Dangerous (The Complete Erotic Romance Novel) (3 page)

Vinnie hadn’t been surprised and she’d noticed. She eyed Reid with new wariness and he smiled.

Reid decided it would have been satisfying to have been caught in the act of possessing her, making his claim clear even to Vinnie. There was something about Miss Jones that awakened his primal urge to possess.

Completely.

Would she like it if others watched?

Participated?

He didn’t know what she liked and why, but Reid very much wanted to find out.

Vinnie, incredibly, was oblivious to the electricity crackling between Reid and Miss Jones. He ambled across the office with a take-out tray of coffee. “They didn’t have espresso, boss. I asked. So, I just got you a large of their strongest brew. Hope that’s okay.”

“Thank you, Vinnie. I’m sure it will be fine.” He knew the instant that Miss Jones realized the folder was right where Vinnie would put the tray. Reid casually moved the folder aside.

The security guard put the cup down on the desk and regarded it with doubt. “You sure you want that black? It’s pretty fierce.”

“Positive.” Reid took off the lid and steam rose from the cup. He lifted it to take a sip, then saw Miss Jones step forward.

“Boss?” she echoed. “Did you just call him boss, Vinnie? I thought he was a new security guard.”

Vinnie laughed. “This here’s Mr. Stirling, Kendra. He’s bought the company, so I guess he’s the ultimate security guard.” The older man paused in the act of taking a sip of coffee and flicked a look at her. “That probably means you’ll be his executive assistant now, won’t you?”

“I have no idea,” she said, her cheeks burning brighter red. She stepped to the side of the desk, gave Reid a hard look—daring him to stop her—and claimed the file folder. She clutched it to her chest as if she feared he’d snatch it back. On the contrary, he admired her sense of purpose. She had gotten what she’d come for.

Reid sipped his coffee. He liked a little defiance.

It gave him a reason to impose discipline.

He already had what he wanted, and a little bit more.

“I’ll just be going now,” she said and strode for the door.

She had a lovely butt, and the way it moved as she walked was just about perfect. Reid tried not to overtly watch her as she walked to the door, but he hoped she wore jeans to work on Fridays. He’d like to enjoy that view throughout at least one day of the week.

If not more.

He couldn’t wait to see her legs. What was the dress code at Esperanza Enterprises? Skirts and high heels?

A man could hope.

“I’ll see you in the morning, Miss Jones,” Reid said when she was at the threshold. She glanced back, her eyes wide with uncertainty, and he smiled. “Early.”

It wasn’t meant to be a reassuring smile. He wanted her to start thinking now about what he was going to propose in the morning. She inhaled sharply and nodded, as his implied message was received. “I’m always early, sir.”

“Good.”

She hesitated only a moment, then spun and walked away. From the sound of her steps, she marched through the office as quickly as she could. Reid hoped she wouldn’t quit, but if she did, he would survive.

After all, he wouldn’t be here long.

“She’s one nice girl, that Kendra.”

“So Leon said. He was very reliant upon her skills.”

“Yup. Hand in glove those two. Lots of late nights and working lunches, but they kept this place on track.” Vinnie nodded with satisfaction, clearly having no idea what else Leon and Miss Jones had done. “I’ll just go be sure the back door locks after her.”

“Thank you, Vinnie. I’ve got a few more things to check here, then I’ll be gone as well.” Reid listened as Miss Jones’s heels clicked on the concrete factory floor. It was a sound that made it hard for him to think about anything other than those pictures.

The steel door slammed again and moments later an economy car pulled out of the back parking lot. Reid barely noticed. He’d already shut the office door, sat down at the desk that had belonged to Leon, and pulled out the photographs he’d kept.

The best ones. The hottest ones. The ones in which Miss Jones was trussed up tight and loving it. He wondered how long it would take her to realize they were missing.

He wondered what she would do about it.

Reid smiled in anticipation, then sipped his coffee and enjoyed.

* * *

The photographs weren’t all there.

Kendra had cancelled on her night out with Liv, insisting that she felt like she was coming down with something. She
was
coming down with something—a full-blown career crisis. There had to be at least ten photographs missing from the folder.

It was pretty easy to guess who had them.

Kendra could also tell by process of elimination which ones they were.

Would the new owner shut down the company or re-invent it?

Kendra knew which choice she liked best. She knew Esperanza could be healthier financially and could be restructured for success. She’d written a business plan—that Leon never got around to reading. Kendra had pitched her idea verbally then, hoping to catch his interest in any way she could. When she’d suggested introducing a lingerie line to grow Esperanza’s sales, Leon had been so enthused that she’d hoped the company could be saved. She’d suggested creating a mockup catalogue, before she’d realized his enthusiasm had been personal. It had become clear there was no chance Leon would change anything, even to save Esperanza.

At the same time, their little game had become addictive. Leon had told her far too much about his marriage, and Kendra had felt sorry for him. It had been safe to let Leon tie her up because he never did anything. At most, he went into the washroom in his office and jerked off, then came back to untie her. Given that the transaction was kind of one-sided, Kendra had suggested they try some bondage, because she wanted to explore one of her own fantasies. Their game was a little too tame. Too fake. She didn’t want to be smiling and happy, in control of her destiny. She wanted to be in peril, at the mercy of a master determined to dominate her, train her and teach her to please him alone.

That hadn’t been Leon, not by a long shot.

Leon hadn’t liked the rough look. He preferred ribbons and bonds that were loose enough to shake off. He’d been all about the lingerie his wife wouldn’t wear. He’d only tried the rope when Kendra had impulsively insisted that she’d stop their working lunches otherwise.

Impulse usually got her into trouble, but at least it wasn’t boring. Posing for those shots hadn’t been boring.

And neither was Esperanza’s new owner.

