But Raine had never been so close to Hammer shirtless, looking so vital and strong, so disheveled and sexual and...
She had to get out of here.
He returned with a towel and bent to help her. Gathering up the pieces of the shattered coffee mug, she cupped the china in her hands, praying he was too busy helping her to notice her tears.
“Sorry I’m so clumsy.”
“You’re not clumsy. Accidents happen.” He mopped at the mess with the towel.
Accident? They both knew it hadn’t been. But he just had to be kind, didn’t he? He couldn’t be a complete douche bag and give her an easy way to hate him.
“I’ll take this to the kitchen and throw it away.”
“Stay,” he commanded. “Give me the china, precious. I’ll take care of it.”
Raine hesitated. How badly she wanted to heed that powerful voice. But Hammer was her boss, not her Dom. He didn’t want her devotion.
On shaking legs, she stood. “I’ve got it.”
Eager to be gone, Raine turned away. Holding back her tears was becoming hopeless. What the hell could she say to him? I’m in love with you, Macen. Please pick me! God, that sounded stupid—and impossible. The man who’d always said that monogamy gave him hives, who never shared his inner thoughts with anyone, who was smart and sophisticated… Yeah, he would never desire the runaway he’d plucked from an alley, huddled beside a dumpster, years ago. He saw her as a little sister, so she needed to give up her hope of being his lover. Dry her tears. Move on.
But how the hell did she make her heart stop wanting him?
Hammer grabbed her arm and turned her to face him again, frowning. “Raine… Thank you for the breakfast, precious. I’m always proud when I see the desire in your heart to serve.”
“Well, I tried, but it looks like Marlie already served you in the ways that count, so I’ll take my pesky self, along with the china, and leave.” She didn’t wait for his reply, but jerked her arm free and hustled for the exit.
Thank god Hammer didn’t respond. Ten seconds, then she’d be out of this hallway. She could hide in the kitchen and fall apart privately. But she wouldn’t wait that long to call herself twenty kinds of idiot. Stupid, stupid, stupid. When was she going to learn?
Hammer hadn’t noticed her when she’d turned eighteen. Twenty-one hadn’t registered with him, either. For some reason, she’d really hoped twenty-three would wrap its hands around his throat this past summer and choke hard until he saw that she was no longer that lost little homeless girl he’d rescued years ago. But no. She would always lack sophistication and that intangible something that came with world travel and fucking a different person every day. She’d never be what he wanted.
Raine tightened her fingers. The shards of china cut into her skin until she bled. Who cared? As red seeped over the white porcelain, she forced down an internal scream and kept walking.
She was relieved Hammer could no longer see her face.
While she made her way down the hall, a shadow emerged from one of the open doorways. She glanced up to see Liam O’Neill, Hammer’s Irish friend who’d come from New York, darkening the portal. His stare zeroed in on her, his expression somewhere between concern and pity. Urbane and gorgeous—and immediately popular with the subs when he’d arrived a couple of months ago—he watched her with a shrewd, all-seeing gaze that she’d come to know well. There was no way he wouldn’t see her tears.
Damn it.
He opened his mouth to speak, but Raine couldn’t deal with anymore of his questions about Hammer now, or worse, his compassion.
“Excuse me.” She brushed past him and ran for the kitchen.
Hammer begrudgingly allowed Raine to walk away. As much as he wanted to comfort her, he let the girl leave with her dignity. But goddamnit, Raine wore every emotion on her face. He’d always liked that he could read her so easily—until now. The devastation in her tearful blue eyes dropped him like a sound kick to the balls. The bite of her caustic quip didn’t wound nearly as much as the remorse flooding his veins.
He’d always tried to shield her from his sexual exploits with other subs because he’d feared she would be crushed. Hammer hated to be proven right.
Marlie’s gloating hadn’t helped. The superficial shrew played at being submissive because she liked a little bondage with her sex. But as a Dominant and owner of one of the most successful BDSM clubs on the West Coast, he had a responsibility to train the submissives. That included punishing and rewarding them for their actions, be it beneath his hand or beneath his body. That responsibility had no bearing on his feelings for Raine. He’d much rather have spent last night giving her all the pleasure he’d dreamed of, in every way he’d imagined giving it. Unfortunately, if he ever touched her—even once—he’d seize her mouth and claim it. His greedy hands would tear at her clothes until he could stroke her soft body and suck her nipples raw. When she panted and begged, he’d thrust his rigid cock unmercifully into her swollen cunt until she threw back her head and screamed his name.