STORY EXCERPT

When Kaylin awoke, the sun was just creeping up over the ocean, and the rays bouncing off the waves in the distance were blinding. She felt the bed beside her and found it was cool. She heard the rhythmic splashing sounds from the lap pool out on the terrace. Jack had left the doors open. He must swim early like she did. She got up and walked out to the terrace in time to see him pull himself up onto the coping and stand up. He was naked. His dark hair was wet and slicked back from a face darkened by a morning beard. The sun glinted off the water running down his body and highlighted his strong, masculine features. He looked like a Greek statue silhouetted against the rising sun. God, he’s beautiful. And last night was beautiful. She walked over to him and pressed her nude body up against his. “Yikes, you’re cold.”

He laughed. “The water cools off up here overnight. I guess it’s the strong breeze. If you think that’s cold, try this.” He picked her up and tossed her into the pool. She came to the surface sputtering.

“That was mean!”

He jumped back into the water and pulled her into his arms for a good morning kiss that rocked her world. The warmth of his big body against her cold skin was delicious as she wrapped her legs around his waist. She could get used to good mornings like this. She was warming up rapidly. “Don’t you worry that someone will see you walking around up here naked?”

“No. The trees on the terrace provide a pretty good screen, and we are twenty stories up. Although…” And now he grinned full-out, his dimple winked, and his gray eyes sparkled like chipped ice. “There was that one picture of me in a tabloid…I think they took it from a helicopter.” When he saw the horrified look on her face, he just laughed. “Don’t worry about it. Pretty much everyone in this town knows not to mess with me or my privacy. Besides, security usually keeps a pretty tight rein on things, the incident in the garage notwithstanding. Mr. Smith will not be back. If he’d had his eyes open, Lucy might not be dead.”

“That would be hard to live with. I hope you didn’t say that to him.”

“You’re softhearted for a cop, Kaylin. No, I didn’t need to say it. He had already figured it out for himself. And, yeah, I think it will be hard to live with. Let’s not talk about that now. How about breakfast? I can whip up a couple of omelets and coffee. I guess you have to get home to change and go to work. I’m sure Del will be looking for you this morning for a briefing.” His smile was mischievous in the extreme.

“Don’t remind me. Del is not going to be a happy camper. I do have to get home to change for work. Breakfast sounds great. Can we eat out here?”

“Absolutely. Why don’t you get your swim in. Towels are under that table. I’ll start breakfast.”

When Jack came back out with a tray loaded with omelets, toast, and big mugs of coffee, Kaylin was sitting at a table next to the roof’s edge, wrapped in a huge white towel, admiring the view while she checked messages and e-mail on her iPhone. There were three “where are you” messages from Del. “This is one hell of a view you have here, Mr. Brown.”

“It is, and I never take it for granted.” He set the tray down and served breakfast.

The ham and cheese omelets with spears of asparagus were excellent, and the coffee was fabulous. “I appreciate your letting us come into the club undercover, Jack. I hope it gives us the lead we need to close this case.”

“Kaylin, I think you know this has progressed past an undercover op, at least for me. Can I hope you feel the same way?”

“Last night was something I never expected. I’ve never felt like that before, but, Jack, the operation has to come first right now. I have to keep my eye on the ball, and not on your gorgeous butt.” She grinned.

“I presume you want to give it another try tonight. I’m not backing out of this. I want the bastard who killed Lucy to pay. She was a sweet kid, and she died needlessly in my building after leaving my club where she should have been safe. I have to live with that too.”

“Okay. We’ll work on it. We’ll address our personal issues when this is over.”

ADULT EXCERPT

“There are many pleasurable things I want to show you, Kaylin, but it’s too soon for most of them so let’s start slowly. I don’t want you to be scared this first time.”

“As you wish, Master.” She didn’t know if she was supposed to respond to his statement. He had told her not to speak unless asked a direct question. All this protocol for something that should be simple was confusing.

