Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 105231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
“Oh, yeah. Probably should have said something.”
“Yes, you should have said something,” he told her quietly. “We’ll be discussing that.”
For some reason a shiver went down her spine at his words. Stupid body. He wasn’t going to do anything but talk to her.
But for some reason her brain immediately conjured up thoughts of him putting her over his lap and spanking her. Or tying her to the bed and driving her to the edge over and over.
Yeah, she had issues.
“So is Rory staying in New York?” she asked.
“For the moment,” he replied as he led her over to the man with the tiara. “She’s working for me.”
“She is? That’s good of you.”
He shrugged. “We’ll see how it goes.”
“I thought this was the last place she’d want to be. It was New York where she was kidnapped, right?”
“Yeah, from my fucking club.”
She squeezed his hand. For a guy like Travis, who took care of the people around him, whether they wanted it or not, that would be hard to take.
“And now she wants to go back there,” he grumbled.
“To Whip It? Is that wise?” she asked, stilling.
“Don’t know. Sounds like a question for a therapist. But if she does, I am putting someone on her ass to follow her around. Probably Jace.”
She glanced over to where Jace was looming over Rory as she stared at one of Caren’s favorite photos. Yeah, he seemed to be rather attached to her.
“But, yeah, don’t know if it’s a good idea or not,” he said with a sigh.
“Maybe I can go with her,” she said without thought.
He stilled, forcing her to come to a stop next to him and stared down at her for a long moment. She thought he might say no. But to her shock, he just nodded.
“That could work.”
“Really? You’d let me join the club?”
She didn’t know why that surprised her that much. Or why she felt slightly upset.
What the heck did she want? For him to not want her there because he was worried that she might meet someone else?
Urgh. She was bonkers.
She needed to get her head back on straight. Plus, this was really not the time to have this conversation.
Bollocks.
“But you won’t be going without me.”
After laying down that bomb, he started to lead her to the man in the tiara again.
Right.
Now her stomach was all bubbly again. It probably wasn’t healthy that this man could affect her emotions and mood so much.
Perhaps going to the club was a bad idea. But she desperately needed to let go. To give someone else control for a while so she could stop thinking and worrying and stressing.
Right now, her skin was itching with the need for a shower. Which was ridiculous. She could be in a war-ravaged country, in a precarious situation, and be utterly calm and in control. Because she was behind the lens. And that made her feel settled in a way that nothing else other than submitting could do.
But here she was in a room filled with strangers who just wanted to talk to her, there was no real danger, yet she was on edge. Stressed and needed to find an outlet. A way to release it.
Of course, life had changed a lot for her in the last year. Before meeting him, she’d felt a lot more in control. Years of therapy and the ability to cope with stressful situations seemed to have been eradicated in a few short months of being in his company.
Of belonging to him.
“You okay, Goldie? If you need to leave . . .”
She realized then that she’d gone silent and was frowning. Glancing up at Travis, she shook her head. And decided to put herself out there. It might be a mistake . . . but she needed him to know.
“No,” she told him. “I’m so much better with you here.”
Surprise filled his face, followed by satisfaction.
“Yeah, figured that.”
Did nothing shake his confidence? Rather than being annoyed, though, she felt a sense of happiness. Because his supreme confidence made her feel more confident.
And she really needed that right now.
22
Caren felt like a balloon that someone had let all the air out of.
Shrivelled, wrinkled, with no bounce left.
“Time for you to sit down and have a break,” Travis announced.
“Huh? What?” she asked as he put a hand on the small of her back and led her over to a quiet corner of the room where a couple of chairs were half-hidden by a large potted plant.
“Sit.”
“I can’t sit. I’m supposed to be working the room.”
“Working the room?” Travis asked. “Who said that?”
“Oliver,” she told him.
Travis made a scoffing noise. “Let him keep working the room. He loves the attention.”
He did. And Oliver was much better at talking to people than she was. Even though he’d say that they all wanted to speak to her.
“You don’t have to stay if you’d rather not be here,” she told Travis, noticing how he was frowning at everyone.