Tormented

“You want the rest of your dessert?” he asked.

“I’m good,” she said through clenched teeth.

“Then we can wrap this dinner up and head back to begin your punishment.”

THE DRIVE BACK TO BEN’S place was silent and awkward. Kimani was still upset about having to remain on his lap while the servers cleared dessert and brought the check. At least he hadn’t done anything else, like feeling her up. But just knowing he could and he might had set her on edge. And she had yet to come up with a way to convince him not to return her to Jake.

Escape while you can, Kimani.

She closed her eyes, trying to relax enough to think straight. But it wasn’t easy. He had said she could come up with her own punishment, but if he didn’t like her ideas, he would add his punishment to hers.

“So what’s it going to be?” he asked, tossing his keys onto the kitchen counter when they were back in his penthouse.

“You want me to go through a punishment with you, only to have you throw me back to Jake?” she asked.

“You’re still mine for tonight, pet.”

“That supposed to make me feel better?”

His frown said he didn’t give a shit, but his eyes hinted at guilt. She decided to take a chance on the latter.

“Besides, didn’t you put me through enough earlier in the day?”

“That was on the tame side, pet.”

Not what she wanted to hear.

“So you’re okay with what you did? All that exploitation shit?”

He crossed over to her and grabbed her by the back of her neck, his thumb pressed into the soft spot beneath her jaw. “You came, didn’t you?”

Her breath skipped. She tried to swallow. “And that justifies it all?”

“You want out?” He released her and nodded toward the door. “Go right ahead. But if you choose to stay, questionnaire or no questionnaire, you agree to take it all.”

She looked to the door.

Go. Run. This might be your last chance.

But she remained rooted to the spot. Walking out that door was probably the smart thing to do. But was it also cowardly? What about the other women?

And if she left now, she’d leave empty-handed. She would have no way of contacting the other women. She only had the full names of Jake, Ben and Jason, and she doubted that reaching out to them would prove helpful. All she had was her own personal account of what she had been through, and she doubted that was enough to make the scoop Sam wanted. She didn’t want to have any regrets.

Regrets about the scoop or regrets about leaving Ben?

Really, she should hate the guy’s guts. Hate him for tormenting her. Hate him for thinking of returning her to Jake.

Try as she might, she couldn’t drum up the hatred. She was plenty angry at him. And herself. For enjoying his twisted pleasure and what he did to her body. But she also enjoyed his company. More than enjoyed. They had connected. She wasn’t sure if he felt the same way, but, despite her charade, she felt she could be herself with him. And he challenged her in ways she found exciting. She wanted to stay with him.

Oh, but she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of staying. And she was scared. She had no idea what kind of punishment he had in mind.

“If I stay,” she began, “what will happen?”

“You take your punishment.”

“Then what? Are you returning me to Jake?”

“We’ll see about that.”