“Don’t be afraid. Remember to trust your Master.” He reached for her wrists and fastened the cuffs to the chains he had just shown her. Kaylin couldn’t help but be a little apprehensive. He adjusted the length of the ceiling chains until her high-heeled shoes were just touching the floor. “Spread your legs. I’m going to cuff your ankles as well and fasten them to those bolts on the floor,” he said as he proceeded to secure her to the floor as well. Now Kaylin was beginning to get a little nervous. She didn’t know if she should be glad Del was behind the bar or not. She really didn’t need her partner seeing her like this.

The dungeon had a rather scary, gothic feeling, but then she supposed that was the whole idea. Jack had removed his vest, and the overhead spotlights cast shadows on his impressively muscled body. That just made the atmosphere all the more intimidating. Kaylin began to breathe more heavily, and she tried to control her respiration as her level of excitement—or was it fear—ramped up. The uncertainty of what would come next was having a definite effect on her. And then Jack reached out, slid the zipper that ran the length of the side seam from under her arm to the hem of her dress down, and stripped the dress off her body. I’m in nothing but a thong and high heels, chained to the floor and ceiling, with my legs spread wide open. It was strangely exciting and scary at the same time—not to mention embarrassing—and her pussy was beginning to throb. Yikes.

Jack walked around her examining her all-but-naked body as though he owned it. She sure as hell didn’t like that—in her mind—but her body seemed to like it fine. She felt her breasts begin to swell and her nipples harden to little nubs. He ran his hands over her prominent breasts and down over her round bottom. “You please me very much, sub. You have a beautiful body.”

Jack quickly administered a stinging slap to her ass. She gasped. “Hey!”

“Quiet, sub. You forget yourself.” He ran his hand down over the red handprint on her ass and soothed it. He brought his hands back up over her breasts, which were standing out at attention, and jiggled the soft mounds. He smiled. Obviously he was enjoying this situation, and it showed clearly on his face.

Jack pulled the short riding crop out from the back of his jeans where it had been tucked. How had she forgotten about that little item? He ran the crop down her back, over her butt, and over the backs of her thighs. He flicked a sharp little stinging strike with the end of the crop against her right butt cheek. She gasped and jerked away. She looked at him questioningly but this time she had the control not to speak without permission. She might be getting the hang of this. She didn’t know what he had in mind, but he did have a crop in his hand. That gave her at least an inkling of his intentions. Oh, she really was not going to like this, and she couldn’t protest. If she did, the jig would be up, and this undercover operation would be blown on the first night.

“Please, Master.”

He leaned in close to her ear and whispered, “Are you okay, Kaylin? What’s your color?”

She had to think a minute. Could she go on with this? For Lucy Evans? “Green, Master.”

“Good girl.” He administered a slightly harder strike again to her right butt cheek. Oh, boy. That stung, dammit. She didn’t know if she would be able to control her reaction, and then she remembered why she was there. She was not a wimp. She could take this. The beatings she took in training were a lot tougher than this, and she wasn’t being slammed down on the hard floor over and over.

He ran his hand down the length of her spine and over her ass again, and this time the crop struck her left butt cheek. The strike was sharp but was really not very painful. The cumulative effect of them would sure as hell hurt though. Kaylin was beginning to breathe heavily, and her heart was pounding with excitement. Jack looked directly into her eyes as he ran the leather-covered shaft of the crop between her legs and over her pussy which was still barely covered by the thong. She knew she was wet between her legs. She had never experienced anything like this in her life. She began to moan in earnest. Lust sparkled in her blood like bubbles in fine champagne. She really didn’t know what to make of this whole experience or of Jack Dalton Brown. She had said she didn’t think a woman could enjoy this, but obviously she had been wrong.

Kaylin felt the throb between her legs intensify almost beyond bearing. She couldn’t close her legs to tamp down the spears of pleasure that ran to her pussy. She realized she was helpless and at his mercy. She was helpless and all but naked, and it didn’t seem to matter. She was focused on Jack, on the Master, and what he was doing to her. Everything else had faded away.