Illicit

Chapter Thirteen

My pulse beat a steady rhythm against my ribs as we descended the stairs into the Rabbit Hole. Last time I’d made this trek, I was running in the opposite direction, terrified by the way my body had reacted to what I’d just seen. And a million times since, I’d imagined coming down here again.

With him.

Adrenaline coursed through my veins. Desire turned my belly into a hot, tangled mess of nerves.

At the bottom of the stairs, Reed paused, and I stopped beside him.

Lacey looked up from her podium. She bowed her head briefly to the man beside me, but when she looked at me, her eyes widened, then tightened. Her gaze flicked back and forth between us, brow knitting in confusion. “Rylan, what are you doing here? Does Mina know–” Her words ended abruptly and she quickly lowered her head.

I looked over at Reed, whose face was a mask of angry lines, then back at the top of Lacey’s bowed head.

“The room you requested is ready for you, Master.”

Reed cleared his throat and I looked up at him. He gave a slight nod toward the hallway that led to the rest of the club, then began to stride away from me, expecting me to follow.

Typical.

I side-eyed Lacey, but her head remained bowed as I passed.

The music was louder tonight, with a much headier, sensual beat. It felt darker tonight, too, like the lights had been brighter for the fashion show. The air felt different tonight as well. Thick, and…

Unsettled.

Like it hummed with sensual energy.

Or maybe that was me.

As we reached the end of the hallway, where it opened into the nightclub section of the Rabbit Hole, Reed paused, then slid his hand around the back of my neck. I nearly purred at the heat coming off his palm, the connection of his skin on mine, but then he resumed walking, guiding me forward with light pressure.

Trying to ignore the eyes of everyone in the room as they followed us, I stared ahead as we made our way past the dance floor and stage then down one of the corridors I’d run past in my hasty escape the last time I was here.

We paused outside a closed door, then Reed punched a sequence of numbers into a keypad and a latch in the lock clicked loudly. He opened the door and led me inside.

As soon as the door was closed, my back was pressed up against it.

I gasped as the cold door connected with my bare shoulders. Reed’s hand still gripped the back of my neck, though not painfully. Firmly. Asserting control.

My blood hummed loudly in my ears. A heady mixture of emotions warred within me.

I was completely taken by him, at his mercy since the moment I laid eyes on him in that elevator Monday morning.

And he knew it.

His eyes searched mine, dropped to my mouth. “Since the moment you opened your mouth,” he said, his voice a deep, sensuous growl, “I’ve wanted you.” He lifted his gaze again and it locked with mine. “I’ve seen only two things in those eyes, Rylan. Can you guess what they are?” His thumb moved back and forth over the side of my neck.

I licked my lips and his brow twitched, but he didn’t break the hold he had on my eyes.

“Anger,” I answered with a hint of teasing in my voice.

He inclined his head without breaking eye contact. “And the second one?”

My breathing quickened. I knew what he wanted me to say, to admit. His fingers flexed on the back of my neck. He leaned in, bringing his full lips dangerously close to mine. I closed my eyes and tried to meet him halfway, but he held my neck firmly in place, robbing me of the kiss I so desperately wanted.

“What do I see in your eyes every time I look at you?” He paused, then chuckled, a low sound that tugged at my belly. “When you don’t want to throttle me.”

I opened my eyes and met his gaze full on. “Lust.”

He drew in a quick breath. “Tell me what you want, and it’s yours.”

“I want you.”

His lips took mine in a crushing kiss. He slid his hand up to cup the base of my skull, his fingertips digging into my scalp as he tilted my head to better slant his mouth over mine. His tongue plunged inside, teasing mine with long, firm strokes that sent wave after wave of desire through my veins. I moaned, opening up to him and wrapping my arms around his incredible shoulders. His body pressed against mine, crushing me with its weight and waking up every inch of me as the heat from his frame burned into my skin.

He kissed me hungrily, desperately, as if he’d been just as maddened by desire as I had been all week long.

When he pulled back, his lips were dark and swollen, his eyes heavily lidded as they searched mine. Our chests, pressed closely together, rose and fell on heavy breaths–

Then he released me and took a step back, throwing his hands into his hair and staring at me with widening eyes. “I’m sorry.”

My head reared back. “What?”

“I lost control.”

