Secrets (Passion Shields)

Evernight Publishing

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright© 2013 Kiru Taye

ISBN: 978-1-77130-612-6

Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

Editor: Karyn White

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.  No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

FORWARD

Dear readers,

I want to thank you each and every one of you for keeping the faith and hanging with me through this story journey. Penning Benjamin and Selina Moss's story has been one of personal learning and growth for me even as the characters have developed with each book.

I know some of you have wondered why the couple's story is being revealed in stages. I have to confess that this is the way Benjamin and Selina have chosen to reveal their journey. They wanted to focus on the crucial stages of their relationship development rather than bore you with the mundane.

I hope you'll stay with them till the dramatic conclusion to their tale in Scores ( Passion Shields, book 3), coming soon.

Happy reading!

Love,

Kiru xx

DEDICATION

This story is dedicated to the 'wind beneath my wings,' my love.

SECRETS

Passion Shields, 2

Kiru Taye

Copyright © 2013

"Wake up, beauty
." Benjamin's alert tone penetrated Selina's sleep.

She stirred slowly, her body weighed down, languid. The aroma of dark roasted coffee beans wafted around her, alerting her brain. She lifted her eyelids and blinked a few times.

Sunlight streamed in, the black heavy curtains pulled back. A light breeze coming through the open balcony door lifted the white sheer curtain beneath. Cool air kissed her shoulders and face. She dragged the bedcovers up, burrowing deeper.

At the soft hissing sound of a door opening, she rolled onto her back. Her husband
strode out of the walk-in closet. Half-naked, he stood in the middle of their master bedroom wearing a pair of charcoal chinos, his bare, tanned torso and arms a golden beacon drawing her waking desire.

Her breath caught and held for the briefest of moments,
and her pulse skipped a beat, both standard rising responses these days to seeing Ben in any state of undress.

Instead of giving in to the flare of arousal in her veins
, Selina shifted, lifting her body into a sitting position, her brows knitted together in a frown. Something was wrong.

In Ben's
left hand dangled a sky blue shirt he'd just unwrapped from the laundry service, the clear branded cellophane scrunched and tossed in the aluminum waste paper bin in the corner.

Looking over his shoulder, his gaze met hers
. The corners of his compelling grey eyes crinkled, his full lips curling in a rare seductive smile she never tired of witnessing. Gifted with inherent strength and rugged features, her husband wasn't classically handsome. Striking was a better summation. To her, he was a Greek god.

Gulping down the sudden need to taste his mouth and have his weight between her legs, she quirked one eyebrow in a silent query.

"I have to go into the office this morning," Ben said with sedate calmness, effectively ruining her day in nine words.

Lowering her eyesight to
where her fingers now clutched the white bed sheet almost defensively to her chest, her shoulders slumped.

"It's Saturday."
And play day
, she omitted from saying, disappointment a heavy boulder in belly.

After an initial reluctance, she'd come to look forward to their weekend ritual. The pressure of her job working as a senior pharmacist in a hospital meant that some days she felt like a bottle of shaken fizzy drink waiting to explode as soon as someone opened it.

Play days were her opportunity to unwind and de-stress, a safe environment where she didn't have to be in charge, where she could trust Ben to take care of her needs, the only times she allowed his need for ascendency over her without feeling weak and pathetic. The routine had become as much a part of her survival mechanism as sealing the memories of her past.

"I know.
" His massive shoulders lifted and fell in a shrug. "Moss Star provides a 24/7 service."

Letting out a soft sigh, Selina nodded.

Benjamin ran his own business. Unfortunately it meant that he sometimes had to work at weekends or be available to his staff. And though they were married, it was still just a temporary arrangement she'd agreed to because of her brother. Her needs were secondary to Kaya's and Ben's.

Tears rose, swelled behind her eyeballs.
Lowering her lashes, she fought the storm of emotions rising. Yet as much as she tried to rationalize his reason in her mind, her stomach churned, the disappointment souring her mouth, turning to anger in her veins. After years of surviving on her own, she should've known better than to rely on anyone but herself.

In the past month, she'd come to depend on Benjamin, to need the comfort of his dominance, the mastery of his touch, the pleasure of giving herself freely to him. She'd let her guard slip, handing her scarred body into his care, trusting him to see all of her and not just her physical blemishes, to protect her.

Not to mention that Saturdays had become the only times they got to slow down enough to see, and communicate with each other, displaying not just physical affection but sharing an emotional connection, too.

Who was she kidding? Maybe this was just a routine to him, a force of habit
. Perhaps he didn’t care one way or the other.

Relying on him
had been a mistake. Starting now, she would remedy the error by finding another way to relax today. She didn't need Ben. Or anyone else.

Swinging her legs over to her side of the bed, she prepared to stand.

"Stay right there," Ben said in a firm deep voice. Despite the calmness to his words, she didn't miss the order.

Instinctively, traitorously, her body stilled, an almost natural response to his command
, masking the weeks of training it had taken to achieve. Her mind rebelled, her anger still riding her blood with each beat of her heart.

Last night she'd fallen into bed exhausted, barely able to string together two words in a sentence. Ben had seen how tired she'd been
. He knew how much she needed today's play,
damn it!
A little warning would've been nice for starters.

Lifting her head, she glared at him, her obedience tottering on razor thin wires.

"What are you doing?" he asked, the warning in his cool voice apparent.

In a heartbeat his smile faded, his lips flattened, the grey of his eyes marbling, the muscles of his arms
bunching. He held her defiant gaze and raised it, like in a poker game, challenging her to take it one step further into outright disobedience.

Could she dare to call his bluff?

Mentally, she calculated the distance between the bed and the adjoining bathroom. She could make a dash for it and rely on the safety of its enclosure. Since Ben had to go out, perhaps he would just ignore her. By the time he got home, her insubordination would be forgotten.

