on her shoulders.
“Good job, Alex. We’ve got a time and date. That’s what we needed. I’ll contact Cam and Loki and let them know so we’re ready.”
She nodded, but didn’t turn away from the door, staring at the red tail lights of the boss’s car as they disappeared around the corner. All her senses were on high-alert—from adrenaline, or Hunter’s touch, she wasn’t sure. All she did know was that they were in too deep now to not see this through and she just prayed Bea was alive and well and would be among the slaves delivered here tomorrow night.
11
Hunter watched Alex at the door, feeling a nearly overwhelming urge to pull her into his arms. But the look on her beautiful face was so sad, so distant, that he remained where he was, frozen in place. When the silence became deafening, he finally said, “We’ll get her back. Don’t worry. If she’s there tomorrow night, we’ll get Bea back.”
She slammed the door shut then turned slowly to look at him, the leash still in her hand. Her movements caused it to pull taut, reminding them both of the roles they’d just played. As usual, Hunter’s cock pulsed at the loss of control, at the sheer submissiveness implied in that thin cord binding them together.
Damn, he wanted her. So bad he ached. But he didn’t want to screw up this mission. Not now. Not when there was so much at stake for both of them.
Heat, along with a shadow of fear, blazed in Alex’s pretty blue eyes. “What if she’s not?”
“What if she’s not what?” Hunter asked, his voice croaking out of his constricted throat, need riding him hard now. He stepped closer to her, as if in a daze. “I’ll find her, I swear.”
“Will you?” Alex whispered, tipping her head back to meet his gaze. “Slave?”
His cock went hard as steel at that word and Hunter moved forward, backing her up against the wall beside the door, an arm on either side of her head, caging her in while still keeping their bodies several inches apart. This close, he could see the pink flush in her cheeks, hear the catch in her breath at his nearness, smell the faint floral scent of her perfume. Slowly, he reached up and tugged off her wig, leaving her long blond hair to tumble down over her shoulders like a silky curtain. The glas
ses were next, tossed aside to land somewhere on the carpeted floor. Right now, Hunter didn’t care about them. All he cared about was the warm, wonderful woman in front of him and seeing how far she’d let him take this. All she had to do was say the word, and he’d stop. But holy fuck, he prayed she wouldn’t.
Her pupils were dilated and her soft pink lips were parted and she looked like she was every bit as turned on at the moment as he was. She swallowed hard and he became fixated with the tiny pulse point at the base of her slender throat, couldn’t stop staring at the way it hammered in time with his own.
Hunter was so hard now he hurt, but if Alex didn’t want this, he wasn’t going to force her. She reached up to remove his collar, but he stopped her, placing his hand atop hers. “No. Leave it. Tell me what you want.”
Recognition dawned slowly in her expression, and she twined the leash a tad tighter around her hand before tugging on it lightly. The pull caused him to press against her, only a mere breath between them now. His hardness nudged her belly and Hunter had to bite back a groan of frustration.
“Ask me nicely, slave,” Alex said, her tone husky with want. “And use my title.”
Knees tingling with desire, Hunter flexed his fingers against the wall, grateful for the support as he bowed his head and said, “Please tell me what you want, Mistress.”
“Better,” she purred, her small smile widening into a wicked sexy grin. “I want you to do whatever I tell you to do. I want you to pleasure me until I can’t take it anymore and I want you to allow me to do the same to you. I want to fall asleep in your arms tonight and not have to worry about anything because I know that you’ll be right there beside me, protecting me from anything that comes our way. And speaking of coming…”
Yeah, his knees might’ve buckled right about then. Good thing she’d already tugged on his leash again, signaling him to drop to the floor anyway.