Crime and Punishment 4: Burning Submission (22 page)

“She never said you were a monster, although looking at this place”—Jennifer waved her hand around the dark room—“and then seeing you and the whole dark demeanor you throw off, ‘vampire’ definitely comes to mind.”

Nathan shook his head while Josh and Connelly laughed. “What is it with girls and thinking I’m a vampire?” He looked at Josh with a perplexed expression. “Have you ever seen me bite anybody?”

Josh continued to chuckle as Jennifer tried to explain. “It’s not biting. It’s the whole…I don’t know. It’s just your presence that puts me in the mind of a dark, romantic vampire.”

Josh walked behind the bar and grabbed water from the fridge. “You’re not the first person to bring that to his attention.”

“Perhaps I should change the name of the club,” Nathan said thoughtfully, before turning and wiggling his eyebrows at Connelly. “Or maybe have some fangs added.”

“Bite her and draw blood,” Josh drawled. “That’ll help convince them otherwise.”

Connelly’s lips spread into a slow smile as she stared up at Nathan. “I see those wheels turning,” Nathan murmured.

“You guys just gave me an incredible idea,” Connelly replied, and then she turned and quickly headed out of the room. “I gotta get it down before I forget.”

Jennifer frowned. “Get it down?”

“Connelly is a writer,” Josh replied. “She writes thrillers under the name James Connelly.”

“Oh my God! I had no idea he was a woman, or she, I guess. I read several of her books when I was in captivity. Reading was about all the fun they allowed me to have.”

“Speaking of captivity,” Josh said as he studied the water bottle in his hand. “Nathan has some news.”

She turned to Nathan, anxious to hear what he had to say.

“I found the man you remembered.”

Jennifer’s fingers began to shake, so she wrapped them around her water bottle in an effort to still them. “Go on.”

“His name is Dr. Neal Borgan. He’s a neurologist who works on special projects for the government.”

Jennifer’s breath caught. “The government? How in the hell am I supposed to keep running from the government?”

“You’re not running from the government. You’re running from the drug corporation Borgan partnered with.”

“A drug corporation,” she growled with a shake of her head. “That would make sense, since they were experimenting on me with drugs.”

She knew they’d given her lots of them and what they were trying to do to her, but were they also hoping to figure out how to make normal people like her? But what did any of this mean? How could one person stand up against a massive corporation? How could she ever be free of this?

“Borgan wants to meet with you,” Nathan said. “I think he wants to offer you a way out of running.”

Jennifer frowned. “How? By now letting the government kidnap me?”

“I don’t think so,” Nathan said. “I can read him. Not as clearly as I can Josh or Connelly, but I can tell that what he told me was the truth. Now, we just have to find out what he wants to do.”

She glanced over at Josh, who stared across the room, not meeting her gaze. The muscle in his cheek twitched. She wanted him to look at her, to offer her some sort of support. When he didn’t, her heart broke just a bit more.

She returned her attention to Nathan, who had also turned to glance over at Josh, but now his gaze was back to hers. “Josh doesn’t think it’s a good idea,” Nathan said softly.

So that was what had Josh so tense. “What choice do I have? They found me once. They can find me again. If Dr. Borgan can offer me a way to stop hiding, then maybe I should hear him out.”

Nathan gave a nod. “I’ll set up a meeting.” He walked past Josh on his way out of the playroom. “In the meantime, the two of you really need to talk. Do it now, or I’ll sit you two down in my office and tie you both to chairs until you do.”

Jennifer stared in shock as he shut the playroom doors, leaving her alone with a very angry-looking Josh.

Jennifer took a deep breath and let it out slowly through her nose. She tapped her nails against the polished bar top, the sound echoing through the quiet room. Josh glanced at her and then her fingers. She stopped but continued to glare at him.

Josh opened his mouth to say something, but Jennifer cut him off. “There’s really no need to talk, is there?” she murmured. “We’ve already had this discussion. You’re not the relationship type. I accepted that going in.”

Josh nodded warily but didn’t speak.

Jennifer continued with her speech. “I don’t know what happened back at the house, if I scared you or—��

“No,” Josh interrupted. “You didn’t scare me, Jenn.”

“Good,” she said with a firm nod. “Then stop looking at me like I’m some lab experiment that’s gone wrong.”

