Dangerous (The Complete Erotic Romance Novel) (49 page)

Jackson hung up the phone, unable to name the source of his uneasiness. He’d had a bad feeling all day long and couldn’t dismiss it.

“Something the matter?” Louise asked. The staff were in the kitchen, finishing an early dinner before Mr. Stirling’s anticipated return. Louise was drinking tea and Forster was stirring sugar into his coffee. It was already dark outside.

“It was the hotel,” he said. “Evidently Mr. Stirling forgot a set of keys in his suite.”

Louise frowned. “It’s not him to forget anything anywhere.”

That was true enough. The man’s mind was like a Swiss watch. Jackson tried to recall the last time Mr. Stirling had forgotten or overlooked anything.

“Perhaps allowances have to made today,” Louise said gently and he nodded agreement.

“You want me to go get them?” Forster asked, pushing his coffee aside. “It wouldn’t break my heart to get out of the house for an hour.”

“Excellent idea. I don’t think Mr. Stirling needs to be bothered with this.” Jackson nodded. “They have them at the front desk, under Mr. Stirling’s name. Have them call here if they need to verify who you are.”

* * *

He’d done the right thing.

Reid knew he’d done the right thing.

But as he drove to the new house, leaving Kendra in his office, her enticing plan in disarray, it felt as if he’d done exactly the wrong thing.

The woman was a temptress. She offered everything he wanted of her, even started to bind herself for him, and desire had nearly made him forget what he had to do.

And now he doubted his choice.

Reid never doubted his choices.

Even now, he wanted to turn around, go back and take what she’d offered. He’d built a career on the basis of following his gut instincts, after all. But the fact of the matter was, no matter how much he wanted Miss Jones, she was better off without him.

And he was better off without her, especially as he didn’t know her intentions.

At least until the mystery of Alana’s death was solved.

Reid wasn’t a man inclined to pray but as he drove, he prayed Alana’s killer would be found soon.

Then he’d concentrate on the mystery of Kendra Jones.

* * *

Ah, the glory of success. Here Kendra was, the last person in the place at seven on a Friday night, copying and collating contracts for Reid to sign. They’d never talked about this kind of glamor in her MBA program.

Maybe she was supposed to have an assistant herself now.

Maybe once the money started to flow into Esperanza, she’d hire one. If she succeeded at Reid’s challenge, maybe he’d give her a promotion. Maybe she’d get a raise. Maybe she could buy a new car.

She didn’t want a new apartment. She wanted to move into Reid’s safe room.

Maybe he’d hurried out of here to help get the work done faster.

Kendra smiled at the idea of him working on a construction project, but not because she couldn’t imagine that he’d be good at it. He might actually enjoy the precision of carpentry. She hated that she didn’t know.

She wanted to know everything about him.

Kendra had answered only the first call that had come in after three, then told the reporter Mr. Stirling was unavailable. The phone had rang incessantly after that until about six, then quieted. The security guards Reid hired had come in to tell her that the reporters had left. Evidently they had gone to Reid’s home, and the guards wanted her permission to go there. Kendra gave it, insisting she would be fine.

She’d ordered all the supplies the ladies would need for the next week, and put them all on rush delivery. She’d organized everything and was down to the copying Reid had requested.

He wasn’t going to discover that she’d overlooked a thing.

She was going to be his perfect assistant, in every possible way.

Kendra wanted the contracts ready for Reid, whenever he showed up—or whenever he called in an address where she could courier them.

After this, she’d go home. She was tired now that Reid was gone, now that the plant sounded empty all around her. Kendra gathered another collated batch of contracts and stapled them, adding them to the pile.

One more addendum to go. She loaded it up and started the copier, but the machine shuddered to a halt. A light illuminated on the panel. It wanted a new toner cartridge.

Kendra sighed and rolled her eyes. What they really needed was a new copier. This one was old and noisy, and went through toner much faster than she thought it should.

Kendra opened the side of the machine and removed the old cartridge, then retrieved a new one from the cabinet. She opened the box and put the new cartridge in place, slamming the stubborn door of the copier, then starting it up again. It shuddered and hummed and rattled before it settled to making more copies again. They started to shoot out the delivery, the trays rattling as it collated the copies of the contract.

Kendra was so absorbed in her task that she nearly jumped out of her skin when someone spoke behind her.

“So, you carry this around all the time?” Ethan asked.

Kendra spun around so fast that she nearly fell off her heels. He had her purse and had dumped some of its contents on the table in the copy room. He was holding the black leather gag.

“I locked up my purse in my desk,” she said.

“And I unlocked it.” He held up the gag. “Seriously?”

“Give that to me!” Kendra lunged for him and the gag. Ethan dodged around the table and she tried to reach across it. He dangled it in front of her and Kendra lunged for it. She reached too far and fell onto the table. Before she could get to her feet again, Ethan had spun her around and taped her ankles together with packing tape.

The roll had been right there, as if he’d planned it.

“Hey!” she protested and struggled against the tape.

Ethan grinned recklessly at her as he wound another couple of laps around her ankles. Kendra struggled and he looked up her skirt, his pleasure clear.

“Ethan, cut it out. This isn’t funny...”

“Isn’t this how you and the boss like to play?” he demanded. He spun her on the table again, evading her grasp but keeping her from getting to her feet again.

“Listen, Ethan, you’ve got to...” Kendra tried to slide across the table and get to her feet, but didn’t make it.

