I cleaned up in the shower. Maybe I’d see about wrapping up here early. I could talk to Harlan about heading out mid-summer. It might be a better idea to move on somewhere else. I wasn’t going to be a ranch hand forever, I knew that much. This fall I had something set up at another ranch that was turning itself into a resort. That intrigued me. I wanted to learn about it, see what they did and how they did it. I could see a future in that.
But that job didn’t start until October. I didn’t have enough money saved up to get me from now to then. Plus I didn’t want to leave, not really. I just needed to keep it in my pants, that was all.
I was a dark, fucked-up beast. And Kara lived in a world of rainbows and unicorns. It was like that movie Shelly used to watch, I realized with an ironic laugh. Beauty and the Beast. Only in that story the beast had turned into a prince at the end.
I was no prince. But I could keep my hands off her, keep her safe from me. I had self-discipline and then some. I wasn’t going to be the one to drag her down into my dark cave. No matter how badly I wanted to.
Now
“Here’s the key to your room.” In the lobby of the Stanyon, I handed the card to her. She took it, still looking dazed, her lips bee-stung, her hair thick and somewhat tousled. Women paid a fortune to makeup artists and hair stylists for that effect. Kara had it because I’d pulled her into a stockroom and given her the best orgasm of her life. I liked the look on her. I planned to see it a lot over the upcoming week.
“You’re going to stay here tonight. Alone. I want to give you time to think things through.”
“Here?” she asked, looking around the high-end hotel.
“I own it. You’ve got a suite in the northwest corner with a good view.” Right underneath my penthouse suite. I wanted to keep her close.
“You own this, too?” she murmured, taking in the high-ceilinged, newly remodeled features. We’d put in Carrera marble at the check-in desk, an expensive detail where it could make a valuable first impression. I loved seeing her impressed, knowing all this lavish beauty was mine to offer her. My cock swelled as her eyes grew wide. I liked her seeing my power. She hadn’t seen anything yet.
“I’ll have some things sent up to your room, anything you might need. And is there something you’d like from your car? I’ll send a valet.”
“My bag, I guess. I’m parked a couple of blocks away.”
“Why would you do that?” In my experience, a woman in the kind of heels she had on wanted to be rolled up directly to the entrance, then helped out of the car and steered in the right direction until she could sit.
Kara shrugged.
“Let me have someone park it for you in the hotel lot.” I held out my palm. She dug into her clutch purse and pulled out a set of keys so old they’d practically rusted away.
“Don’t tell me.”
She giggled and I knew it was true.
“You’re still driving Bessie?” How could she still be hauling around that old hunk of junk? It had been on its last legs six years ago. I’d put in a new carburetor for her, figuring the truck had a few thousand miles left in it, tops.
“Don’t knock Bessie,” she warned me.
I waved over a valet from the front entrance, gave him the keys and Kara told him where she’d parked. I’d have to get her something more reliable. That truck wasn’t safe.
I put my number into her cell phone and handed it back to her.
“You’ve got a lot to think about.” I led her over to the bank of elevators. Tilting up her chin, I gazed into her gorgeous blue eyes. “You need to consider the arrangement I’m offering, Kara. If you agree to give me a week, I want you to surrender completely. Nothing held back.”
I felt her shiver, her body responding to the idea. As I ran a hand through her hair, she leaned in to my touch, nearly swooning. Aroused again, her nipples pressed against the fabric of her dress. I bit back a groan.
“So responsive, my Kara.” I traced a finger along her jaw, then up to her mouth. Her lips parted slightly.
With great effort, I pulled away. “You know the terms. I’ll accept nothing less.”
I pressed the button for her floor. “I’ll get in touch tomorrow for your answer.” I gave her the tamest kiss I could manage, along her smooth forehead. As soon as the elevator doors closed, I wanted her in my arms again.
I turned my back on that adolescent nonsense. I knew how to play my cards, wait for the right moment. Or the right week. It would all begin soon.
iPhone out, I called my PA, Angie. I knew I could ask one of my hotel employees to put together a hospitality basket for Kara and they’d do it well, but I wanted over-the-top. Angie knew how to do that.
I was fortunate that I’d found Angie early on, and that I knew how to judge character. She hadn’t had prior experience as a PA so she was willing to start at a rock-bottom salary when that’s all I could afford. What she did have was ten years of experience as a single mom juggling three kids and two part-time jobs as a bookkeeper and a waitress. I knew I’d found someone who could multi-task and execute. Now her oldest was off in college, paid for by Obsidian Investments, and Angie drove a BMW.
“VIP guest at the Stanyon, room 1940,” I began as soon as she picked up. I didn’t have to waste any words with Angie, that’s another reason I liked her. She took direction and ran with it. “There’s a young woman here for the night. She needs the works.”
“Cashmere pajamas,” she said, and I knew her well enough to understand that she wasn’t even talking to me. She was speaking out loud because she had already started making a to-do list. “I’ll have it all sent over within the hour.”
“Let me know when it’s delivered.”
“Done.” Angie used my favorite word in the English language and got off the phone. I loved that she didn’t waste time discussing the details or even telling me how she managed to pull things off. She was probably already on the phone again right now with a personal shopper in Billings’ one high-end department store. It wasn’t yet 9 o’clock. They’d still be open. And for a client like me, the store would make it happen. I liked having money.
I stepped out into the warm evening air, a Friday night in June. I had the woman of my dreams up in my hotel, probably about to sink into a hot bath. With any luck she’d slip a few fingers down into the steamy water and touch herself, reliving the scene in the stockroom. I could still feel her ass firm in my grasp, her quivering and moans of need, the way she’d begged for release.
Damn, I needed that, too.
Restraint. I was the king of it. Even if it nearly killed me, I was going to give Kara time to think this over. I wanted her to struggle with it, wrestle with her conscience, have time to think about what a good gir
l would do. And then choose to do the opposite. I knew her well enough to know if she didn’t want this, she’d turn it down. There was no money in the world that would coerce her to give herself to someone if she didn’t want to.
The money was simply a premise, something she could use as an excuse to do what she wanted. I knew her intimately. I knew what made her tick, what she craved, perhaps even more than she knew herself. I couldn’t wait to unleash it in her. But only after she begged for it.
A young guy, probably right out of high school, brought my SUV around. “Mr. Hunt, sir.” He held the door open for me. It had been cleaned, though I hadn’t had it scheduled. “I gave it a wash,” he explained. “You had mud on the fenders.”
He was right. I had been out on a muddy road visiting one of my properties a few hours outside Billings. I checked the name on his tag. I liked to remember the ones who showed initiative.
“Good work, Sam.” I gave him a $20. It hadn’t been that long ago when a $20 could make or break my weekend. Now I liked to share what I could.
I headed out into the night without a definite plan. But I knew I wouldn’t be heading up to my penthouse, not any time soon at least, so close to Kara yet not close enough. I needed to bide my time. A good distraction would make it that much easier.
Like the club I enjoyed when I was in town. It had nothing like the buffet of offerings or the lush opulence of clubs I frequented in New York. But BDSM was BDSM no matter where you did it, and this club usually knew how to put on a good show.
Located on the outskirts of town, the building had no exterior sign. A valet even parked your car off premises if you desired. The governor couldn’t have his constituents knowing he wielded a flogger for pleasure.
I didn’t particularly care what people thought of me, but you never knew who might want to turn up dirt when. Discretion seemed a smart choice. I pulled up into a dark alleyway. A man all in black emerged. I could see him quickly check my plates in his phone. Then he hopped to it, opening my door and taking another $20 from me with a crisp, “Good evening, sir.”