Buttons & Hate (Buttons 2)

She crossed her arms over her chest at my silence.

I refused to say it back even to make her feel better. I wasn’t a liar. If I missed her I would have fucked her when she stepped into my office. But my body remained dormant because I was already satisfied with the woman who occupied my bed most nights.

She stopped walking, peering up at me from underneath her hat. “Is there someone else?”

There was never anyone else. It was always just me. I was alone in the world, completely and utterly. “Yes.” Monogamy wasn’t my specialty. Sometimes I had exclusive relationships with women who fulfilled my fantasies, but most of the time I went with the motions. Sometimes I paid call girls to take the most inhumane treatment before I fucked them. My heart was never invested and everything had a timer.

Disappointment filled her eyes. “Is this serious?”

“No.” She was just a slave. I would release her when she accumulated every single button. I didn’t owe her anything. I could fuck whomever I wanted. She was wrong to assume I had any special feelings toward her.

Jasmine moved in closer to me, her hand moving to my arm.

I let the touch linger because I didn’t want to be a monster. I didn’t want to reject her twice—coldly.

“I miss you, master. I want you to be punished.”

I loved that word. But when I heard it, I only thought of Button. She’d never said that to me and I had a feeling she never would. But just the thought of it happening made me hard. I wanted to conquer her so completely, the most powerful nemesis I’d ever encountered. My thoughts continued to swirl and Jasmine’s face disappeared.

That’s when her lips pressed against mine. Delicate like a flower but full of undeniable longing. She breathed into me the instant we touched, her excitement piqued. Her arm wrapped around my neck as she deepened the kiss.

It was hard to believe I’d ever kissed this woman before. My body didn’t light in a blaze and my heart didn’t skip a beat. My mind didn’t travel to dirty thoughts in my playroom. Like nothing happened at all, I didn’t feel a goddamn thing.

She didn’t resemble Button in any way whatsoever.

I pulled my mouth away, distinctly limp. “Jasmine, we’re done.” I didn’t let her down easy because I needed her to understand she would never walk into my playroom again.

“But...no one makes me feel the way you do. No one can hurt me the way you do.” She gave into her true emotions and laid her cards down. The despair washed over her face, painful and ugly.

“I’m sorry.” There was nothing more for me to say.

“If this woman isn’t serious then why can’t we be together?”

Her desperation was unattractive. Buttons was too proud to ever admit weakness. I loved that about her. “Because I don’t want you.” I was a cruel man and I didn’t feel bad for reminding Jasmine of that fact. I had no loyalty to Button but I couldn’t deny my craving. My cock was desperate for the slave living in my estate—and only her.

Chapter Five

Pearl

I stared at him through my open window. Days had passed and I avoided him with outmost care. Our last conversation in the car didn’t end well. I didn’t like his responses. And I didn’t like the words that left my mouth either.

But I missed him.

Now I stared at him through my bedroom window, watching his powerful shoulders fill out his suit was masculinity. He walked with his hands in his pockets, owning the vineyards and everything beyond.

A woman walked beside him. She wore a pretty dress with a hat. Her face wasn’t easily distinguished but I could tell she was beautiful. Perhaps she worked with him. Or maybe she was someone who tended to his fields during the harvest. I wasn’t sure.

She stopped in her tracks and her hand moved to his arm.

A bolt of jealousy washed through me but I quickly let it die. It was stupid to feel any attachment toward him, especially at such an innocent touch. I’d hugged Lars before. It would be absurd if Crow became jealous.

And jealous wasn’t in my vocabulary. I was screwing a man so cold he couldn’t feel the fire when he stood right beside it. The instant his fingertips began to thaw he shut me out. He convinced himself the sensation never occurred to begin with.

He may not be the best man in the world but he wasn’t the worst. He convinced himself he was evil but I had yet to see a hideous act. He whipped me and spanked me but that was consensual. He never did anything against my will.

So where did his self-loathing come from?

I continued to watch him tower over the woman, his dark hair perfectly styled with his five o’ clock shadow coming in. I missed his lips all over me. I hadn’t been satisfied in days and I was annoyed when he didn’t come for me. My mind may not be attached to him but my body certainly was.