เข้าสู่ระบบ“You oughten be watchin’ me, Zoe. You oughta be focused on how you’re gonna breathe through the first blow. ’Cause I guarantee it’s gonna hurt.”The crowd murmured behind them.“Blindfold her.”Zoe gasped and turned to glare at Ben. “What? No, you can’t—”Ben grabbed her jaw, tilting her face up. “I most certainly can, because you’re the one trussed up in chains, not me. And if you don’t show me respect, since this is now my scene? When I’ve deemed that you are done with the pain portion? I won’t let Brian touch you. At all. All you’ll feel is pain. Nothin’ else. So choose.”She lowered her eyes. “I apologize for my behavior, Sir.”Brian tied on the blindfold.At the first whip crack, the crowd moved back.“Brian. Distract her.”As soon as Brian’s lips touched hers, Zoe relaxed. She arched into him, making soft noises as he broke the kiss.“Count. Starting from one.” Ben placed the first blow on the fleshy part of Zoe’s right shoulder.“One. Thank you, Sir.”Ben kept moving, walking c
“Anything we can help with?”Ben looked from Cliff to Mary Jane. Maybe it was fated they ended up at his table tonight, given the last couple days. He knew Mary Jane had a high-powered job as an oil company executive, so maybe she could shed light on what’d happened with Ainsley. “Would you allow me to speak freely to your sub, Cliff?”“Mary Jane? You have permission to speak to Bennett.”“Thank you, Sir.” Mary Jane raised her eyes to Ben’s. “What may I help you with?”“This might sound like a strange question, but would your job be affected if anyone you worked with discovered you were a sexual submissive?”“In my job right now? Probably not.”See? Ainsley was just making up excuses not to be with you.“But bear in mind I’m five years from retirement. If I was a young woman just starting out? Especially in a male-dominated industry? That would be the kiss of death for my career.”Ben froze.“Also remember I’m a sexual submissive to my husband of three decades. I’m not a single woman
For the first time in two days, Ainsley felt like the world wasn’t crumbling beneath her feet. On a professional level anyway.Leslie looked at them each in turn. “So. What’s it going to be?”Turton wouldn’t meet Ainsley’s gaze. “Make the call.”The district manager was notoriously cranky. After listening to Leslie’s question, he let fly. Chewing out both Ainsley and Turton for overstepping their bounds and reminding them National West assigned a loan officer at that location for a reason. Then he reminded them of their responsibilities and if they were too busy doing someone else’s job, they were neglecting their own. In a totally surprising move, he insisted Ainsley and Turton attend an interpersonal management skills workshop in Denver. Over the weekend. He commended Leslie for her attention to detail. All in all, the phone call was short and to the point.Ainsley sat in stunned silence when the dial tone echoed in the conference room. Turton didn’t say a word. He just left but he’
“Yeah.”“And do what?” She froze when he continued staring at her with that Dom look. “I can’t ever…be that.”Ben frowned. “Be what?”“A lifestyle submissive. Like Layla. With the collar, the full subservience and the discipline whippings.”“For Christsake!” he bellowed. “That’s what you think I want from you?”He never bellowed and Ainsley shrank back.“God, Ainsley, do you really think I’m some kind of controlling monster? That I purposely set out to f**k up your professional life so I could force you into a lifestyle that you’re not suited for, for my own selfish purposes?”When he put it like that, she felt petty. Bitchy. Ben knew all her vulnerabilities. And he’d never used them against her. Not once.But you’ve used his against him. You’re about to use them now.“No. But this circumstance has driven home the point I didn’t know what I was getting into with this Dom/sub thing.”“And now?”“Now I know I was naïve. Stupidly hopeful. Nothing but a tourist.”“What are you saying?” Be
His eyes gleamed with pure spite. “I’d never stoop to blackmail. I truly feel this situation needs to be brought to the attention of the management team at the corporate office in Denver.”Ainsley was infuriated because everything that’d been done on the up and up would now be brought into question. All her actions would be scrutinized. With the bank’s avoidance of scandal, after the fiasco with a nonprofit group that’d felled the man tapped to take the president’s position, she suspected she’d be fired. With jobs so hard to come by in the financial world, she’d be lucky to find another job anywhere in the banking industry.And admitting her sexual relationship with Ben had ended the day he applied for the loan would be a moot point. Another moot point would be defending her decision to process the loan herself because Leslie had left the office that day due to illness. And yet another moot point would be mentioning she’d sent loan paperwork through herself all the time in her previou
Ace and Deuce dozed by the woodstove. Ben had always kept his shit moods to himself, dealt with them himself. It worked for him.But wouldn’t it be nice to have someone to share this with? Someone to listen to you, verbally soothe you and then you could lose yourself in the heat, softness and surrender of her body to yours?Just another f**ked up situation in his life. Taking out the damn loan in the first place is what had caused him to lose Ainsley. All because he wanted to do something good, something helpful for his family. All his family saw was the loss of the land. There’s no way he could make them understand he’d lost something far more valuable.Grabbing the bottle, he flopped in front of the TV and flipped the channel to Wheel of Fortune. But he’d gotten so used to watching the show with Ainsley in the last month, it felt pathetic sitting by himself, guessing the puzzles out loud.Halfway through the program his phone buzzed. He didn’t recognize the number, but he answered i
That forceful statement delivered in his masculine growl sent a curl of heat through her. Yes, she’d missed this sexual part of Chase because it was such an important part of who he was. “I wouldn’t dream of horning in on your territory.”They exited the plane and wended through the crowd at baggag
“Don’t leave me hangin’ now,” he half-snarled.“What about your family? I think Dalton and Tell will be okay with us being together. But your dad?He hates me. Can you—”“What’s the worst he can do? Say no?” Brandt kissed her. “Nothin’ would be worse than not havin’you in my life, Jess. Nothin’.”“Then
“I know more than you do. When Samantha lived with Drex, she talked about turning the boy over to his father’s family so she could be free. Most the time she was so wasted she didn’t remember she even had a kid, let alone knowing how to take care of him. Get used to him being around permanently, bec
“Yeah, I do. But it still stings. It pisses me off that he can cut me so deeply so quickly.”“He’s always had that uncanny ability to know just where to put that knife. I’m sorry.”Jessie looked up at him. “Please don’t confront him about this. It’ll just make it worse.”“I won’t. In fact, let’s just f







