The innuendo made Severin roll his eyes, but Rodrigo smiled the dangerous grin he used to attract women – just for a moment before his gaze cut to Severin and the smile fell away. He liked her, but wouldn’t betray Severin. At least, that’s what Severin was starting to believe.
The buyer turned to face Severin, and there was a moment of unease. He never liked strangers, but this guy was...wrong. He smiled smoothly at Severin, ignoring Minnow completely as he strode toward him. Severin stood his ground and squared his shoulders, his hackles going up as the man moved to enter his personal space. His hands balled into fists, and he braced himself for the guy to take a swing. He’d deflect then pulverize the fucker’s face.
Minnow stepped neatly in front of the man, halting his advance, and blocking Severin from launching his own attack.
“So you’re Severin,” he said, extending a hand trying to sidestep Minnow, who moved to stop him again.
“Mister Leduc doesn’t shake hands,” Minnow said icily, her body language implying she might maim the man if he wasn’t careful. “Please step back.”
“Please, honey, this is a business deal between men.” He nudged her out of the way and she had to take a step to catch her balance.
Hot rage surged through Severin’s brain, crackling and snapping just under his scalp. The fucker had touched her. Practically pushed her. Severin took the last two steps to the man and grabbed his throat. He backed the stumbling arse off the driveway and shoved him up against a tree, pinning him there by the neck.
“What’s wrong with you?” The man gasped.
“You don’t ignore my woman when she speaks to you, and you never fucking touch her – understand?” His knife had found its way to his free hand, and the adrenaline made him want to stab this fucker in the face.
The man’s eyes were panicked, probably because Severin was tightening his grip. “Sorry, Leduc. I had no idea.”
Severin sneered, but let his hand fall away from the buyer’s throat.
“Mister Leduc,” Minnow said quietly, “Rodrigo has offered to handle this transaction if you’d like to come inside.”
Staring into the man’s eyes, Severin cocked his head and let the man see just how unstable he was. He let Minnow take the knife out of his hand and lead him inside to the receiving room off the foyer. His body and mind were buzzing hard. Everything in him wanted to charge back outside and show the man exactly what happened when someone laid a hand on Minnow, but she was coaxing him into a chair, and jail seemed less interesting than watching her cleavage as she resheathed his knife in his boot.
“Mister Leduc!” she admonished. Red mottled her face and her chest heaved. Was she angry or afraid? He hadn’t meant to scare her.
“What?”
“You can’t go around choking people and threatening them with knives!” Her body shook.
“He almost knocked you down.”
“You pulled a knife on him!”
“I did.”
“If he presses charges, you could end up in jail!”
Severin smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m too big and ugly to be someone’s girlfriend.”
“Jail, Mister Leduc. It’s not a joke.” She sidled up to him and leaned her leg on his, then moved back. He was sorry she did, because he’d liked it.
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his lap. Although she leaned away from him in protest, it was short lived. After a moment her stiff posture melted, and she let him pull her close.
“Did I scare you?”
She nodded. “I thought you might kill him.”
“The thought crossed my mind. I won’t tolerate you being treated with disrespect.”
“Unless it’s by you.”
He kissed her forehead. “Yeah, but you get off on that.”
Although she glared at him, she didn’t deny it.
“Don’t kill anyone because of me, okay?” She pressed her face against his chest. “I shouldn’t have to tell you that, Mister Leduc. That should just be a given.”
“Miss Korsgaard, when a man gifts you with the blood of your enemies, you’re supposed to be flattered.”
“You’re just mad he touched your property.”
“That too.”
She thumped her forehead against his chest.
“Even if he didn’t realize you were my woman, he should have showed you respect as my employee.” He paused to see if she’d rise to his bait, but she didn’t say a word. “That and the fact that you’re a little fucking badass who could serve him his balls on toast.”
“Screw that. If he wants toast with his balls, he can make it himself. I only cook for one man.”
He brushed his knuckle over her bottom lip, loving her ferocity.
“So did you mean what you said?” she asked.
“All of it, but which part are you referring to?”
“That I’m your woman.”
He grabbed her chin none too gently, and her eyes widened.
“Are you trying to say you’re not?”
Her brows rose and before she could answer, he kissed the hell out of her. By the time they came up for air, Rodrigo was sitting in the chair across from them, watching with undisguised interest. He tossed Severin a thick envelope.
“He paid cash,” Rodrigo said. “Usually that would get him a discount, but I made him pay extra for leaving footprints on my lawn.”
Severin snorted and tossed the envelope back at him. “Keep it. Sorry about the scene.”
“He had no business doing that to Min. I almost punched him myself, but you beat me to him.” Rodrigo shook the envelope at him and slapped it down on the coffee table between them. “I’m not taking this, dumbass. I already took my cut.”
“I don’t want his money.”
“Well I’m not taking more than my cut. Obviously I didn’t do my job right if we’re selling to someone like that.”
“Fine.” Severin picked up the envelope and dropped it onto Minnow’s lap. “Buy yourself something pretty.”
“What? No!”
“Mari is already here, by the way.” Rodrigo leaned back in his chair and splayed his legs out in front of him.”
