White Collared Part Four: Passion (8 page)

“I won’t.” He stopped her with a hand. “Will you continue wearing my collar?”

As if she’d ever willingly take it off.

She smiled. “Yes, although I don’t see how you can dominate me all the way from Aruba.”

As she’d intended, she had provoked the big bad Dom. “You don’t, huh? I know you’re busy, but I’ll have assignments for you to fill your nighttime and weekend hours.”

Oh lord. She’d walked right into that one. “What do you mean?”

He played with the ends of her hair, rubbing them between his fingers. “You still need to complete that BDSM questionnaire. We’ve barely begun to scratch the surface of what’s available to you.” His pupils dilated, and she’d bet if she checked a mirror, she’d see hers dilating as well. “I want to know your desires, your fears, your darkest fantasies. I’m going to send you a journal to write down your thoughts and feelings about your assignments. Then I’m going to have you read it to me. Since I won’t be able to get inside your body, I’m going to be inside your head, heart, and soul.”

He was already there.

“Then we’ll talk?” she asked.

He traced the outline of her lips. “Every day, baby. At least once. We’ll make good use of FaceTime. I’m going to want to see your beautiful cunt on camera.” He licked his lips playfully. “Oh yeah. You’re not to make yourself come unless I give you permission.”

Said cunt clenched in reaction to Jaxon’s words. “You mean right now?”

His expression turned fierce. “I mean now and forever. I own you and your orgasms as long as you wear my collar.”

She shivered. “And what about you? Do I own
your
orgasms?”

He laughed. “No. It doesn’t work that way. But you own something more fragile.” He stood and took her hands, bringing her to her feet. “My heart.” He kissed her, slow and languid, teasing her with the tip of his tongue, only pulling away when a boom of thunder shook the walls. “It’s raining. Take one of my cars. In fact, keep one. I’d feel better if you weren’t driving around on that bike of yours, especially when it turns cold. You’re welcome to stay here as well. Your apartment isn’t safe and I’d—”

She kissed him to shut him up. “Jaxon. I appreciate the offer, but my bike and the apartment are part of who I am at the moment.” She may be his submissive in the bedroom, but she had to retain her independence. But she wasn’t stupid. “I will, however, take the Hummer today.”

Thankfully, Nick had lent her money to get a new tire for her bike. One more thing she owed him for.

After she and Jaxon finished dressing, he led her down the stairs and to the garage and then handed her the keys. Her throat tightened, and she exhaled a shuddering breath, determined not to cry. She had to stay strong not only for herself but for him. Crying now would feel too much like a manipulation, and she didn’t play games.

Well, not unless they played them together.

He brushed his knuckles under her eyes. “Don’t be sad, Katerina. This isn’t good-bye.” He yanked her to his chest and dipped his head. “Kiss me.”

It was as if his lips were magnets and she the iron lured by his invisible force field, impossible to resist. Not that she wanted to. No. She sealed her mouth to his and showed him with her lips, with her tongue, with the moans from low in her throat how much she cared for him.

When he pulled away, he took another piece of her with him, but she didn’t feel a void. Because he’d replaced it with a piece of himself, and that piece was filled with light and hope and passion.

“Good luck with Hannah. I’ll call you tonight at nine. Make sure you’re sprawled out on your bed. Naked.”

After he moved her bike into his garage, she grabbed her briefcase and threw it in the passenger seat of the Hummer.

She watched him in her rearview mirror as she backed out of his garage. Watched him until the gate closed behind her. Then she drove home, proud of herself for managing to keep the tears at bay.

It wasn’t easy.

She cranked up the music and rocked out to Eminem at the top of her lungs. By the time she reached her apartment forty minutes later, her throat hurt from her poor attempt at rap singing, but her eyes had stayed dry.

She quickly showered and readied for her day. Then as she raced down her stairs, she called Lisa and told her she’d be late to work because Hannah had regained consciousness. Nick’s secretary promised to relay the message and thanked Kate for completing the filing for her.

Despite rush hour traffic and the heavy rain, the drive to the hospital was a short one, and within minutes, she entered Hannah’s room, relieved to see her eating breakfast.

Her face was gaunt, and she had circles under her eyes, but her coloring had returned. Her hair looked perfect, and she even wore a bit of lipstick.