With a confused shake of his head, Josh opened his mouth, but she cut him off…again. “Tonight is our last night. I think I’ve gotten pretty good at controlling my…abilities, so I want to check things out here. I want one night of uninhibited, no-strings-attached Dom/sub sex. Right here…and I’m not taking no for an answer,” she added quickly.

Josh’s lips twitched as he dropped his gaze briefly to the floor and rocked back on his feet. “You want the full works, huh?”

“I want to experience Master Josh in action.”

“Okay. I’ll have Connelly find you something to wear and get you ready.”

She sat straighter and squared her shoulders. “Good.”

“And I think we’ll start with a little punishment for that demanding attitude of yours,” Josh drawled as he walked toward the door.

Her shoulders slumped slightly as a feeling of trepidation worked its way down her spine. Punishment? “I wasn’t demanding.”

Josh snorted. “I quote,
‘I’m not taking no for an answer.’
Sounds demanding to me.”

She could hear the amusement in his tone as he opened the doors to the entry hall and stepped through it.

Jennifer cringed. “Crap. What the hell have I gotten myself into?”

Chapter Thirty-One

Jennifer sat in the bedroom of the guesthouse, fidgeting on the stool as Connelly used a makeup brush to cover her face in foundation. She hadn’t seen Josh since earlier when he’d spouted off that ominous warning. Just thinking about it had her warm all over.

Unfortunately, now that the time had come, she felt more trepidation than excitement.

Should she have demanded one more night with Josh? Maybe she should’ve left well enough alone and let him keep his distance. Saying good-bye would be all the harder after another night of sex. She would already spend the rest of her life craving him, missing him. Why torture herself? Right?

Connelly used her finger to lift Jennifer’s chin. She studied her eyes as though trying to determine what to do with them. “What’s going on, hon? You’re what my assistant would call nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockers.”

Jennifer choked on a laugh. “Nervous as a what?”

“You’ve never heard that saying?”

Jennifer shook her head briefly before Connelly reached for another brush and began to put makeup on her eyelids. “Why would long-tailed cats be nervous of rockers?” she asked, mostly just trying to keep from talking about what was really bothering her.

“Because they get their tails caught under them,” Connelly replied. “Now stop stalling by asking silly questions and tell me what’s wrong.”

Jennifer let out a long sigh of resignation. “I think I’ve fallen in love with Josh.”

“You think?”

Jennifer’s lips twisted. “I know.”

“What’s so bad about that? Josh is a great guy.”

“Yeah, but he’s over ten years my senior, and he’s already told me he’s not the relationship type. He made that clear before we slept together.”

“Well, wasn’t that gallant of him?” Connelly replied drily.

Jennifer smiled slightly. “It was probably smart on his part. I knew what to expect going in, but I wanted him anyway. I was stupid to think that my wanting him or the type of man he was would change.”

“He has changed. He just hasn’t accepted it yet,” Nathan replied as he stepped through the bedroom door.

Nathan wore a pair of black slacks and a crisp white shirt opened partway down the front. His shoulders were so wide she and Connelly could probably stand side by side behind him and still not be seen. His dark hair and eyes complemented the tan tone of his skin and gave him an almost Mediterranean appearance, but Josh had said he’d been born and raised in New Orleans.

No doubt the man intimidated any patients he worked with into talking. She assumed he saw patients anyway. Josh had said he used to but couldn’t recall if he still did.

He stopped and stared at her face for a second before saying, “Don’t do too much. Josh doesn’t like trashy.”

Connelly clucked her tongue. “When have you ever known me to do trashy?”

Nathan’s grin was almost wicked. “I stand corrected.”

The intense way Nathan watched Jennifer made her grab the edges of her robe and pull it closer.

“I’m going to pay for that later, aren’t I?” Connelly murmured.

Nathan didn’t answer, just continued to grin. Jennifer wanted to feel bad for her, but she sensed Connelly didn’t mind that bit of fear Nathan seemed to enjoy inflicting.

“Do you have any ideas about what she should wear?” Connelly asked.

“Yes.” Nathan held up his hand, and Jennifer noticed the royal-blue piece of flimsy material balled in his fist. “It’s elegant and will bring out her eyes.”

Connelly smiled as Nathan walked over to place the shimmery satin on the bed. “Good.”

