Tormented

She got the message and turned to Bataar. “You find anything else on Jake?”

“Not so far,” Bataar answered. “You expecting more?”

“Yes and no. He’s not dumb, so he wouldn’t be advertising his misdeeds. I could have told you he was a bully, and I’ve known him all of three days. He’s also a racist. Not the kind that parades around with white hoods—”

“Jason is one of his best friends,” Ben said.

“His racism is more subtle, but when push comes to shove, his true colors show. He’s bad news.”

“He’s an irresponsible prick with small dick syndrome. That doesn’t make him a sociopath.”

“Are you defending the guy?”

“I think Bataar has better things to do with his time than investigate a racist asshole.”

She shook her head. “I disagree. He’s capable of hurting someone.”

“What makes you say that?” Bataar asked

Kimani seemed to pick her words carefully. “It’s not just what he does, it’s how he does it.”

“It’s hard to know when it’s just roleplaying. He happens to be a prick as a Dom, too.”

She glanced at Bataar, who didn’t blink as he was fully aware of his boss’ proclivities.

“I just have a sense,” she stated.

“A sense. Like women’s intuition?”

She lifted her chin. “Something like that.”

“You might get further if you have some evidence. Like a bruise.”

She touched her cheek. Because he hadn’t been there, Ben couldn’t say if Jake had acted out of a violent tendency or overzealousness.

“This Whitehurst guy hit you?” Bataar asked.

She stared at Ben. “Maybe he was just ‘roleplaying.’”

Bataar turned to Ben for more elucidation, but Ben just said, “We should get going.”

Turning to Kimani, he said, “Be good.”

She bristled. “You, too.”

He stared at her. Maybe she was being insolent because she didn’t like being spoken to like that in front of Bataar.

Sensing the tension, Bataar said, “I’ll get the car started.”

With Bataar gone, Ben walked over to Kimani. Jake had derided him for making a soft impression, and Ben wondered if the prat might not be right. He allowed Kimani a lot more leeway than he normally gave his subs, though most of his subs didn’t have the defiant streak that Kimani had.

But it was also deliberate. He was curious to see her full reaction.

He chuckled to himself, then gripped the back of her neck to pull her to him. “By all means, keep that up, pet. I can’t wait to hear what you come up with for your punishment.”

CHAPTER FIVE

There was no winning against this guy, Kimani thought to herself. Especially when his every touch created chaos with her nerves. His firm, slightly uncomfortable hold on her neck caused her adrenaline to spike.