“Good.” He jounced Minnow on his lap. “Remember how you mocked me for not shopping like a rich man, Miss Korsgaard. We’re making up for that today.” He patted her ass.
“Where are we going?” she asked, eyes bright.
“Just upstairs,” Rodrigo said, gesturing in that direction.
“Someone is here to sell things? Like what?” she asked.
“I’m having people over tonight, and your owner has decided you might like a social outing. One of my friends is here with options you may be interested in.”
“I take it this isn’t a Tupperware party?” she asked Severin.
He chuckled, enjoying her surprise. He wasn’t the most interesting person to spend time with, and knew she got bored at the house. The idea of doing this for her had been exciting for him even though he was dreading it. “Not unless Tupperware has significantly broadened their product line.”
“So you have a hard time with vanilla gatherings, but kink ones are fine?”
“No,” Rodrigo said. “He’s trying for your sake. He’s never stayed more than five minutes at one of these, but with you here it may be easier. It’s not a party, really. Just a few people. You can also bring him to hang out in his room if he needs a break.”
He swallowed a growl. Could Ro make him sound more like an anxious child?
Minnow shifted on his lap, grinding her ass. It didn’t seem like an accident. His little bitch liked playing with fire. “He has a room in your house?”
“Yes. I have a room in his house. It’s only fair.”
Severin shoved the girl up from his lap and swatted her ass. “Come on. Don’t forget your money.”
“Mister Leduc! I’m not taking this money. I didn’t do a thing to earn it.”
“Hazard pay.”
“Hazard pay isn’t the price of a custom bike. Y
ou don’t just give away money like that. I wasn’t wrestling piranhas or anything.”
He pulled her to face him, not caring that Rodrigo was hearing this. “How many people could handle what I did to you last night? I know the money is awkward because of the employer/employee/sexual relationship thing, but just take it as an apology for what you have to put up with.”
She reached out to put a hand on his chest, but didn’t touch. He pulled her closer and when her hand connected with his chest, she ran her finger along the edge of his T-shirt’s frayed neckline. The contact made him want to set her away, but he clenched his jaw and let it happen. It felt good, but it also made him tense.
“You don’t need to pay me to put up with you. You’re a complicated man to be in lo...volved with, but I’m with you because I...like you.”
The way she’d paused in the middle of the word ‘involved’ made him wonder what she’d almost said. “Well, will you take it as a gift?”
“No. I’m more than willing to take gifts of orgasms, though.”
The idea of apologizing to her until she begged him to stop was an interesting one. She dropped her hand away from the tentative exploration of his neckline, filling him with disappointment and relief.
“We’ll talk later. For now let’s go see what Mari brought with her.” He picked up the envelope of money and tucked it into the inside pocket of her backpack.
“Hey!”
“I have nowhere to put it.”
“So this is how it’s going to go is it?” she teased. “You’re pretending to like me so you can make me carry your shit? Typical millionaire.”
“Billionaire,” Rodrigo corrected quietly.
Severin shook his head at Minnow in mock disapproval. “You’re so desperate to be punished you’re resorting to bratting in front of our host?”
“Sorry,” she said, narrowing her eyes in challenge, “I didn’t realize we were still standing on ceremony with Mr. Solis after the other night.”
Rodrigo winced and sauntered from the room, giving them privacy.
“Miss Korsgaard, is there a problem?” he asked, crowding her until she backed into the foyer, stopping when her ass hit the edge of the round table in the center.
Lust flared in her eyes, but she didn’t answer.
He unzipped her jeans and tugged them down to her thighs, then turned her and bent her over the table, revealing a lacy purple thong that framed her bruised ass the way it deserved to be seen – bruises he’d left on her, that made him feel rabidly proprietary. Fuck, the woman made him crazy.
“Answer the question now, Miss Korsgaard.”
“Yes!” she hissed. “There’s a problem.”
“And what’s that?” He swatted her plump ass, watching it jiggle rather than leaning down to bite it the way he wanted to.
“You keep me on edge for ages, ask me to ride one of your big sexy bikes all the way here, which is like a fucking vibrator on steroids, then you go all caveman on a man who disrespects me. Then you sit me on your lap and pet me, and I know your dick is hard, and I’m about to lose my fucking mind.” Although she’d started at a whisper, she was yelling by the end of it.
“So you’re bratting because?”
“You’re hot and you drive me crazy on purpose, yet no matter what I do you won’t fuck me.”
“I guess you’ve failed to give me the right incentive.”
“I know you’re hard. I was sitting on your lap.”
That went without saying. The woman kept him perpetually hard. She was all he could think about.
“What the fuck do you want, Miss Korsgaard? You want me to breed you right here in Rodrigo’s foyer, like some little bitch in heat?”
She gave a small whimper and thrust her ass back at him in blatant invitation. “Please,” she whispered.
“You can wait.”
“You have to let me come soon, Mister Leduc. I can’t do this anymore.”
He covered her body with his own, and he felt the heat of her pussy on his cock through his jeans. How could a man be desperate for something when he didn’t even know how it felt? As much as he loved teasing her, he didn’t think he’d be able to hold out much longer either. His balls felt perpetually bruised, and yet making her weep with frustration fed something inside him that was starving for her suffering. Maybe for his own, as well.
