Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 149137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
He was both deeply attracted and utterly revolted. She disturbed him on a basic level.
But that was feeling, too, so he sat up straighter and gave her his full attention.
Her dark eyes met his briefly and then she lowered them in a perfectly submissive fashion that led him to believe she knew something about the lifestyle. “Hello, Sir. If you would prefer another nomenclature, please let me know.”
This told him two things. She knew how to greet him before she knew what to call him and she considered herself a submissive who required a name. She’d asked him what to call him and told him what to call her. Not “this one” or “creature” but “me.” She played but kept her identity.
It was good to know. The rest hadn’t been as forward.
“Sir is fine for now. I’ll be honest, I prefer Joshua to Master, but there’s time enough to go into it.” He liked his name. He’d spent far too long without it. There was power in claiming his own name.
“As you wish, Sir,” she replied.
She stood in the middle of the dungeon, paying no attention to the chair that had been set up for her. She stood, her body relaxed.
Her body. She was petite, graceful. Her hair was brushed back, falling off her shoulder and revealing the pretty line of her neck. Even her hands were small. He looked at her and the word that came to mind was delicate. Exquisite. Peaceful.
Far too good to be true.
Because there was something simmering under her surface. Something dark and nasty. Maybe it was his imagination, but her stillness didn’t feel like peace to him. Her stillness almost felt like that of a predator waiting to attack.
And yeah, that did something for him, too.
“You’re a bodyguard?” He wanted to push her. Despite the darkness he sensed, it was still hard to believe that tiny thing could protect anyone. It was definitely hard to believe she could take what he would want to give her.
Her lips curled slightly. “Yes, Sir. I believe I detailed my experience in my résumé, but I’m more than willing to go over it all with you. The last few years I’ve been employed by McKay-Taggart and Knight in London.”
“As a bodyguard,” he prompted.
“I handled many aspects of the business for my bosses. Besides working corporate security, I also did close cover work. I was on a long-term detail for Mia Lawless. She’s one of my references.”
“Yes, the sister of Drew Lawless.” He looked down at her résumé. It was impressive. It could also be total fiction. She really looked more like a reporter than a bodyguard. The connection to Mia Lawless worried him. The only Lawless sister was a reporter, and wouldn’t this make a great story? Undercover—literally. Under his covers. Reporting from close proximity of his penis to tell all the nasty, dirty stories about him everyone had only thought were rumors.
Still, she’d come from the same company as Shane and Declan and they were working out. He leaned over and whispered to Jared, who immediately nodded and walked out of the dungeon to do his bidding.
She didn’t move from her spot.
It was obvious she was waiting for him to offer her a seat, but he rather liked having her stand. A little discomfort was good for the soul.
“Tell me how you got into the lifestyle.”
“When I started my job in London, a membership at The Garden was one of the perks of the job. I discovered I liked it and I play a few nights a week. I find it relaxing.”
The words rolled smoothly off her tongue and he didn’t believe a single one. Either she was lying to him about how she found the lifestyle or about finding it relaxing. He wasn’t sure which, but something about the easy way she spoke about it made him uneasy. He knew “dialogue” when he heard it. Well-rehearsed dialogue.
It disappointed him immensely because of all the women he’d seen this afternoon, only this one moved him in any way.
Even if it was mostly his dick moving. Hell, he was happy the thing wanted to play at all, but he wasn’t about to let it lead him astray again. Especially when it was likely she was lying about far more than how much she truly enjoyed submitting sexually.
“Before you came on at McKay-Taggart, you claim to have worked with the Central Intelligence Agency.”
“Yes, though most of my work there is classified.” She didn’t react at all to the taunts in his words.
Of course it was. “You’re young for an agent. Especially a retired one.”
“I’m thirty-two. I became an agent at the age of nineteen by necessity. I didn’t have a typical Agency career, and I’ve found you either get out young or die there. I chose the former. Tennessee Smith is my reference for my CIA work, though again, he can only speak about me in general terms. I had another mentor while I was there, but he wasn’t as lucky as me.”