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  She’d never heard a man practically begging, needing her the way Derek seemed to tonight.

  She couldn’t resist. She opened herself because she didn’t know how to do this any other way. She wrapped herself around him, offering him everything she had.

  “You won’t regret it, gorgeous.” His mouth fused to hers, his tongue cajoling as he fitted his cock against her pussy and started to press inside.

  She held on. He was so big. She gasped, but he’d done a damn good job of getting her ridiculously wet. He slid in an inch or so and held himself still, his forehead against hers.

  “You’re going to kill me, Karina. Naturally you feel this good. Fuck, you’re so tight.” He pulled back a little and then carefully moved forward. His mouth came back on hers and he captured the little cry she made as he pressed his full length inside.

  So full. Derek seemed to take up all the space, his cock foraging deep. She held on to him.

  “Yes, you dig those nails in. I want it. You won’t hurt me.” He pulled out and fucked back in, keeping his strokes measured, grinding his pelvis against hers. Every motion was careful, but she could see the toll it was taking on him. His face was flushed and tense.

  She stroked his back, letting her hands go down to cup that wretchedly hot backside of his. “Give me more, Sir. Please.”

  She wanted all of him. She wanted for him to lose control the way she was. Yes, she loved to play, loved to be controlled by her Dom, but she needed this, too. She needed to feel precious, sexy and wanted.

  “I’ll give you everything.” He leveraged himself up on his arms and slammed against her pelvis, giving her the hard length of his dick in one thrust.

  Karina felt him grind down on her even as he stroked that place deep inside that made her go off like a rocket. She didn’t fight it. She let that orgasm explode across her body. Wave after wave of pleasure sparked through her. She held on to Derek even as he lost that controlled rhythm he’d used and began to fuck her with pure force. His hands tightened on her, holding on as he slammed into her again and again. His eyes closed and his head dropped back and then he shouted out her name as he held himself hard against her.

  Even as he came, she felt the sparks again, the aftershocks of the earthquake he’d started deep in her body.

  He collapsed down, his face next to hers, his body warm against her own.

  Blood thrummed through her system, pulsing in the most pleasant way. She sighed and let the softness of the moment settle on her.

  She half expected him to jump off the moment he was done, but Derek cuddled down, settling his head on her chest.

  She let her hands brush through his hair. “How did you get away? Back in Afghanistan, I mean.”

  He hadn’t finished his story and she found herself so curious. He rolled off her, but immediately settled at her side again. He propped his head up on his hand and stared at her for a moment. “Big Tag came after me. He went against orders and he found me.” He brought his free hand out to run his thumb over her lip. “It was the morning after Jones died. If I’d been able to keep him alive just another couple of hours…”

  She shook her head. “You did everything you could.”

  “Sometimes I wonder about that. Karina, I should go and sleep on the couch, but I don’t want to.”

  Dangerous. If she thought he was dangerous before, this Derek just might kill her. She’d expected him to get up and stretch and walk out. She’d thought he might kiss her and thank her for the lay. Not once in any scenario that played through her head had he put his head to her breast and asked for her comfort.

  “Please stay with me.” She was in too deep, but she couldn’t get out. Not now.

  “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  She was pretty sure he wasn’t talking just about the physical. She was rapidly discovering that Derek wanted to play fair. He wanted to be honest. “Just stay with me for a while.”

  “I don’t sleep with other people, Karina. I can’t. So I’ll just lay here until you fall asleep. If you wake up and I’m not here, don’t take it bad. I’m just not built that way anymore, okay?”

  She could handle honesty. “All right.”

  She let her fingers rub his scalp and despite all of his protests, his chest rose and fell in an even rhythm and he was asleep within moments.

  Karina smiled as she managed to turn off the light.

  She held him and couldn’t help but think that no matter what happened, they wouldn’t be the same. A new life. She’d just started over.

