Chapter 29
Gage gave me the ultimate Vegas experience on our last night in Sin City.
Cirque du Soleil, a ridiculously expensive dinner at Guy Savoy—even a helicopter tour at nightfall.
He was the epitome of charm, from the way he opened doors for me to the way he guided me with a hand to the small of my back.
All the women we came in contact with flirted with him, and he fooled them all into believing the facade.
He’d even fooled me, for a while. But then we’d boarded his jet, and he’d reverted back to the same old Gage by pushing to me to my knees.
And I hadn’t protested. I’d grown wet between my legs as I swallowed every last drop of him.
That was how he’d left me on my doorstep—hot and wanting him, despite the chilly late night air.
With one final kiss, a quick brush of his lips to mine, he’d disappeared from my life. Just like that.
That had been two weeks ago.
He’d transferred me to another department the week following our trip, and there’d been no phone calls or demands.
He hadn’t sought me out once, other than to send a copy of our voided contract.
Now I was a bewildered mess because his actions disappointed me.
I couldn’t explain it—this hollow in my chest he’d left behind.
I wanted my freedom, and I still despised him for the way he’d hurt me, but…
I missed him. I missed the way he consumed me, missed the way he sent me crashing into deep space.
I thought about scheduling an appointment with a shrink, but the thought of divulging the cause of my stress humiliated me too much.
He’d used and abused me, and now that he’d let me go, I couldn’t stop thinking about him.
And all the while, Ian stood by, kind, understanding, and displaying the patience of a saint.
He’d stopped by every day to see me—at the hospital, at home, even after work.
But we didn’t talk about it. Gage sat between us, an unspoken entity.
My horror at what I’d done—at how easily I’d succumbed to my desire for Gage—made me keep Ian at arm’s length.
I wiped the unsettling thoughts from my mind as the elevator approached the fifth floor.
The doors slid open, and as a tall brunette entered, I let the tension slowly seep from my body.
The doors narrowed toward the center, but a black dress shoe stopped them from completing their slide.
Gage’s eyes met mine. I sought the farthest corner and tried to fold myself into it—obviously my body understood the threat he represented, even if my heart didn’t, and my heart was beating like a caffeinated little drummer boy.
The elevator stopped at the third floor where the woman got off and left Gage and me alone. The air was instantly stifling, heavy with fear and the undeniable spark of sexual tension. I jumped when he moved and studied my shoes upon the funny look he gave me.
“How’s Eve?”
“She’s good. They’re letting her come home tomorrow.”
A smile broke out on his face—one so rare I wanted to snap a picture just to have proof that Gage Channing was capable of such a grin. “I’m glad.” The doors opened into the parking garage, and without another word, he exited.
I puzzled over the strange encounter as I approached my car, heels tapping an echo through the deserted garage. Gage backed out of his spot and disappeared through the exit, and as I opened my car door, a voice from behind stopped me cold. I jumped and whirled.
Jody stood there, sporting two black eyes and a busted lip.
“Rick’s been drinking again.” Her mouth trembled, and like a scared child, she folded her arms around herself.
“He really had changed, Kayla. He was doing so good.” She dropped her arms to her sides and formed two tight fists.
“But you kept him away from Eve, and now he’s going crazy. Why’d you have to be such a bitch?”
I slammed my door. “Don’t you dare put this on me. He’s dangerous.” I shook my head. “I thought we were friends, Jody. Let me help you.”
Her bitter laughter bounced off the walls of the garage. “Friends? We haven’t been friends in a long time. Why, Kayla?”
“I-I don’t know. Eve got sick…” And I’d checked out on life for a while. I’d lost touch with everyone. “I’m worried about you.”
“Well don’t. Just quit provoking him already.” She took off toward a bright red Honda parked nearby. The tires screeched as she slammed on the gas and raced through the exit.
Her words percolated in my head all evening, an unwanted distraction that intruded on my time with Eve. I tossed and turned next to her for hours after she fell asleep, unable to stop thinking about my encounters with both Gage and Jody.
It was past midnight when I found myself in his driveway.
I needed to figure out why he drew me to him like a magnet, regardless of how much he hurt me…
would always hurt me. People didn’t change, and I wasn’t about to kid myself otherwise.
He’d always be the same sadistic bastard with a taste for my pain.
