“I’ll just find someone else if you don’t do it. And besides, I’m not a kid anymore,” she said, adding, “Sir.”
“Nate would kill me.”
“I wouldn’t tell him. We hardly talk anymore.”
“Why not?”
She shook her head and moved the last of her eggs around the plate. “I’ll bore you with details another time.” She wasn’t interested in continuing that particular conversation.
“We’ll revisit later then,” he said, his eyes scanning her face, reading her, as if trying to understand the meaning behind the words. “Are you sure you know what you’re asking?” he asked, coming around to her side of the counter and taking her hands, raising her to her feet. He stood close, towering over her slight frame with his 6’2”. His body was lean, mean, and hard. “Are you sure you want to deliver yourself into my hands, Emma?” he asked, his hand caressing her arm as he moved even closer. “You aren’t afraid of me?” he asked, his voice quieter.
She nodded, but her answer was a quiet “no.”
He waited.
“No, Sir. I’m not afraid of you.”
But her body shivered when he lifted her hair off her shoulder and brought his mouth first to brush against her neck, then to whisper in her ear. “You say you’re not afraid of me, but your body is telling me something very different. I won’t go easy on you, you realize that?”
“Who said I wanted you to?” She tried to sound brave, but her voice broke in anticipation of submitting to him.
“Quite the courageous little girl,” he said, taking her earlobe between his lips.
She closed her eyes, holding her breath as her fingertips touched his chest.
“Let’s see how brave you’ll be when I take you over my knee the first time,” he said; this time his mouth found hers. Her body shuddered and she opened to him while he kissed her lips. Although his tongue never entered, it was the most erotic kiss she’d ever experienced.
He broke the kiss and stood back. The only thing that gave her some comfort was that he looked as aroused as she felt. “All right,” he began. “You clean up, I’ll go get you something more comfortable to wear. Then we can talk.”
“So you’ll do it?” she asked, both elated and terrified. Her attraction to him was something else entirely.
“I didn’t say that.”
Chapter Four
Luke walked upstairs, leaving her in the kitchen. He grinned at her reaction to him, her mouth’s easy submission. She’d softened as soon as he’d touched her. She trusted him, but she must have trusted Damien at one point too. Her judgment left something to be desired.
That aside, what was he thinking? He should take her home. If he were smart, he’d do just that, call Nate and be done with it. But he wasn’t smart, not when it came to Emma Lawson. He never had been. He’d met Nate some years back and the two had become good friends. Luke didn’t have a lot of friends. In fact, he had a hard time maintaining any sort of relationship for any extended period, with the exception of his stepbrothers Jake and Alec. When Nate had introduced his girlfriend (and later fiancée) to Luke, he’d kept his distance. Luke was well aware what he was capable of and he was determined not to damage his relationship with Nate. She was his best friend’s woman and he needed to respect that. And he had, for some time. Until that one stupid night. It was a mistake that had cost him and although Nate had since forgiven him, their relationship had never been the same. Not that Luke could blame him. Nothing to build on without a firm foundation of trust.
Now here was Emma, Nate’s little sister. What the hell had she been thinking, signing a contract like that with Damien? Essentially selling her body? He’d have to ask her how much she’d gotten paid because he was sure it was a small percentage of the twenty-five grand he’d just spent to rescue her. Rescue her. He liked the sound of that. He couldn’t imagine she needed the money. The trust after her parents had died would have left her very well off. He imagined that was a part of the reason she wasn’t talking to Nate. He likely had control over the money for the time being.
The last time he’d seen Emma, she’d been eighteen years old and, as Nate’s little sister, off limits. He’d always been attracted to her and she’d never made a secret of her affections for him. But what she was asking for now was a whole other animal. She was searching for something; that was obvious. The world of dominance and submission attracted her, that too was clear or she would never have been in a position to be at that party tonight. She now wanted him to take her as his submissive, to teach her, at least for the weekend during the term of her contract. If she hadn’t been there tonight, he would likely have bid on another woman and been fucking her senseless right now. But he had to admit that at this moment, he couldn’t imagine being with anyone but Emma. And besides, wouldn’t it be better for him to be her teacher, someone who cared about her, rather than a stranger who might not?