  Though it made her ache inside, she didn’t even regret it. She kissed the top of Derek’s head and let herself drift off to sleep.

  * * * *

  Early morning light filtered in through the slats and Karina sighed a little as she turned.

  And then remembered what had happened the night before.

  She let her eyes fly open, but she was alone in bed. The pillow next to her still had an indention where his head had rested. She’d woken up once in the night to find him wrapped around her, his arm anchored around her middle, his body spooning hers.

  Who would have guessed that big bad Derek Brighton was a teddy bear?

  Okay. So she’d slept with him. That didn’t really change anything between them. It didn’t make them best buddies. It didn’t even really mean they were friends. It meant they had needed each other in the middle of the night and they were consenting adults without significant others.

  She could handle this. Sure she hadn’t actually dated in over fifteen years, but then they weren’t dating. They were…what were they? Intimate strangers? Fuck buddies? When this case was over would he call her up when he needed a lay? Would she shove the phone up his ass? Or would she get used to casual sex?

  It hadn’t felt casual.

  It had felt real. It felt oddly pure to be with Brighton, like something she’d been missing for a long time had finally fallen into place.

  She was acting like a kid. He would likely run if he knew that thought was going through her head.

  “You need a maid.”

  She nearly jumped and pulled the sheet up, covering her breasts. Where had she put the shirt she’d been wearing the night before? Derek stood in her doorway wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his lean hips. His hair was slightly wet, and even from where she was she could smell the fresh scent of soap clinging to his every muscle. And there were so many of them. So many gorgeous muscles. She hadn’t taken the time to properly look at him last night. She’d seen him without his shirt before, but somehow it was different without the encasement of his leathers. From the golden tan of his skin to the way his abs flowed into sexy notches on his hips, he was sin on two legs. Even his scars seemed beautiful to her.

  And she was supposed to be an adult female who had merely had a fun night with an equally adult male.

  “I’ve been busy lately. I’ll try to clean up this morning.” Casual. Cool. She wasn’t bothered at all by the fact that she was lying around naked. Nope. Not at all.

  He chuckled a little and leaned against the doorjamb. “Come on, Mills. You got to be able to take a joke.”

  “It’s not really a joke. I think I saw something growing in the fridge. I haven’t been very attentive to housekeeping lately.” She bet any girlfriend of Derek’s likely was. He seemed to be an organized guy. His desk was always neat as a pin. She was lucky if she could find anything on hers.

  “Yeah, pretty sure that was going to rise up and take us all down one of these days. Luckily I think I tossed it out before it gained intelligence and led a fungal revolution.”

  She felt her cheeks flare. “God, Brighton, you didn’t have to do that.”

  “I did if I’m going to keep my sanity. I’m the slightest bit OCD about some things, including being able to open the fridge with little to no fear that I’ll be attacked. The good news is now it’s clean and I’m going to show you something amazing. It’s called food. You see, we buy these things like eggs and milk and then they’
re waiting there when we want to cook.”

  She couldn’t help but send him her middle finger. Something about the man brought out the worst in her. “I cooked last night.”

  “And you only bought the stuff for dinner.”

  “Which you ate all of. Normally that would last me a week.”

  “Now you have to feed me,” he said, his voice dropping. “And I like to eat, Karina. I’m a big guy and I need a lot to satisfy me. How about we make a deal? We’re stuck together for a while. I’ll clean. You cook. If you do breakfast anything like you did dinner, I will happily dust this whole place.”

  Somehow the idea of Derek walking around with a duster in his hand made her giggle. “I had no idea how handy you were. I kind of thought you would have some sub do that for you. Aren’t you looking for a slave?”

  His smile faltered. “Yes, well we know that’s nothing you’re interested in. If we’re going to survive this I have to be a little less rigid. Besides, I guess I never really thought about that part. I wasn’t trying to find a maid. I’ve cleaned up after myself for a long time.”