Ethan shoved the leather gag into her mouth and fastened it around her head, moving more quickly than she could have believed possible. Kendra tried to grab for the clasp but he caught her wrists in his hands, rolled her to her stomach on the table and bound her wrists together with the black rope from her purse.

Ethan was tying her up.

Against her will.

Kendra freaked out and struggled with all her might. It was far too late for her to make any difference. Ethan knotted the rope around her waist, easily securing her arms to her butt. She kicked hard, but he bound her ankles to her wrists. He knotted the rope a number of times, even as Kendra tried to scream and escape.

He rolled her to her side, leaned on the table and stared down at her with satisfaction as she wriggled. “Now you’ll play with me whether you want to or not,” he whispered, his eyes shining. “The toll just got a lot more expensive.”

Kendra tried to scream but couldn’t make any sound at all.

Ethan was completely confident of her helplessness. He unfastened the front of her blouse as she fumed, then used the box cutter to cut it off her body. Her skirt suffered the same fate and he smiled as he surveyed her.

She was bound helpless in her corset and stockings on the work table in the copy room.

Ethan’s captive.

“The shoes stay,” he said with a nod. “Too bad about the chain,” he murmured, his gaze running over her. “I kind of liked it.”

Kendra moaned and struggled, unable to stop herself from fighting. She glared at Ethan but he just grinned at her.

“You said you liked it. It’s starting to grow on me, too.”

He shoved her clothes into a backpack that had also been waiting in the corner. He’d planned this, which didn’t make Kendra feel any better.

What else had he planned for her?

What was his toll?

Ethan sauntered across the room and chose a large mail bag from the storage closet. Kendra’s mind refused to process the obvious conclusion. Only now did she realize that her kidnapping fantasies only were exciting when they featured Reid. Ethan positioned it on the floor, so it was open and Kendra knew what he was going to do.

She tried to call out, but made almost no noise at all. She writhed in her bonds, but only managed to move a little closer to the edge of the table.

“We’re going to have a great weekend,” Ethan told her with confidence. “I fixed us up with a private place, a place where I can keep you tied to the wall without anyone knowing any different. I might even be able to take off that gag for another kiss.”

He removed her cell phone from her purse and turned it off, then replaced it in her purse. “I’ve got to appreciate that you’ve packed so many things we’ll need,” he said, then tossed a few rolls of packing tape from the shelf into the backpack, too. Her purse was crammed in on top.

When he left the building, there would be no visible sign of her. He’d be carrying his backpack and a mail bag.

No one would know what happened to her. Kendra’s heart fluttered.

“Maybe I’ll finally have my fill of you this weekend, Kendra.” He shrugged. “Or maybe we’ll both have to call in sick on Monday.” He winked at her as he lifted her into the mail bag. “And Tuesday.” He kissed her bare nipple, then sighed with satisfaction. “Definitely Wednesday, too.” He pulled up the heavy canvas, pausing when it was around her face. “What do you think, Kendra? A whole week of being my sex slave?”

Kendra roared in protest.

Ethan laughed and tugged the canvas over her head. She felt it jerk as he knotted it, and was relieved to catch a glimpse of light through the top.

“Not too tightly,” he said. “I don’t want you to suffocate.”

Then he hefted her into his arms. She heard the copier finish its task and subside into silence just as Ethan carried her out of the room. His shoes were almost silent on the floor and she knew that everyone else was gone. It was dark through the opening of the bag. She heard a car door open and realized he’d parked his Jeep inside the loading dock, so no one would see him put the mail bag into it.

Then she was dropped onto something padded. It must have been the back seat of the Jeep, because he fastened something around her waist and tugged it. A seatbelt.

He leaned down to the opening and whispered. “Now, you’re going to moan and struggle until I tell you to stop. Understand?”

Kendra moaned and struggled.

“Louder,” Ethan instructed, his voice hard. “I need to be able to hear you over the sound of the engine.” He patted her hip. “We’ve got a bit of a drive ahead of us, so don’t wear yourself out.”

He was enjoying this.

Kendra fumed at how wrong it all was. The situation would have been exciting, if it had been her choice.

If her captor had been Reid.

But the fact that it was Ethan, and he was taking what she hadn’t offered, just made her furious. It made her even angrier that Reid wasn’t around to stop this from happening. Why had he had to leave early on today of all days? Their contract said that he would protect her.

But what if he had set this up?

The idea sent a jolt through Kendra. Was this his punishment for that kiss? For doing it with the guy whose name she’d forgotten? He’d given her to Rex the night before. He’d given her away to Alicia earlier today.

Why did it shock her that he might give her away to Ethan tonight?

Because it wasn’t what she wanted, and she couldn’t shout ‘mayday.’ Even if she had, Reid wasn’t around to hear it. If he was trying to fulfill her kidnapping fantasy, he had it all wrong—and he wasn’t giving her the chance to tell him so.

That was a violation of their contract.

Reid should have known her better than this.

Kendra squirmed, wanting to set Reid straight in no uncertain terms. But she was bound helpless and captive. The Jeep engine started and Ethan backed it up, stopping to pull down the door on the loading dock and lock it. His door slammed hard before the Jeep moved again.

“Keep moaning and squirming, Kendra,” he said. “I need to know that you’re awake and ready for me.”

Oh, she’d be ready for him all right. Kendra did as she was told, plotting her escape all the while. She’d get away and she’d go to Reid.

And then she’d demand an accounting.

* * *