Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 149137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
“I thought you wanted me reasonable.” What the hell was going on? There was a little voice in the back of his head saying stop. Don’t go any further. This is where it all falls apart. It was time to distance and save himself. He wasn’t going to listen to that voice. “I’m trying to be a better Dom for you. That’s stupid. We’ve gone far beyond the D/s boundaries. We both know I mean boyfriend looking for something more. Kay, I’m insanely crazy about you.”
She bit her bottom lip and looked so forlorn, he wanted to draw her back in, cuddle her until she smiled for him again. “And I’m crazy about you, but I don’t know if you’re going to believe me five minutes from now. Do you know what I want to do, Joshua?”
“What?” He would do almost anything. He simply couldn’t willingly put her in the line of fire.
“I want to start the day again and this time I won’t let you go. I’ll keep you in bed with me and everything and everyone else can go straight to hell.” She turned and looked at him. “Will you get in a car with me and run away? We don’t need anything. We can start driving and not look back.”
Now she was scaring him. “What are you talking about? There’s a hundred-million-dollar movie relying on me right now. Also, we wouldn’t get far. No matter where we go someone will recognize me. You want to tell me what’s going on and why you went pale? Let’s go upstairs and get a drink.”
“We can’t go and talk in your house because it’s wired for sound and the Agency is listening to every word you’ve said inside there.” She spit the words out like she was worried if she didn’t she wouldn’t be able to say them at all.
He felt the world go still, everything slowing to a terrible stop as her words hit him. It was rather like watching an accident. He could see himself sitting there as though he was outside his body, watch as the words changed him. From here he looked calm, as though nothing had processed yet.
He shook his head, utterly dumbstruck. “Why would the Agency listen to me?”
“Because Hector Morales has one of their operatives and they need your access to his home in order to find out what happened to him. Or rather they need me to use your access to his home to find out what happened to him.” All the words were said calmly, each one making perfect sense, and yet that wasn’t what he heard.
I lied to you.
I used you.
I let the wolves into the only place you’ve ever felt safe.
He stayed still because he wasn’t sure what would happen when he put himself in motion again.
Why had he thought she was different? Oh, he could look back and see why. She was fabulous at getting under his skin. She’d read him like a book. If she’d come in and played the perfect sub, he would have held her at arm’s length, but she’d been weird and quirky and so entertaining he couldn’t resist her. She’d been light to his never-ending darkness, and that had been the most brilliant play of all.
The funny thing was she’d told him who she was. She’d told him time and time again that she was a spy and an assassin, and he’d thought because she’d made the stories humorous that he was somehow exempt.
And the Oscar goes to…
“Josh?” She was standing in front of him, her gorgeous face tense. “I know this is a shock, but I need you to understand that it doesn’t change anything between the two of us. Nothing.”
Oh, but it changed everything. “Did you wire the place yourself?”
“What?”
“Did you do the wiring or did someone else do it? Who came into my home and turned it into an audio drama for bored agents to listen in to?”
She was quiet for a moment before she answered. “Riley did it.”
That made sense. Maybe he wasn’t such a bad judge of character. He’d never trusted Riley Blade. His mind worked the problem even as he ignored the howling in the pit of his gut. He wasn’t going to give in to that. He would hurt her if he did. If he examined that wound for one second, he would lose control, and that couldn’t happen now. Better to let it bleed without acknowledgement. He’d bled before and been forced to deal with the wound at a later date, when he was alone and safe again.
“Riley was in on it.” Which brought up another point. “I suppose you tagged my phone, too. That was how you followed me last night. I knew I didn’t fuck up. That plan should have worked perfectly. That’s good to know.”