“You look good for a woman who’s been unconscious for over a week,” Kate said. “How are you feeling?”

“Like someone tried to kill me.”

“Someone did. Miles Joseph.” Kate sat in the chair by Hannah’s bed. The cushion was warm and Tom’s jacket was on the floor. She almost picked it up for him, but then she decided it was no longer her job to care for him. But she appreciated that he’d given her the opportunity to chat with Hannah alone.

Hannah nodded and took a bite of cereal. “I know. The police came by and questioned me last night when I woke up. Besides, it’s been all over the news. You look fabulous on television by the way.”

Only Hannah would care about appearances rather than the fact that both of them had almost died. It was a good sign that she’d recovered, which meant she could handle a simple interrogation.

Kate crossed her legs and leaned forward. “Do you remember what happened to you that night?”

“Bits and pieces. I remember letting myself into your apartment after you didn’t answer. I wasn’t sure if you were out or ignoring me. I remember waiting for you on the couch and the door opening. I remember a man . . .”

“Mr. Joseph?”

Hannah’s face crumbled, and she sighed. “I don’t know. He wore a ski mask and gloves. I saw a knife. And that’s all I remember.”

Kate’s head told her not to feel guilty, but her heart didn’t listen. “He thought you were me.”

“I told you we look like sisters.” Hannah smiled and then her expression turned serious. “I don’t blame you, you know. It wasn’t your fault.”

“I know, but I can’t help feeling responsible. If I’d let you talk, you wouldn’t have gone to my apartment.”

“True, but I might’ve gotten hit by a bus.” She took Kate’s hand. “No one can predict the future. Not even you. I’m the one who zigged when I should’ve zagged. I need to be the one to take the consequences for my actions.”

Kate was proud of Hannah for accepting responsibility, and it released her from some of her guilt. “I don’t think getting stabbed was the appropriate consequence for sleeping with Tom.”

“What would you have suggested?”

Kate shrugged. “Herpes?”

Hannah laughed, probably thinking Kate had been joking. “I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I really believed him when he told me you’d forgive me.”

“Tom thought I’d forgive you?”

Hannah gave her hand one last squeeze and then released it to push her breakfast tray off to the side. “No. Mr. Trenton.”

“I’m confused. When did you talk to Nick?”

“You never noticed the way he’d watch you, did you? The guy’s got it bad for you.” Hannah’s eyebrows did a little wiggle. “It started innocently. He’d ask me about your hobbies and your favorite foods. Small stuff. I told him you were happy with Tom, but he didn’t believe you were. And that’s when he asked me to spend time with Tom. To figure out if you guys were happy. He said that if I did that for him, he’d guarantee me an associate spot.”

Kate was in shock. “Are you telling me Nick asked you to seduce Tom?”

Hannah shook her head and nibbled on her bottom lip. “No. I was only supposed to hang out with him. Mr. Trenton made a good argument that if Tom flirted with me, you weren’t meant to be. And he didn’t. We talked about you mostly. It felt so good to have someone who understood what it was like to follow in your shadow. We started texting and talking on the phone. It didn’t seem like a big deal. There was this underlying attraction, but we didn’t act on it. I went to Mr. Trenton to ask for advice and that’s when he told me to go for it. That you’d get over it because you’d have him.”

Kate’s stomach cramped, and if she’d eaten breakfast, she would’ve lost it all over Tom’s jacket. She inhaled through her nose and pasted on a fake smile. “I forgive you. And Nick was right. I wasn’t in love with Tom. You and he make a great couple.”

Hope lit Hannah’s face. “So we’ll be friends again?”

Kate stared at her friend and realized the reasons she’d become friends with her in the first place no longer existed. Hannah had never cared about her. She hadn’t once asked Kate how
she
was feeling after the attempts on her life.

She got out of her chair, not caring that she’d stepped on Tom’s jacket. “I don’t know. It doesn’t sound like we were good for one another. I’ll always care about you, and I wish you well, but for now, I don’t think we can be friends.”

Hannah’s eyes filled with tears, but she nodded. She’d be okay. She had Tom and would likely find another friend to replace Kate before Christmas. She was no longer Kate’s problem.