A
s she stared at his rock solid body, she accepted that his current frozen state was an illusion. It was the rigid pose of a wild tiger, ready to pounce. He would intercept her before she reached the bathroom door. And then she would have to put up with the humiliation of being spanked while over his knees. Her bum prickled as if in remembrance of the last time he'd taken his bare hand to it. She'd been unable to sit comfortably for two days.

Letting out
an exasperated sigh, she lowered her gaze, fixing it on the pile of zebra-print monochrome hand-woven rug at his feet.

"But I thought—"

"That's the problem. You think too much."

B
ristling inwardly, she held her tongue. So what if she overanalyzed every situation? It was the one trait that had guaranteed her survival to date and the main reason she'd come to love play days. They were the only time she didn't have to worry about thinking about anything. Simply put, it was the best stress release she knew. Better than any pill she could take. And she was a pharmacist!

Ben
strode across their bedroom floor, the deep pile on the rug muffling the sound of his feet bound in Italian-made black leather shoes. His teasing smile took the edge off his stern words.

"The rules of
play day still apply even though I'm going to be out. You'll follow my instructions to the letter."

He nodded toward the
bedside table. She noticed the sheet of notepad on it. He'd scrawled a list of actions for her on the top.

"I
'll be back as soon as I can." He shrugged his arms into his shirt covering up the chest packed solid with muscles and the smattering of short bronze hairs trailing down to his trousers.

She leaned toward the table to pick up the list.

"No. Wait until I'm gone before you read it." He disappeared into the walk-in closet.

Her frown deepened. This was a new test. Usually when he gave instructions he was close by to ensure that she carried them out. At first she'd obey some and not other
s depending on what she'd considered her limits. But over time he'd pushed back her boundaries. But she still struggled with the side of her that didn’t want to give total control to someone else.

Knowing he was always close by and would punish her had always been a strong incentive to obey his orders without hesitation.
Unsettled, she rubbed her arms as she wrapped them around her midsection, goosebumps mottling her arms. How was she going to cope when he wasn't even going to be in their apartment?

The sudden panic about Ben not being
at home to make her toe the line didn't escape her. At some point during the weeks they'd spent together, she'd learned to concede to her husband's authority and even yearned for his brand of reward and punishment. Was there shame in admitting that some penalties thrilled as well as scared her on some level?

She ignored the revealing question and focused on the source of her current unease.
His presence was an anchor, grounding her in a turbulent sea ruled by her emotions and fears. In his absence, she would fail and disappoint him. Spidery cold fingers of dread crawled over her flesh.

If he asks, lie. He won't know.

Eyes closed, she rocked back onto the soft pillows behind, pulling her knees up, her mind churning over the words.

No.
She couldn’t. She'd never lied to him before. She wouldn't start now.

Yes, there
were things from her past she hadn't shared with him. But omission was better than outright deception.

F
ingers curled into her tresses. The sharp tug of her hair and her prickling scalp shocked a soft gasp out of her mouth as she lifted her eyelids. Her husband towered over her now fully clothed and standing beside the bed, his firm hand gripping her nape.

"You're thinking again," he said before crushing her lips
beneath his.

Under the weight and onslaught of his mouth she capitulated to his dominan
ce, opening up, letting him take what he wanted, and savoring this about him. Despite the harshness of his kiss, the combination of his soft lips and rough tongue stirred the embers of her lust. He tasted of coffee and caramel, dark and decadent, his smoke-wood and spice scent drawing her into the web of arousal he wove.

His
right hand dipped down her body, rough palm skimming the soft flesh of her breast, firm fingers plucking at her nipple until it stood straight and taut. Her body jerked in response. As his hand continued its journey over the contour of her belly to the swell of her left hip, she stifled a whimper. Fever rose, fast and urgent, burning her flesh. Then his fingers spread her lower lips, stroked her clit, circling it once before breaching her already wet entrance.

Yes!
Gasping into his mouth, she tilted her hips giving him more access while pushing against him for more friction. Her fingers slid down to his trouser cupping the huge, hard bulge tenting his fly. She stroked him and then moved her hand to the zipper. She couldn’t wait to have him inside her.

He had other ideas.

Benjamin pulled away, ending her foray with a firm flick of her wrist and tilted her head up.

"Which
play day rule have you just broken?" His grey eyes glimmered with wicked amusement.

She sighed, a mix of
defeat and resignation. "The ‘no touching unless you tell me to’ rule."

She didn’t bother hiding the
frustration from her voice. She'd already earned a demerit. His next words confirmed it.

"And that sassy mouth of yours has cost you an orgasm this morning."

Like you'll be here to stop me.
She made a low sound in her throat and just stopped from rolling her eyes back in her head.

Usually by this time of the day, they would've been in their way to
their second orgasm, usually in the shower. But as he was already dressed and they hadn't made love before he'd gotten out of bed, it wasn't going to happen any time soon.

He leaned back
, arms crossed over his chest.

"Do you want to say something
, Selina?" There was no amusement in his voice.

"No."

"No, what?"

"No, Benjamin." When he was being formal, she had to use his full name.

"I didn't think so," he said, his tone still reprimanding. "Do I need to remind you of the rules for play day?"

Her cheeks flamed at his chiding tone. She wasn't a ten year old who needed reminders.

"I know the rules, Benjamin."

"Good. Then obey them. Unless of course you wish to skip today's session?"

And miss out on what I've been looking forward to all week? I don't think so.
Despite the change in their routine for the day, she would have to trust that he would meet his obligations. He'd promised her, and he hadn't reneged on that promise yet. She had to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"I don't want to skip. I'm sorry I was
being lippy. I just didn't like the idea of you going out this morning." Plus the fact that he could command her body at his whim.