question is broken off by a slow clap.
“Magnificent performance.”
I stiffen, recognizing that sultry purr. It’s Caro, turning up again like the proverbial bad penny. At least she’s not blowing my cover or Max would ensure I’d be fucked in a way that caused me considerably less pleasure.
“While you’re not winning any kink contests, you two have a most intoxicating chemistry, which hasn’t gone unnoticed. Daddy watched the whole scene, and I’m pleased to say that you’ve piqued his interest. He isn’t prepared to invite you into his private playroom yet, but he asked me to invite you back tomorrow. This is a great honor.”
“I’ll check my calendar.” X’s response is frosty, arrogance infusing every syllable. He is perfect for this cocky dom role, acting like getting noticed by the dark god of the underworld is nothing out of the ordinary, as if our entire mission isn’t relying on just such a meeting.
“Well...” Caro sniffs, obviously deflated. “If you come, Daddy has one more rule.”
“I don’t play by anyone’s rules but my own,” X snaps.
And the truth in his annoyed snark causes my sensitive inner muscles to clench even though he just wrung an earth-shattering orgasm from me minutes ago.
I force my dry throat to swallow, willing myself to get it together. I’m not a fifteen-year-old girl anymore, bringing my dog-eared copy of A Room with a View out to read beneath the ancient oak tree that grew alongside the rugby oval. While pretending to be engrossed in E. M. Forster’s worlds in Italy and England, I always maintained an awareness of Max as he locked shoulders with his teammates, pushing, shoving and battering in a seething mass of rucking.
I’d find myself rereading the same page time and time again, too entranced by the look of utter focus on Max’s face, the power emanating from his body and the near-palpable force of character.
I’d look away whenever he glanced my direction, pretending to study the clouds or a frolicking squirrel.
“He wants her.” Caro reaches out and strokes my neck with what feels like claws, jerking me back to the present moment. “This little one is exactly his type.”
Don’t I know it.
My gorge rises. I’ve turned down Dante’s advances for years, dangling the promise of my body like a carrot on a string. It seems his patience has run out at last. No doubt fueled by watching my little display with X.
I let it get personal.
Who is the idiot here? Me.
Shit.
“Touch her again, you’ll answer to me.” X’s voice is deadly serious.
The Max I used to know was intense about sports, but off the field he liked nothing better than to joke around with his mates...or tease me ruthlessly.
Agent X, however, doesn’t make jokes. Only promises. And his word is his bond.
“Is that a promise?” The woman sounds curious.
“We’re leaving.” X unlocks my handcuffs and tugs my leash.
“Wait!” I fumble to take off my blindfold, my fingers tingling as blood returns to my hands.
Then the blindfold drops and I see Caro nearly nose to nose. Her body is perfect and her dark skin is without a single blemish. Her bronze lips twist into a smug leer. “Like what you see, sugar?”
I don’t wait for X’s order before dropping my gaze to the floor. It’s not that I dislike my looks, but I’m nothing special. Average height. Average weight. Brown hair. Brown eyes.
I could be a kindergarten teacher or a librarian.
I wonder if I’d have been happier in a simple life. And I think I know the answer.
Yes.
Somewhere behind me a woman begins to come in loud whimpers and suddenly I’m exhausted. This night is all so sudden and confronting and confusing.
My worlds have collided, and I feel thrust into a strange new universe.
X leads me from the club without another look or comment, and by the time we get into the waiting limo all I want to do is speed to my hotel, slip into my pajama pants and binge on online baking competitions until I fall asleep.
Instead, X doesn’t release my leash.
“Why did you start crying in there?” His voice is tight, almost husky with some repressed emotion.
I look away, glaring out the window at the rainy London streets. The truth is that I don’t know where my tears came from.
I thought I’d cried myself dry over Max. What we had. What we lost all those years ago. But apparently, when it comes to my first love, I have a reservoir of feelings.
I cry for a future denied me. One where I work a nine-to-five job. Live in the country with Max and have children.
Now, at my age, the promise of children is almost denied to me...unless I can find a way to get out.
But to buy a new future would sell out my past. Nothing comes without a cost. If I walk away from the Order, I walk away from my entire life.
“Lora, look at me when I talk to you,” he growls.
“You don’t get to command me outside the Lion’s Den,” I mutter as we pull up in front of our hotel. “Remember what’s real and what’s not. In the real world, you don’t own me.”
His eyes burn a deep midnight blue. “Is that a fact?”
“Ugh.” I roll my eyes. “Whatever.”
“That’s the best you can do? I seem to remember a more extensive vocabulary.”
“I’ve learned the value of brevity. Go fuck yourself has such a ring to it.” I rap on the window to our driver. “Can I get my key, please?”
The young driver turns around. “Your key? There’s only one, miss.”
“You’re kidding,” I growl.
X chuckles. “What did you expect? If anyone follows us, we have to look like a believable couple. And in this case, it means sharing the penthouse suite in the Shangri-La Hotel. The Order moved our belongings in while we were at the club.”
Ugh. Of course.
My daggers are all upstairs in my suitcase, so I have to settle for a death glare. “If we are living in forced proximity, I can’t be responsible for my actions. I might smother you with a pillow in your sleep.”
“I’m a light sleeper,” he says. “But I’m sure we can find something to pass the time.”
X
We ride up in the elevator in icy silence, glaring