Jennifer’s stomach knotted at the limited amount of material. “I’m supposed to wear that in front of everyone?”

“Yes,” Nathan replied, matter-of-fact. “That and only that. No bra, no panties.”

Jennifer’s eyes went wide, despite the fact this wasn’t new to her. She knew she could end up naked. She knew she could end up having sex while on display. But now doubts began to creep in.

“You’ll be fine, Jennifer,” Nathan said in a calm voice as he walked toward her. “Remember. You are always the one who is truly in control. If it gets to be too much and you need him to slow down so you can breathe, say ‘yellow.’ If you want him to stop because it scares you or he hurts you, then say ‘red.’ Understand?”

She nodded and bit her lip.

“What do you say if you’re nervous?” he asked.

“Yellow,” she whispered.

“And if you want him to stop?”

“Red.”

“Louder, sweetheart. He needs to hear you and know you’re serious.”

“Red!” she yelled.

Nathan smiled. “Perfect. And don’t worry. Josh will come around.” He walked over to Connelly and lifted her chin so she looked up at him. “And as for you… “

“Yes, Master?”

“Wear my black shirt I have hanging on the back of the closet door. Nothing else.”

“Yes, Master,” Connelly murmured.

They were so adorable. The love between them was almost tangible. Despite Nathan’s intimidating countenance the love he had for Connelly was obvious when he looked at her.

She hated to interrupt but asked anyway. “Should I call Josh Master?”

“Yes,” Nathan and Connelly replied at the same time as Nathan dropped his hand, and they both turned to look at her.

“Okay.” She glanced at the floor, once again biting her lip. If she didn’t stop, she would draw blood soon.

“Go ahead and ask, Jennifer,” Nathan said softly.

Jennifer jerked her head up and narrowed her eyes at him. “How you do that is really unnerving.”

Nathan chuckled as he crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head toward Connelly. “Just imagine if you were her.”

“I feel for you, Connelly. I really do,” Jennifer said in sympathy.

Connelly gave a shrug. “I’m used to it now.”

“What’s your question, sweetheart?” Nathan asked.

“Did she hurt him so terribly? The girl who cheated on Josh?”

Nathan pursed his lips for a second and then shook his head. “No. Josh never blamed her. He blamed himself for that. He was too focused on work and was never there for her.”

Jennifer gave a nod.

“He’s had two fairly serious girlfriends, one very serious one. That was the one who cheated. With every one of them, Josh continued to put work first…partly because he’s a workaholic and partly because none of those women were
the one
. At least for him. I think he could’ve been happy with any of them, but deep down there was a piece of him that knew. Since he’s met you, I haven’t once felt his need to return to the agency. He doesn’t have that ants-in-his-pants feeling that usually hits him when he’s been on leave for a while. Despite the situation at hand, he feels content. I believe that’s because of you.”

“But he’s pulling away from me.”

“That’s because he believes he’ll just screw it up again. What Josh needs to do is realize that pull is gone and why it’s gone.”

“What if he doesn’t?”

Nathan smirked. “Then I’ll beat it into him, and we’ll all live happily ever after.”

Jennifer and Connelly both laughed.

He gave her a sweet, very sexy smile. “That’s better. Now, Josh is taking care of some things at the moment—calls to the agency about the dead bodies at your house, and making arrangements for backup for tomorrow—so you’ll be entering the club with me and Connelly. If you’re on my arm, the other Doms will know to come to me before they approach you. That way I can let them know I already have someone in mind for you. Keeps you safer than being alone.”

She let out a slow breath. “Okay.”

She had a feeling tonight was going to be an interesting night in more ways than one.

* * * *

Jennifer held tight to Nathan’s arm as they walked through the double doors into the main playroom. The butterflies went crazy in her stomach, fluttering so wildly she felt nauseated.

Even with the dim lighting in the massive room, she wanted to cover herself, to shield her scantily clad body from the appreciative stares that came her way from men and women alike. The satin felt cold against her skin. Every step made it flutter around the tops of her thighs, tickling her breasts. Her breasts jiggled, and the soft material made her nipples harden into tiny pebbles. She wanted to sink to the floor in mortification, but Nathan held her upright by keeping her hand tightly pinned between his elbow and ribs.