STORY EXCERPT

Ward thought she might actually turn him down, which hadn’t happened in a while and was probably a timely lesson in humility. Mind you, he didn’t normally take women where he was about to take Tanya. He really did want to talk to her and hadn’t thought beyond that point. Seeing the way Melanie led her around like a poodle irritated the hell out of him and he wanted to understand why she put up with it. He wanted to understand a lot of things about this oddly compelling woman. For the first time since he couldn’t remember when, he wanted to be with a female for reasons other than sex. Not that sex didn’t feature high on his list of priorities, but he wasn’t looking for a long-term relationship and something told him Tanya wasn’t into casual sex.

So what the hell do I want from her?

He punched a four-digit code into a doorway at the back of the bar. It swung open, and Ward stepped back to allow Tanya to step through it first, making sure it closed firmly behind them. Tanya looked around the large, comfortably furnished room and blinked. There were overstuffed sofas, a blazing log fire, a fully equipped bar and, mercifully, no blaring music.

“What is this place?” she asked.

“It’s where Leo and the rest of us come for privacy.”

“It’s your lounge? You live here?”

“Kinda.”

“Well, what does that mean? Either you do or you don’t.”

Ward laughed. “We’ll get to that. First, what would you like to drink? More beer?”

“No thanks. I don’t like beer much.” He wanted to ask why she’d been drinking it in that case, but refrained. It wasn’t so very important. “A glass of white wine would be good, though.”

“Coming right up.”

Wade handed her a glass, opened a beer for himself, and joined her on the settee beside the fire.

“Tell me about yourself,” he invited.

“I’d much rather talk about you. Why a half dozen Yanks call this place home has to be a more interesting story.”

He wagged a finger at her and then ran one arm along the back of the sofa, his fingers within striking distance of her neck and all that gorgeous hair. “I asked first.”

“Okay, but there’s not much to tell. I had a wonderful childhood, great parents who loved one another, and me and my brother and sister. We weren’t beaten, or abused, or neglected, or any of the other things it’s fashionable to complain about nowadays. Mum and Dad are still together, still in love.”

“You were lucky.”

“I know.”

“Whereabouts were you raised?”

“I was brought up in Brighton, which is on the south coast of England. I still live in the area. I have a flat—what you’d call an apartment—close to Mum and Dad’s place. I run my own business. Website design. Hadleigh’s site could use some work, by the way.” Her smile lit up her features and they lost their reserve. She feels confident talking about something she understands, Ward realized, glad she was starting to relax. “No offense, but I checked it out and it’s…well, dull.”

Ward laughed. “Leo isn’t into all that stuff.”

“It shows.”

“He does so well here that he doesn’t really need an online presence anyway.”

“Everyone does. Hello, welcome to the twenty-first century.”

“Does your business do well?”

Her smile vanished. “I’ve got a good client base, more than I can cope with actually, but I hit a few problems recently.”

Hmm, Ward would like to know what they were but sensed now wasn’t the time to ask. She’d clammed up on him again and he could feel tension radiating from her. “What sort of clients do you have?”

A grin tugged at the corners of her mouth, telling him he was back on safe territory. “All sorts. One writes erotic romance, which is…er, interesting.”

“Nothing wrong with erotica.”

“No, but she writes BDSM. It gets pretty wild.”

“Does it now.”

Her eyes sparkled, a mixture of autumnal colors that mesmerized him. “I do think she gets a bit carried away sometimes. I mean, I just posted an excerpt for her, but the woman was in an impossible position.”

“Define impossible.”

She blushed, presumably because she realized what she was saying to him, a virtual stranger. It was interesting that she felt safer talking about this than about herself.

“Well, the woman had her feet…sorry.” She clapped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from giggling. “She had her legs over her own shoulders and her feet almost flat on the bed. She must have to have no bones in her body.”

“No, she could do that.”

Tanya’s eyes flew wide—very wide. “You know about this stuff?”

ADULT EXCERPT

“Your obedience pleases me, Tanya.”

His rigid cock throbbed like a bitch as Ward feasted his eyes on an exquisite body that was designed for mortal sin—a body that way exceeded his expectations. Her ass was indeed large, but the thought of seeing it striped pink after he’d given it a good flogging sent spikes of lust straight to his groin. Her thighs were on the heavy side but that flaw was more than compensated for by her shapely calves, slim ankles, and endlessly long legs. As for her tits—Ward couldn’t wait to get to work with the clamps, the ones connected by the weighted chain that would put maximum pressure on those delectably large nipples and teach her a few things she probably didn’t already know about the pleasures of titty play.

“Lift your breasts up and show them to me,” he said curtly.

He could see that the request had confused her. She was nervous, waiting for him to pay her compliments and put her at her ease, but that wasn’t the way Ward worked. He needed to establish his role as the Dom, get her used to obeying him without question or embarrassment. She sent him a quizzical glance but then did as he asked, pushing the heavy mounds of flesh together until the nipples almost touched.

“Why don’t you like your tits?” he asked.

“They’re too big and have been a constant source of embarrassment to me since I was twelve.”

Now was the time for a reassuring smile, and he duly dealt her one. “Honey, half the women in the world, including your friend Melanie, spend a fortune having theirs made bigger.”

“How did you know about Melanie?” She glanced up at him, appeared to remember she wasn’t supposed to do that, and dropped her eyes again.

Ward chuckled. “A man can always tell.”

“Oh, can he?”

“Pull that bathroom door closed.” She did so and found herself confronted with a full-length mirror. “Look at yourself, babe, and tell me what you see.”

“Fat thighs and pendulous tits,” she said without hesitation.

Ward shook his head. Her dislike of her body ran deeper than he’d realized. Tanya wasn’t ready to accept it yet, but her friend bore a lot of the responsibility for that. She chipped away at Tanya’s confidence at every opportunity, couching her bitchy comments as humor or friendly advice, making sure Tanya didn’t wake up to her own sensuality.

“Do you know what I see?”

“The same thing, Master?”

“Hell no. I see a desirable woman with lovely curves in all the right places. You wanna know what your curves do to me?” She nodded, which was Ward’s cue to stand up, unsnap his jeans, and step out of them. He went commando so was now naked, and very erect. He grasped the base of his cock and pointed it toward her. Her eyes widened and she gasped. “You’ve made me like this, sweet thing. You. No one else.”

“You’re just feeling horny.”

Geez, what would it take? “We don’t have many days before you leave, but fortunately I enjoy a challenge.” He fixed her with a determined expression. “Before you go back to England, I’ll have you looking at yourself in a very different way. On that you have my guarantee.”

“The way you’re looking at me, with…well, with hunger in your eyes, does make me feel special. But I still think that’s just because you want to get laid and I happen to be here.”

“I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but if I just wanted a quick fuck, I could have taken my pick out there in the bar. Oh, I do want to fuck you, very badly as it happens, and I will. But it’s important to me that you see yourself as I do. Don’t focus on the negatives.” He ran his gaze lazily down the length of her. “Think of the whole package, which is pretty damned hot from where I’m standing.”

“Oh.”

“And, just so you know, I never bring women back to this room. It’s my space and I don’t like it being invaded by strangers.”

“But I’m a stranger. We only just met.”