Total pages in book: 165
Estimated words: 154925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
Even though she knew damn well Kyle had been following Big Tag’s lead, it had felt good to have him back her up. And it had felt good to have Big Tag and Charlotte ride in like the parents she’d always wished she’d had. Her mom had been lovely, but she would have nodded and told her to make the decision on her own. Her father did whatever the woman in his life told him to do. Even as a whole-ass grown woman, it was good to know there was a safety net. That’s what parents were—these people who didn’t let you fall through the cracks, who did what was best for you even when it could cost them.
She and Kyle had that safety net. They had Ian and Charlotte and Sean and Grace as role models, as mentors. They had Hutch and Noelle and Deke and Maddie as friends they went through all of this bad stuff with, friends they held on to.
“I would say he could be my daddy but that would get me in trouble with a whole bunch of people,” Taylor said with a smirk.
“Ewww.” MaeBe understood Ian Taggart was an attractive man from an aesthetic point of view, but pretty much from the beginning he’d been a father figure.
Taylor did not have that problem. She shrugged. “That man is hot, and he is not even close to old.”
Drake walked into the lounge area, a fierce frown on his face. “Seriously?”
“If it helps, I feel the same way about Charlotte. That woman does not age.” Taylor sent her boyfriend a wink.
“She was awfully hot with a gun,” Drake admitted.
“Well, I couldn’t see her, so I’ll never know,” Joseph groused. “Now can we all sit down and discuss what we know? The sooner we find that intel the faster I can get back to my life.”
Drake looked out over the dungeon floor. “I think that’s going to have to wait.”
She followed Drake’s line of sight, and then her heart threatened to skip more than a few beats.
Kyle was walking toward her, but he wasn’t the same Kyle who’d gotten out of the car. That had been a slightly tentative, careful man who sweetly held her hand. She loved that Kyle.
This one could be her daddy anytime. A different kind of daddy, but one who absolutely told her what to do.
He wore leather pants that hit him right at the notches of his hips. He’d left off the vest that most Doms wore around the club, but she was fine with that. His chest was muscled perfection, and that included the scars on his body. She didn’t merely mind them. She liked to trace them, to brush her fingertips over them right before she pressed her lips down.
He was her walking Dom dream.
“Is there a reason Hawthorne’s dressed like a porn star?” Joseph managed to look slightly horrified.
“He’s dressed like a Dom.” He’d taken her request seriously, but now she worried if he was ready for this. He’d seemed so quiet when they were in the car. Then there was the fact that she was still in her day clothes. It wasn’t like Sanctum was formally open, but she’d never played in the dungeon without fet wear.
“This is the stuff Julia’s been going on and on about. She’s been studying all this weird crap since she found out Hawthorne joined a club.” Joseph knocked back the rest of his whiskey.
“Do not mention her name when we’re in this space.” She couldn’t take her eyes off Kyle while he stalked toward her. He must have changed in the locker room and then used the elevator around the security desk to sneak up on her.
Or to set up a scene in one of the spaces at the back of the dungeon.
“Well, it’s hard since we’re supposed to be working,” Joseph complained.
Taylor moved in as Kyle stepped into the lounge. “Let’s get you settled in. We’ll find the room upstairs that scares you the least. I hope you don’t mind sleeping near an insane amount of lube.”
Joseph was asking questions as they walked off with Drake in tow.
“Greet me.”
It was all Kyle said. He stared down, his eyes practically burning through her.
They should probably talk. “Kyle, I know I said…”
She didn’t get another word out before he leaned down and tossed her over his shoulder.
Joseph was halfway up the steps when he turned and stopped. “Uhm, should we do something about that?”
“Not unless you want to make your fake death a real thing, man,” Drake advised.
“I’m fine.” She gave Joseph a thumbs-up. “He’s overstimulated. Everything is fine.”
A hard hand slapped on her ass.
“I thought we were trying to keep Ms. Vaughn from being tortured,” Joseph argued.
“I like this torture. Don’t be a judgmental vanilla asshole,” MaeBe called out.
“What does vanilla have to do with anything?” Joseph asked.