  Then what exactly was he expecting his chosen sub to do all day if she wasn’t keeping house? It wasn’t forever, but he was right. They needed some rules if they were going to share her very small space. She just needed to be able to get her eyes off his chest long enough to think about what a good rule would be. Maybe he shouldn’t walk around shirtless so she didn’t turn into a drooling idiot every time he entered the room.

  “What do you say?” Derek asked. “I’ll even put together that bookshelf you shoved into the front closet.”

  She groaned a little. “All the instructions are in Swedish. I’m not very handy.”

  “I am. I think you’ll find me very handy to have around. Do we have a deal?”

  He must be really hungry. “Yes. Now if you give me a sec, I’ll shower and get breakfast going.”

  “We have plenty of time. Now for the second part of our deal. Drop the sheet. I want to see you.”

  “What?”

  “I want to see your breasts. I want to see your legs. Hell, I want to see your toes, gorgeous. I want to see the way your skin looks in the morning light because I dreamed about it all last night. That’s right. My dreams are usually shitty, but last night I dreamed about fucking you and I slept like a baby. So drop the sheet and show me.”

  Last night seemed like a dream. “Derek, I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

  “Just play with me. Sleep with me. Be with me for a week, maybe two. Think of it as a vacation from where you usually are. I don’t know about you, but I’m lonely. I would really like to take a vacation from being alone even if it’s just for a little while. Hell, I’ll be honest. I want you more than I want my next breath. I just…can’t we just be for a while?”

  If he’d pushed her, if he’d talked about fucking or screwing around or even called it sex, she might have been able to get up and walk away. His words had begun an ache that pierced through her because she hadn’t really known how lonely she’d been until he’d kissed her. He might be using her as a stand-in for his perfect submissive, but she knew that the only reason he could fill the void was because he was Derek.

  Karina let the sheet drop.

  “Lie back. Spread your legs for me. I know you’re going to cook, but I’m hungry now. I’m so fucking hungry for you.” He dropped his towel and crawled on the bed.

  Karina laid back, her eyes closing as he did exactly what he’d promised and ate his fill.

  Chapter Seven

  Derek looked out over the club and thanked the universe he’d met Ian Taggart. Not just for the fact that the son of a bitch was loyal as fuck and had saved his life but also because the dude hired a cleaning staff. Sanctum was always clean.

  He was pretty sure there were no maids on call at Kink. The place had a distinctly industrial feel crossed with what he believed a back alley looked like after the trash truck crashed and burned.

  “Are you okay, hon?” Karina put a hand on his back.

  She was the prettiest thing in the room with her emerald green corset setting off her gorgeous skin. And she smelled clean. God, he really liked clean. He put an arm around her waist and brought her close, breathing in the smell of her shampoo. Two days into sleeping with her and the scent of lavender got him hard every time he caught a whiff.

  “I’m fine. Tell me about the people you’ve met here.”

  She seemed to already know everyone. From what he understood, she’d been coming here for only a couple of weeks. The way she explained it, she’d started visiting the club as part of a case. She’d been hired by the mother of the second victim. He’d met her when he’d followed Karina around for a day. He’d been surprised at her office. It was small and cheap. Her clients had been a revelation as well. He’d expected her to work for corporate types but it seemed she mostly focused her attention on the underprivileged. In addition to taking two cases he was pretty sure she wouldn’t be paid for, she found a couple of homeless men shelter and managed to scare the shit out of a guy who’d been stalking his ex-wife and kid.

  Yeah, he’d gotten a hard-on watching her do that, too.

  She came in close, brushing her chest against his. “The woman in the back is called Starr, not her real name. Her Dom is Master Will. He’s actually quite reasonable. From what I’ve uncovered, she’s a receptionist and he’s an EMT with the city. I’m pretty sure she’s cheating on him with the guy behind the bar.”

  He glanced at the bartender. He was wearing leathers, but Derek would bet they were strictly for show. “Why do you think that?”