Okay. Was that something to be sorry about? I frowned, running my hands over my top to smooth it out after being so properly kissed. I pushed off the door and stepped toward him.

He quickly stepped back.

Tilting my head, I pointed to the space between us. “What’s happening here?”

“I didn’t bring you down here to take advantage.”

“Oh.” I laughed a bit awkwardly. I came down here in hopes that he’d take full advantage. “You didn't take advantage.” I’d been waiting for that kiss since I first laid eyes on the Smirker. “Mr. Reed, Cabot–”

“Master,” he said, the word clipped.

My eyebrows lifted slowly.

“Here, I am to be addressed as Master. Do you understand?”

I nodded.

“Say it.”

“Master.”

His nostrils flared. “I need to apologize. I lost control for a moment. I took advantage of you.”

“How so?”

“I knew you wanted me, and I acted on that.”

Pursing my lips, I took another step toward him, which he promptly mirrored with one more step backwards. “Forgive me if I’m a bit confused. I want you. You want me. It’s mutual. We acted on that.”

“You’re new here, a guest. You don’t know anything about being a member.” He shook his head. “What are you, twenty-five years old? You’re just getting started–”

“I’m going to stop you right there. I don’t care how old and wise you think you are. I’m a grown ass woman. I’ve been with plenty of men–”

“You don’t know the first thing about being with a man like me.”

Setting aside the arrogance of that statement because I’d come to expect that kind of thing from Cabot Reed, I focused on the concern in his voice. “I don’t understand. Why are you so freaked out?”

He pointed to a chair. “Sit.”

I did.

“See how easy that was? You want this without even knowing you do.” He almost laughed, but laughter was far too much emotion for this guy. “I could command you to take off your clothes and fuck me right here–”

I swallowed hard and clenched my thighs together as a rush of desire pooled between my legs.

“And you’d do it, wouldn’t you? No questions asked.”

“Um…” I bit my lip, confused by this entire conversation. “Yeah? Of course I would. Because I literally came here for that.”

“Rylan.” He strode toward me and lowered into a squat. “You don’t even realize you’re doing it.” He paused, searching my gaze. “Open your legs.”

I did.

He raised an eyebrow.

“What? I don’t know how much clearer I need to be. I came here to hook up with you.” I said the words slowly because somewhere along the lines, we’d hit a language barrier of some sort. “Tell me to get naked, and I’m going to do it.” I shrugged. “I know that’s wrong, that you’re the big CEO of Reed Publishing and I’m some intern that will be gone in twelve weeks, and I shouldn’t want you. You’re older than me, blah blah blah, but I don’t really care. There’s something between us and I’d regret it if I didn’t at least try.”

He shook his head, that amused glint in his eyes returning, replacing the darkness of concern and bringing him back to me. His hands clamped down on my thighs and I sucked in a breath.

Yes, please.

“It was your mouth that did it. As soon as you opened that fucking mouth, I was done for.”

“Well, same. Something about the way you so eloquently bark orders made me want you too.”

“You want to obey me.”

I opened my mouth to agree, then hesitated. How quickly I was going to say yes…

“Answer me.”

“Yes. I do.”

He nodded. His fingers flexed on my thighs. “That's why you get so turned on when I order you around.”

Shameful? Maybe. But I could worry about that later.

“And you want to defy me.”

I nodded. Very much so.

“Why?”

I licked my lips, then went with honesty. Why stop now? “To see what you’ll do.”

His lips twitched into the smirk. “Don’t you see? There’s more than just sexual tension between us. There’s a power dynamic, an exchange just waiting to happen.”

“Okay…?”

“I want to take your power away, Rylan, do you understand?” He paused, searching my eyes. “I want to shut that mouth up. When you defy me, I want to take you over my knee and spank you until you cry out, until you beg me for mercy. And then I want to fuck you. Hard.”

I shivered, even though the threat of a spanking should have absolutely terrified me.

And, somewhere, deep in the recesses of my brain, it did.

But I was more excited by the prospect of being spanked–then fucked–by this man than I was afraid of him.

And even that should have terrified me.

Reed sighed, hanging his head. “You don’t know anything about this place, this life–”

I slid my hands into his thick hair and pulled gently until he lifted his head and met my gaze. “So tell me what I need to know.”