Koen drops the phone onto the table, standing and stretching with a groan before striding closer and crowding me toward the door.
“Aren’t we worried about the move Helms just made? How he was at my house?”
“No. Not presently. Means I’m doing my job. He’s nervous.”
“Aren’t you supposed to work for him and do as he says? He said you were stalling on a job. Maybe you should just—” My words cut off as Koen lifts me, throwing me over his shoulder as he heads toward a room I’ve never been inside of before.
He fumbles with a key in the lock as the blood rushes to my head.
“I think you should let me worry about the bad guys, and you worry about being a good girl. Sound like a deal?” he says, dropping me back onto my feet in a room with dim lights and the overwhelming scent of leather.
The ceiling is edged in red rope lights, while the rest of the room is lit only by a few dim corner lamps.
A massive bed in the middle of the room looks like something out of the Middle Ages. At the end of the bed, there’s a stock where a person could be restrained by their neck and hands.
Swallowing, my mouth grows drier. My eyes dance around the room, taking in all the toys pristinely displayed. A black leather bench runs the expanse of the room to my right, and there are straps on it for restraining.
A swing hangs from the back right, and in the opposing corner, there’s a lounger that looks to be used with the sexual partner lying on their back.
“This is…” My words trail off as Koen walks closer, lifting the stock.
“Get on the bed.” His tone is dour, nothing like it was a moment ago when he was speaking on the phone.
“Why do I feel like I’m about to be punished?”
“Because you are.”
“What for? I didn’t do anything!” I don’t mean to scream, but fear is lacing with the throb between my thighs, and I don’t quite know how to behave.
“You didn’t? Hmm.” He mocks, his finger on his chin.
Anger roils in my belly, but I know better than to take on Koen. The last time, he left me on the edge of coming, aching and miserable.
Oh, God. I hope he doesn’t mean to do that again…
“Koen, I’m sorry. Whatever I did, I didn’t mean to upset you...”
His dark chuckle follows his steps toward me, his menacing smile pulling his lips into a sinister grin. He backs me toward one of the bed’s four posts. “Remembering how I took you to the edge of bliss and left you there, are you?”
The husk in his tone has me panting, forgetting all about how badly I don’t want him to punish me.
His hands wrap around the post at my back, his muscles bulging, his scent overwhelming me.
“What if Ineedto punish you, but you did nothing wrong? What if it’s me who’s fucked-up?” he whispers, his forehead pressing against mine.
“You need to punish me?” I breathe.
“Mm. What if I ache to see my marks on your flesh? Would that make you run again, pretty poison?”
“No.” The answer’s out before I can think twice about it, and it’s my truth.
Something about this dark, deranged man calls to me. It’s something I can’t explain, and it’s also something I don’t think I’ll ever explore for fear of coming too close to the darkness in myself that finds solace with him.
“Didn’t even hesitate,” he points out.
My eyes fight to remain open as his presence douses me with the electric feel of our connection, something I’m a sucker for. “I won’t run.”
“Good. I’m tired of chasing after you.”