  The faintest hint of a smile crossed her lips. “Mostly because I caught them fucking in the bathroom.”

  Derek frowned. “Well, if it’s anything like the rest of the place, they probably have Ebola now.”

  The slight grin went crazy, sexy brilliant. God, he loved it when she smiled his way. “You would think that, Monk.”

  She liked to tease him about his very normal and hygienic need to be bacteria free. “I will continue to think that and I will also use my personal kit. Did I see a wall of public toys? Because that made me a little sick.”

  “This is one of those places that went up pretty much overnight. It’s a tourist place, which is why I was surprised to meet Master Will. There are a couple of well-meaning people, but most of them are strictly tourists. I’ve even caught a couple of gawkers but as long as they pay the fee, the management doesn’t seem to care. This place only says it’s private to get around a couple of laws. They pretty much accept anyone who can afford it.”

  Unlike Sanctum. Big Tag carefully controlled the Doms and subs he allowed access to Sanctum. Most clubs came about as very private play places for friends. From what Derek could tell, most of these people didn’t know each other. It was a dangerous way to play. “What kind of security do they have?”

  “Well, now they have Li,” Karina offered.

  He felt his blood pressure tick up. “No security. No real dungeon monitors from what I can tell.” He saw her start to perk up but shut that shit down quickly. “No. Liam doesn’t count. He just started. Was there a dungeon monitor while you were working here alone?”

  Her nose scrunched up. “There was this one guy named Matt, but he apparently only showed up when he was sober. You’ll find they also don’t have a two-drink maximum.”

  She was killing him. “I don’t want to know what you’ve had to put up with, do I?”

  The little shrug she gave him didn’t up his confidence in her ability to make smart choices. “I handled it.”

  He was just about to launch into a lecture about how she would “handle” things from now on. He’d been perfecting his list of rules which absolutely included never ever being in a club like this alone again and walking around in a thong among drunk assholes. It would happen over his dead body. Unfortunately, Master Will took that moment to catch sight of Karina, and he took his sub’s hand and made a beeline for them. He ca
ught sight of Starr.

  On the surface she was everything he loved about women. Not a hair out of place. She was dressed in an angelic white corset and a tiny thong that showed off a set of legs that seemed to go on for miles. She was perfectly tanned, her breasts a nice size and likely extremely firm because he was pretty sure they were like the rest of Starr—utterly fake.

  She showed no expression as her Master led her along. She simply obeyed and when Master Will stopped in front of them, she sank with perfection to her knees beside him, her eyes cast down.

  Perfect nails. Perfect body. Perfect submission.

  Why did she leave him cold?

  “Karina, have you heard the news?” Master Will’s eyes had softened, his voice going low as though he handled all the subs with the most delicate of hands.

  Karina stopped and he could tell from the sudden flush of her skin that she’d gotten emotional. About Amanda. He wasn’t sure what she’d told anyone about her connection to Amanda so he kept his mouth shut, merely standing behind her and placing his hands on her shoulder in a show of support—and a caveman-like “girl is mine” gesture. Yeah, that was in there, too. Master Will looked to be in his early thirties, fit, and not unattractive. Hell, the subs at Sanctum would likely be all over the guy. But Karina wasn’t going to be.

  “News?” While her skin had flushed slightly, her voice was cool and composed.

  Yes, she could definitely handle herself and he wasn’t going to play poker with her anytime soon.

  “Sweetheart, you need to watch yourself. I think someone’s working the club circuit. According to some of my cop friends, there have been several females killed in the last couple of months who attended clubs like this one.” The big Dom put a hand on his sub’s head as though trying to comfort her. As far as Derek could tell, Starr didn’t need comfort. Her expression never changed. She simply stared down at the floor. “I’ve talked to some of the Doms here and we want to institute new rules. The management here sucks and we all know it so the new bartender and I decided we should make sure the subs all have an escort into and out of the club, and then you should have a Dom you can call when you make it home all right.”