Black Listed(9)

The moment she straightened, he spun her around, and his lips covered hers, surprising her with their gentleness. He kissed her like a lover rather than a quick fuck in the dirty bathroom of a BDSM club. Like she mattered to him. Like she wasn’t a stranger.

She was in so much trouble.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on for dear life as he stole everything she thought she knew away from her.

Just who was conning who?

She had to regain control of this situation or she’d never come out of this with her heart intact. A heart she hadn’t known was possible to lose because she’d never known she had one.

Thinking back to his file, she recalled what she knew about him. He was twenty-four years old and had recently returned to the United States after serving in the Army. The man didn’t need to serve his country, but when his parents had died in a car accident, he’d become the youngest billionaire in the world. The tabloids went wild, following him around like he was Prince Harry rather than a scared orphan and a sudden CEO of a multi-billion-dollar corporation. Before that, he’d been a regular teenager who had graduated high school as valedictorian and planned to go to Cal Tech and major in computer engineering.

The world as he’d known it had changed in a single night. Instead of going to college as he’d planned, the man disappeared from radar. Apparently, he had run off and joined the Army to avoid the scrutiny of the American public. When he returned four years later, he quietly immersed himself in Hayes Industries, learning the business inside and out before announcing his position as CEO and growing an already large corporation into a global empire.

From all reports, he’d never had a long-term relationship, preferring ménages and contracts with submissives. He wasn’t a sadist, but he had no problem wielding a whip or flogging a woman. He was warm and personable, extremely flirtatious, but behind the act was a man who always stayed in control.

All too soon, his mouth left hers. She pressed her fingertips to her swollen lips and looked up at him, spellbound by the intensity reflected in his brown eyes.

He dragged his hand through his hair and held her captive with his stare. “Sawyer Hayes. That’s my name.”

His eyes dared her to recognize him, but she played it cool. She wouldn’t lie, because he’d never believe she didn’t know him. But she certainly wasn’t going to fawn over him like a fan girl at a Justin Bieber meet-and-greet.

“Nice to meet you, Sawyer. Thanks for the orgasms.” She smiled, flashing her teeth, and rolled her skirt down over her hips to cover herself. Her underwear remained on, despite the gaping hole in the gusset.

He zipped up his jeans and clenched his jaw, his arms crossing his chest. “Thanks for the orgasms? That’s all I get?”

He pulled her away from the sink and spun her so that her back hit the door. Holding her wrists, he pinned her hands over her head and leaned into her, grinding his erection against her lower belly.

How the hell had he gotten so hard so quickly? Didn’t he require any recovery time like normal guys?

Then again, nothing about Sawyer Hayes was normal.

His eyes locked with hers. “I want to see you again. I want to taste you again. I want to fuck you again.” He paused, licking his lips as his chest rose and fell. “Just tell me your name.”

Her breathing synchronized with his, a stirring between her thighs awakening once more. His eyes weren’t an ordinary brown. They reminded her of pennies in a fountain, the sun gleaming off them. He held a world of secrets in those eyes. Secrets she’d harvest for her own gain.

She opened up her mouth to give him the name of Lisa Smith, the one she would use for this con. But as his eyes held hers in their grasp, everything else in the world disappeared. “Annaliese Hunt,” she whispered. The danger of the words dawned on her the moment they escaped from her lips.

She had given him her real name.





Chapter Four


Present Day

SAWYER HAYES FUCKING smelled the same. There were no words to describe it. Not musky or woodsy or spicy or anything else she could compare it to. It was just him. Her Master.

If she could’ve bottled that man’s scent, she would have. As it was, she’d taken a couple of his shirts with her when she’d left. She slept with those shirts on her pillow for months, until his scent finally disappeared. But she’d never forgotten it.

He smelled like heaven.

And it was hell.

Her stomach pitched, nervous knots twisting inside of her. She couldn’t decide whether she wanted to run away or run into his arms. But he was holding her hand, her small one in his large rough one, not giving her a choice.

“Where are you taking me?” Lisa asked as Sawyer dragged her toward the mansion that housed Benediction.