Besides, Kate had bigger concerns. As she left Hannah’s room, she thought back to two weeks ago when she’d questioned Nick as to why he would choose her to second chair, and somehow he’d convinced her of her worth.

Why had he chosen her? To spend more time with her? To ensure her a position as junior associate?

In her mind, she saw the entire chessboard laid out as it had been from the start, and she analyzed each move, cringing as the pawns were sacrificed to protect the king.

She thought back to the confrontation with Miles Joseph. He’d admitted to killing Stephanie and the attempts on her life, but he never did confess to Alyssa’s murder. Plus, when he’d tried to buy her silence, he’d mentioned he’d done so before.

The lack of motive had bothered her, but with the knife that had been used on Alyssa in his office, there was no reason to think Miles Joseph wasn’t responsible for Alyssa’s death.

The killer had used Kate’s fear to drive her into his arms and had set up the evidence to lead back to Joseph’s computer. Then he silenced Joseph before the man had gotten the chance to tell Kate the truth.

At Alyssa’s funeral, the killer had pretended not to have known about Alyssa’s rape, but he’d drafted the complaint against Reverend Pierce prior to her murder.

Kate hopped up into the Hummer and left the music off as she headed back to the suburbs. She tried to reach Jaxon, but he didn’t answer his cell phone. He was probably forty thousand feet in the air, on his way to Aruba. She left him a voicemail message explaining her theory and told him she was on the way to his house.

A cool calm descended over her.

She needed to see the picture of Alyssa with Jaxon and Nick again. She finally realized what it was about the photograph that had bothered her. Alyssa had been wearing a collar, but it couldn’t have been from Jaxon because it was before they’d entered a Dom/sub relationship. That meant she had still belonged to her Master at the time the photo had been taken.

And her gut told her it had been Nick.

Chapter Nine

A
S IF ON
autopilot, she parked the Hummer in Jaxon’s garage and noticed that his Explorer was already gone. Just as she feared, he’d already left for Aruba.

She let herself into his house, and then, as Jaxon had done two weeks ago, she went upstairs, but rather than go to Alyssa’s bedroom, she marched straight to Jaxon’s.

Her eyes burned as she lifted the photo and zeroed in on the collar around Alyssa’s neck.

She’d never wanted to be more wrong.

“I always loved that picture,” Nick said, standing right inside the bedroom, blocking her exit.

Her heart stopped and her breath caught in her chest.

She’d thought Jaxon’s gated driveway would keep her safe, but apparently Nick also had a remote to open the gate. Hadn’t she learned anything after going to Miles Joseph’s office without backup?

A frisson of fear raced down her spine at the sight of him. Gone was the Nick who’d bought her ice cream and hung out in her kitchen while she’d made them coffee. This Nick looked as though he hadn’t slept in days. His eyes were bloodshot and glassy, his pupils tiny pinpricks. His white dress shirt and black slacks were wrinkled and his hair uncombed.

The man she’d idolized was unraveling like a spool of thread.

She clutched her purse to her chest and smiled, trying to play dumb. “What are you doing here?”

He shook his head. “Oh, Kate. Let’s not pretend you haven’t figured it all out. It demeans our relationship. I’m here because I heard every word of your conversation with Hannah.” He took a step closer, and she saw the sweat beading his brow. “I’ve been following you since you began your internship. Every night I’d sit in the firm’s parking structure, watching to make sure you made it to your bike without harm, and then I’d tail you as you drove to your hovel of an apartment. Someone obviously needed to look out for you, or who knows what danger you would’ve found yourself in.”

How had she not noticed him following her the last few months? She thought back to his appearance at the bar the night he’d assigned her to Jaxon’s case. She’d been shocked when he’d admitted to observing her for an hour before he’d interrupted her night out with the other interns. The idea that he’d done it for weeks without her knowledge made her skin crawl.

Now he stared at her with his eyebrows raised as if waiting for her to say something.

“Am I supposed to thank you for stalking me?” she asked.

“I hear sarcasm in your question, but to be honest, that’s exactly what I’d hoped for.” He reached into the pocket of his pants and whipped out a butterfly knife.

Nausea swept through her, her stomach clenching and her throat tightening. “Thank you,” she said.

He nodded once. “It’s been my pleasure to take care of you. You’ve been alone for far too long.” He glanced at the picture of Alyssa.