Command Me Books One & Two(3)

Joel stepped onto his front porch. Sarah almost didn’t recognize him. His usual slicked back hair was falling free so it framed his face, the edges curling under his chin which had a little bit of stubble. He wore jeans and an open button-up shirt that showed off his hard abs. She’d known he was toned, but hadn’t expected the rippling washboard Joel possessed.

There was nothing fake about Joel today. The predatory smile curving his lips added to the raw sexuality pouring off him. The Joel from work and the Joel standing before her now were day and night in appearance and presence. Sarah almost didn’t want to get out of her car. Almost.

She squashed the part of her that warned her to run from danger, and gave in to the more primal urge of desire that made her nipples tingle and her clit twitch. So maybe it was Joel who aroused her, not just the situation.

Joel’s cocky swagger carried him the short distance from the porch to her car, and he opened her door. “Ready to give me the Kirkland file?” he asked.

“You wish.” She got out, expecting Joel to back up and give her room. He didn’t. She either had to press against him or sit back down. If she used her hardening nipples as an indicator, being close enough to Joel to smell the musk and spice scent of his cologne didn’t bother her.

“What I wish is right in front of me. I just felt the need to give you an out.”

“If that’s the way you want to play it,” Sarah said. Her breath caught when Joel leaned close enough that their lips almost touched. His intense gaze held her trapped and unable to look away.

His breath heated her skin when he said, “If I truly wanted the Kirkland file, I would have it by now.”

“J-just because you want something doesn’t mean you’ll get it,” she said in a breathy voice she couldn’t help. Joel’s unique scent made it hard to think straight.

“I got you, didn’t I?”

“You don’t have me,” she protested.

“We’ll see about that.” He backed up a step and waved to the house. “Twenty-four hours starts when you cross the threshold.”

Sarah retrieved her overnight bag and walked into the house ahead of Joel. The door clicking shut sounded similar to a prison door slamming. Joel had her trapped. No backing out now. For the next twenty-four hours, she was at Joel’s mercy, and she’d put herself in that position.

Joel said, “Ground rules.”

“I’m surprised you want any.”

“Don’t interrupt. Number one, from now until your time is up, you will call me Master,” Joel commanded.

Sarah let out a snorting laugh. “Seriously?”

Joel’s hard expression made her swallow her amusement. All traces of his earlier seductive attitude had been replaced with the stern, no-nonsense one he showed her now. This was another facet of his personality she hadn’t seen at work.

He said in a cool tone, “Say it.”

“Ma-master.”

“Again.”

“Master.”

His predatory smile returned, full of dangerous promise. This time Sarah wanted to heed the instinct that told her to run. She backed up a step to do just that.

“Number two, if you leave before the twenty-four hours is up, you forfeit the Kirkland file.”

“I didn’t agree to that,” she said, gasping lightly as Joel narrowed his eyes at her. She dropped her gaze and mumbled, “Master.”

“Better. I told you at lunch yesterday that it was either-or. Twenty-four hours as my slave or the Kirkland file. I’ll get one or the other as payment on our bet. And I know you want to pay off the bet because you pride yourself on keeping your word no matter what the cost, isn’t that right?”

“Yes, Master.” Sarah never thought her best attribute would be used against her like this. But then she hadn’t predicted Joel would like dominance play. Except she didn’t feel like he was playing.

“Step one foot out the front door before ten-twenty tomorrow morning and the Kirkland file is mine. Number three, you don’t come unless I give you permission.”

She nodded.

“Words, Sarah,” Joel reminded her.

“Yes, Master.”

“Number four, your safe word is Kirkland.”

Safe word? What did he have planned that she needed a safe word? She wet her lips before she asked, “Does that mean if I use it I have to give you the client…Master?”

“No, I just want you to keep it in mind as your reason for being here. I’ll stop whatever I’m doing if you say your safe word. It’s a break, not an end. This only ends one of two ways—ten-twenty tomorrow or you leave and give me that file. Are we clear?”