“All the better to keep you safe.”
“I didn’t ask you to do that.” She thumps my chest, catching me by surprise. From the way she blinks, she’s surprised herself, too. I catch her wrists, and she glares up at me. At least she’s not afraid.
No, the way her heady scent rises between us, she’s aroused.
I duck my head to better breathe her in. “You’re in trouble.”
“I know that. I have a giant billionaire haunting my every move. Leaving bodies all over the city.”
“Is that why you came to meet St. James?” Heat fills me at the thought of her in the same room as him. “Did he promise to keep me away from you?”
“No.” She struggles, but I tighten my grip. I could slide my hands up, press my thumbs into tender spots above her elbows, and incapacitate her with pain. For a moment, I’m tempted. I want to hurt her like she’s hurt me.
But I keep control of my anger. It’s easy to leash the beast, knowing I’ll be able to channel my sadism into a scene. I’m already in dom space, where I notice every flinch of her forehead or flick of her eyelashes.
“I wasn’t going to do anything with him,” she growls, clenching her fists. Spitting rage, she’s glorious. “I was just going to ask him questions.”
“Did you expect him to hand you evidence about my crimes just like that?” I want to laugh at the naivete. “St. James is the last person you should expect to help. His crimes are more numerous and sordid than mine.”
She goes still at this. “Figures anyone you’re in business with is also a criminal.”
It did occur to me that siccing the cops on me could give St. James more room to maneuver, but I have plenty of evidence of his dealings outside the law as part of a secret society called Fraternitas. If he tries to frame me for something, I can release something equally or more damaging, and he knows it. We work well together, comfortable in the knowledge that any move against the other will result in mutually assured destruction.
“St. James is one of the worst of those I associate with. Although not as bad as the Chief of Police or the mayor.”
She presses her lips together. She doesn’t like being reminded of the corruption a large city like this runs on.
She flexes her forearms a second before wrenching herself backward. I allow her enough room to struggle, all while keeping hold of her with laughable ease. The way her eyelids fall to half-mast tells me that she’s enjoying this as much as I am.
“If he’s so bad, why do you own a sex club with him?”
“You’ve heard the saying, ‘keep your friends close and your enemies closer.’” I yank her into my arms and seal our bodies together. “It’s advice you’d do well to follow.”
“I don’t want to. I don’t want you.” But she arcs her body, rubbing against me. I splay my hands across her back, holding her like we’re dancing.
“No?” I bend to cup her backside and pull her body more firmly against mine. My dick swells in my slacks, throbbing. I embrace the ache. “Is that why you keep coming to me?”
“I didn’t come here for you.”
“All roads lead to me. You should know that by now.”
She scoffs. “Maybe I should be asking you why you’re here. Were you meeting another submissive? Were you going to dom them?”
Is she jealous? “Never, little bird. There’s no one else for me. Only you.”
Her lashes flutter. Is she pleased by that admission?
“Admit it,” I say.
“What?”
“You’re glad to see me. You hoped I would be here.”
Her lower lip juts out, plump and tempting. I want to bite it. “I’m gathering evidence against you.”
“And how’s that going?” I taunt her for the thrill of watching her bite back a snarl. “The only things you know are what I reveal to you. What I allow you to know.”
“Maybe I’m profiling you. Sadistic, narcissistic billionaire with no real friends seeks victims.”