Still, it was odd those were the pictures that were missing. Kendra had found those scenes the most hot. Had he been able to tell just by looking? He sure would have known by that kiss—Kendra hadn’t been able to hold back at all. But what would he do with the pictures? The idea of her new boss knowing more than one of her secrets was both exciting and terrifying. What would he say to her? What would he do?

Maybe he wouldn’t do anything. Maybe he would pretend that they hadn’t already met, that he hadn’t seen the pictures, that she hadn’t kissed him.

That he hadn’t kissed her back and driven every sane thought from her head in the process.

Maybe he’d act as if they were strangers, or professional associates just meeting for the first time. That would have been Leon’s choice.

Kendra went through the pictures again, confirming her suspicions. No, the new owner wasn’t at all like Leon. He was unpredictable, sexy, a driven and successful man who knew what he want and got it. Every time. He was a man who could read her like an open book, and maybe give her what she wanted most. Kendra couldn’t say what he would do the next morning, but she would have bet her paycheck he wouldn’t pretend nothing had happened.

What would it be like to have a man like that want her?

Kendra licked her lips and tasted his kiss again. A surge of desire shot through her and she was glad she was home alone.

She got up quickly and shut the drapes. She peered around them, looking out into the night, fighting the sense that someone was watching her.

No, she just wanted someone to be watching her. She wanted her new boss to be thinking about her just the way she was thinking about him. She pulled the drapes tightly shut, made a final trip to the washroom, then went to bed.

She peeled off her nightgown in the darkness, impatient with the heat in her body. The sheets felt smooth against her skin and she wondered why she’d never treated herself to an indulgence like satin sheets. She closed her eyes and thought of the one shot she loved the best, the one in which she’d been hogtied with rope, blindfolded, and left on the conference room table. She’d been wearing a full length black satin corset that day, with black garters and fishnets, shiny red high heels and red lipstick to match. Her black lace gloves had been so long that they’d come up to her underarms and the blindfold had been leather. She’d been tied with shiny red rope she’d bought especially for the scene.

In reality, it had been tied too loose and wrapped around her too few times. Even though it looked great, she could have wriggled free in four seconds—and she had. But there had been a moment when it had felt so right and so hot, a moment when she’d been able to imagine that a sexual fantasy of hers could come true.

Kendra got out of bed and rummaged in her lingerie drawer in the dark. She could find anything in there by feel, because she knew the contents so well. She looked at her own shadowed reflection in the mirror, then tugged out the corset and gloves. She laced herself in as tightly as she could, imagining a master making the laces even tighter.

Binding her for his pleasure.

The master in her mind’s eye looked a whole lot like her new boss. She imagined begging for mercy and being declined any.

Her nipples got tight and hard. They rose over the top of the corset, because it had only half cups. She pinched them and savored the thrill that rolled through her body. It was easy to imagine her new boss watching her. He’d be still and intense, focused—with an erection in his jeans. His eyes would smolder, she just knew it, and his lips would be tight. He was all about control, she could see that already, and it was exciting to think about him controlling her.

He wouldn’t go wank off in the bathroom once she was bound helpless, and he certainly wouldn’t tie her so loosely she could wiggle free. No. If he decided to tie up a woman, he’d do it right. He’d own her soul before he’d finished claiming her—and Kendra would be happy to surrender everything to him.

She slipped on her shoes, the high shiny red ones, and smiled at the way her feet arched. She felt so hot in these shoes, so sexy and powerful.

Of course, the new owner was a successful businessman. He wouldn’t be interested in such games. Her life was going to be work, work, work—assuming she still had a job by the end of the next day. But as she knelt on the bed and tightened the leather blindfold over her eyes, Kendra dared to imagine her new boss demanding that she stay late.

Tying her down.

Taking possession of her.

Making her into his slave.

She was so wet that she was nearly dripping. Kendra got back into bed and laid on her back, deciding then and there to buy herself some satin sheets. She stretched out her legs, as if her ankles were bound to the corners of the footboard. She stretched up her left hand as if it was bound to the headboard, then slid her own fingers down toward her wet puss.

The new boss had strong elegant hands. She’d liked the way he’d gripped her head, the way he’d kissed her, the way he’d taken what she’d given and demanded more. She opened her mouth, as if to invite his kiss, then pushed her fingers through her own pubic hair. She was wet, her labia thick and almost pulsing with need. She caressed herself, imagining it was her fictitious sex-obsessed version of her new boss touching her. She wanted the corset to be tighter. She wanted the blindfold to be a hood. She wanted to be gagged and tied, trussed and captive.

Every lunch hour, in the office or in the conference room, while everyone else thought she was running spreadsheets and errands, she wanted him to be taking her. She wanted to have a hot little secret with the boss, to be his helpless plaything.

When she imagined him tying her helpless, she knew he’d be decisive and firm. She knew he wouldn’t falter or hesitate. She knew he’d understand exactly how tight to make the knots to ensure she was at his mercy. She could imagine him walking around her, checking out his handwork, inviting her to escape.

She struggled, knowing that if he’d bound her, there’d be no way to wriggle free. She’d be completely captive.

And when they both knew it was so, he’d take her. Slowly. Thoroughly. Just the way he kissed. Taking more than she’d intended to offer and convincing her to come back for more.

Imagining that made Kendra come in a great, shuddering rush.

In the aftermath, she stared at the ceiling, trembling as she caught her breath. She’d wear a black lace merry widow and stockings to work the next day, and yes, the shiny red high heels.

Just because.

* * *

Across the street, a man stepped out of the shadows, his camera tucked into the inside pocket of his jacket. He counted the windows on either side of the one where he’d seen the woman, then the floors. He made a note, then eyed the windows again, assessing how many belonged to each apartment. The choice of window coverings helped, as did the lights inside.