I shut off the ignition, and the utter quiet of the night surrounded me.
Haunted me. Ghosts weren’t so easily laid to rest in the still of the night.
Why am I here?
I had no answer—none that made any sense.
He’d let me go. I was free…yet here I was walking into the lion’s den.
My limbs quaked as I approached his door, and I almost turned back.
I told myself to turn back, even chanted the words in my mind over and over again as if doing so would be enough to convince me.
My traitorous fist wasn’t listening; it rose and announced my presence.
Oh God. Oh my freaking God…what the hell am I doing?
I whirled, intending to sprint to my car, but the door opened.
“Kayla?”
Damn. I wished for invisibility as I turned to face him, though I would have settled for the earth fissuring under my feet.
The image of him standing there wearing nothing but flannel pajama pants was enough to render me speechless.
I’d never seen him in something so casual.
I wondered if the fabric was as soft as I imagined. Soft flannel against hard man.
I shouldn’t have come. I should have stayed far, far away.
“What are you doing here?”
“Honestly? I don’t know.”
He quirked a brow. “You don’t know?” I shook my head, and the edge of his mouth turned up. “What do you want, Kayla?”
You.
Only I had no idea why. He was like a disease, and the bad cells had multiplied and taken over.
He’d infiltrated my system, and now I couldn’t get him out.
Even now, standing in the freezing cold, my body flushed with warmth as I liquefied between my legs.
Some crazy, destructive instinct rose within me, and I catapulted the last step and launched myself at him.
Our mouths crashed together, open and hot and ravenous.
We kissed like we were possessed, and maybe we were.
At least I was. I heard the door slam behind us an instant before he released me.
“Get on your knees.”
I fell to them without a second thought and reached for the waistband of all that soft flannel.
Trembling with impatient desire—and maybe a little fear—I freed his cock and closed my mouth around him.
A groan rumbled from his throat, evidence of his tightly held control.
He grabbed my head, his hands shaking, and trapped me between them.
No way would he allow me control—he was too close to losing it himself.
“Hands behind your back,” he ground out between tight lips. I obeyed, and his eyes, so ridiculously blue, never left mine as he fucked my mouth. “Kayla…” His composure fell apart, and his hips took on the rhythm of madness.
I’d never felt so powerful.
He screwed his eyes shut and pushed to the back of my throat, roaring his release as his essence gushed into my mouth. Despite the fact that my panties were drenched, I gagged. Which only meant he shoved his cock deeper. His pleasure wouldn’t be complete without my pain.
Still breathing irregularly, he pulled his pants up, and without a word, grabbed my hand.
I followed him down to the basement. His fingers tightened around mine, as if he thought I might change my mind and bolt.
I was considering it as we reached the last step.
He’d had the damage repaired. The room looked as it always had; painful and cold.
A dungeon indeed, though in this case I’d given away the key to my own freedom.
I took one look at the St. Andrew’s cross and remembered how he’d buried his face between my thighs, and all thoughts of cold evaporated.
He hoisted me against him, and we fell to the bed where he trapped me between his braced arms. “What’s your safe word?”
I blinked. I hadn’t expected him to give me one. “I-I don’t know.”
“You don’t know much tonight, do you?”
“I know I want you.”
His eyes widened, but then his face settled into the Gage I knew and loved to hate.
“I don’t want to give you the option of telling me no, but I will. Last chance before I gag you and make you mine.”
“I’m already yours.” Anyone who could admit such a thing without breaking down must be insane. Which I was.
“Are you seriously arguing with me about a safe word?”
“Master—that’s my safe word.”
He laughed. “I might have to push you to your hard limits just to hear you say it.”
“You could ask nicely.”
He grabbed my left wrist and stretched it over my head. “I’m not nice.”
“I’m not blind to how cruel you are, Gage.” His name rolled off my tongue, forbidden. He clicked the locks in place and bent down to secure my ankles. I was still fully clothed.
“Don’t gag me.”
“I’ll give you one request. Are you sure that’s it?”
I scrambled to think of all the bad things. The whips, the nipple clamps, the butt plugs…actually, those weren’t too horrible. I nodded. “I’m giving myself to you. Give me the right to cry or scream if I need to.” I remembered Vegas and cringed.