He bit her nape, tasting the fresh air from their ride on her skin while he rocked his cock against her ass. She arched her back, seeking more pressure on her pussy, so he pushed off the table away from her and patted her ass with as much condescension as he could fake.
As he tugged her jeans back up and buttoned them for her, she stayed unmoving on the table. She wept without tears, her back shaking with it. Brow furrowed and eyes wide, she looked lost.
How could he reconcile his need to torment her with his need to protect her? How was it even possible to feel both so strongly for the same person?
“Come pick out something to wear tonight,” he said, hoping to distract her with shopping because he sure as hell wasn’t fucking her for the first time in Rodrigo’s foyer.
When she didn’t move and didn’t answer, he picked her up and carried her upstairs, not putting her down until he got to the main living room. Ro was looking through what Mari had brought. The wizened, stooped woman with the neat French braid was helping him sort through things, her knobby hands somehow graceful as she presented merchandise.
Minnow’s face was buried against Severin’s shoulder as he sat on one of the couches.
“I apologize. She’s eager to see what you have, she’s just having a hard day.”
“Oh, did you just punish her?” Mari asked gleefully. “My Leon used to have such an evil mind before it went on him.” She gave him a shockingly devilish grin. “I still have scars on my knees from when we were young and wild.”
“You do?” Rodrigo asked, sounding as genuinely curious as Severin was.
“Oh yes. There weren’t really rules back then, you understand. Just what happened between two people. He carved his name on my ass the night he married me. At the time I was so glad his name was short. Now the damn thing looks like it’s in parentheses.” She chortled. “When you’re nineteen you never anticipate your future ass wrinkles.”
Rodrigo choked on the bourbon he’d been sipping and Mari threw her own drink back as she snickered to herself.
Minnow sat up and looked around blearily, then rose when she saw the racks and piles of clothing and accessories.
“She’s yours?” Mari asked Severin.
“Yes.” He felt his chest inflate with undeserved pride. Yes, the lovely, intelligent woman was his, for now, but he’d done nothing to deserve her and soon she’d realize that.
“What do you want her in for this party?” When he looked at Mari blankly, she smiled – he wasn’t sure she’d stopped smiling. “How do you like her dressed?”
“I –” He didn’t know the answer to that. Not when it came to being in public. “We’ve never been to a party together before. I want to show her off, but I also don’t want people looking at what’s mine.”
“I swear you all get your wiring installed at the same factory.” Mari patted Minnow then eyed Rodrigo. “And what do you think, pretty boy?”
“I have no opinion on this one,” he said, averting his gaze.
“Ah,” Mari said, as though he’d revealed a lot. “Spoken like a man who’s been given permission to play with her in the past, and doesn’t want to fuck that up for the future.”
Rodrigo’s expression was so bland it was almost comical. Minnow appeared to be ignoring the conversation, but Severin knew better.
Minnow roused and slid off his lap, and immediately eyed a pair of high-heeled black boots that would look damn sexy on her, but she didn’t pick them up. She knew he preferred her barefoot and wasn’t even going to ask.
“Do you have those in a seven?” he asked Mari, pointing to the boots.
Minnow’s gaze darted to t
hem. “But I thought you preferred me barefoot.”
“You won’t be wearing them tonight, but I have no objection to you owning them for vanilla purposes.”
A smile of pleasure graced her lips, and he noticed again how lovely she was. “But Master, I’m sure they’re expensive.”
“You just turned down the 80k in that envelope, Miss Korsgaard. I’m sure I can buy you some fucking boots.”
Mari quoted him a price and he waved a hand to let her know Minnow was to have free rein.
*
The girl was, by far, the most beautiful woman in the room. Collared, leashed, kneeling at his feet, the piercings he’d had her marked with clearly outlined through the loose black silk of her dress, his bite marks on her neck – none of it was enough. Other couples tried to engage them in conversation, but for him there was only her, and she was so far into a trance-like subspace that her gaze never left him.
She rested her head on his knee, but although she hadn’t asked, it felt right. He stroked her cheek and she latched onto his thumb when it grazed her lips, sucking as she looked up at him with her wide, sweet gaze. Although the suctioned tugging on his thumb made his balls ache, and the feel of her clever little tongue had him gritting his teeth, the underlying feelings she was giving him – of contentment and optimism, of not being alone, of having someone who was his who he belonged to as well – those feelings made him uneasy.
His first instinct was to ruin things before something else went drastically wrong – to ruin things on his own terms. This connection he had with Minnow was too good. The temptation to let go and enjoy it, even though it was temporary, was strong – but he didn’t get to have this feeling without a price. It wouldn’t be a price he could handle paying.
Rodrigo sat down in the chair next to Severin’s and watched them for a few moments.
“See? You’re fine at parties when you don’t pay attention to anything except your girl’s mouth.”
Severin blinked and looked around. He’d been as entranced as she was. Rodrigo’s little get together had turned into about twenty guests. Most people in the room were busy doing their own thing, either engaged in scenes or socializing, but a few watched them. It was hard to be self-conscious when only she mattered.
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