Dangerous

by Audrey Alexander

  “Not to my knowledge.” Sarah shook her head. “I did put a flag on his accounts when I found what he’d done to screw over Jace with that contract, but that’s only with my man at the station.”

  Carrie raised her eyebrows and leaned forward. “Your man at the station?”

  “Not like that.” Sarah gave her a look before glancing down at her cell phone. “Speaking of…”

  Sarah lifted her phone to her ear. “Johnny? Hi, it’s Sarah Evans. I’m just wondering if you had an update on that little request I put through.”

  Carrie cocked her head and watched her friend at work. She’d always been a good lawyer. One of the best in their graduating class. And she’d risen in the ranks at the firm just as fast as Carrie had. If someone was going to get a partner offer out of this thing, Carrie would be glad if it was Sarah.

  When she hung up the phone, a slick smile slid across Sarah’s lips. “Tell me you love me.”

  “What have you done?” Carrie asked, her heart lifting at the look in her friend’s eyes.

  “I cashed in a favor.” Her smile widened. “Walter Holt’s head is going to explode. I got Jace back out on bail.”

  When the guards led Jace Holt from his tiny cell and out into the chilly Manhattan air, he wasn’t entirely certain he wasn’t dreaming. As far as he knew, his bail had been one hundred percent fully revoked, and without access to his funds, he wasn’t able to encourage any of his contacts to move the process along to his release.

  But there he was outside, breathing in the scent of exhaust fumes.

  The police officers still stood by his side as Carrie Simmons bolted up the concrete steps and threw her arms around his neck. She buried her face into his shoulder, and all the emotion he’d packed away the past few days came roaring back. She smelled sweet and salty, and her curves felt so good pressed up against his body. They’d only been apart for two days, but the time had seemed to stretch out like centuries.

  “Carrie,” he said into the top of her head. “Tell me what’s going on here. I thought I couldn’t get out on bail again. And I certainly know my father isn’t responsible for this.”

  Carrie pulled back and looked up with him with shining eyes. “Sarah did it.”

  “Sir,” the police officer said from his side, breaking up the reunion. “You’ll be able to spend your wait for the trial in your home, but there are some strict conditions set on your release.”

  “Strict conditions?” Jace asked, glancing at Carrie.

  She gave him a somber nod. “It was the only way we could get you out.”

  Jace sighed but gave a nod at the officer. He couldn’t be too upset about these new developments. Being out of jail meant his assets and his funds would be firmly back under his control. And he could spend the next few weeks in his penthouse—and inside Carrie’s gorgeous body—instead of a crumbling jail cell.

  “You’ll be escorted straight to your home, Mr. Holt,” the police officer said, edging in between him and Carrie. “You are to stay there at all times. And you are to leave under no circumstances.”

  Jace’s frown deepened as the words sunk in. So, he’d still be stuck in a jail cell, just one of his own making. This didn’t feel as much like a victory as he’d imagined. Yes, his penthouse was luxurious and had everything he needed. His staff could bring him anything he couldn’t get himself. In fact, that’s how he operated under normal circumstances. However, being forced to stay made the large square footage suddenly sound much, much smaller.

  “You’ll have to wear an ankle bracelet,” Carrie said with a slight grimace. Jace knew that Carrie would understand more than anyone how caged this would make him feel. But he didn’t have much of a choice. It was either an ankle bracelet or more time in that miserable cell, and looking into Carrie’s gorgeous eyes, the choice was an easy one to make.

  Jace gave a nod. “Fine. Take me home.”

  Jace lounged on his couch with his feet propped up on his polished coffee table while Carrie paced the thick carpet. She’d tossed off her shoes, and he couldn’t help but notice that she’d painted her cute little toes an alluring shade of red. She usually wasn’t one to take time away from work to bother with that kind of thing, and it made Jace’s heart sink a little. Now she was unemployed, something that was entirely his fault, and she had time to tend to her nails.

  “Come here,” he said as she was on her tenth stride across the room. “There’s no reason for you to act like a caged rat. You’re not the one with an ankle bracelet tracking your every move.”

  Her eyes flicked toward him, and she frowned, not slowing down for even a moment. “There’s something I need to tell you, but I’m worried about how you’re going to react.”

  Jace cocked his head and draped his arm across the back of the couch. He wished Carrie would relax and curl up on the leather beside him. She was too tightly wound, just like she’d been when they’d reunited the week or so before. He thought he’d sexed the stress right out of her body, but it had returned during his absence. He needed to do something about that, and as his cock hardened in his pants, he knew exactly how he wanted to make all her knotted muscles turn to putty in his hands.

  “You know you can tell me anything, Carrie,” he said, slowly unbuttoning his shirt. He thought the movement might draw her eyes to his chest, but she barely glanced his way. “Nothing you could say to me would cause a bad reaction. Now come here. I’m out of jail, and this is cause for a celebration. I haven’t seen you in far too long, and I want your body on top of me.”

  “Jace.” She gave a frustrated sigh, but she finally stopped pacing. When she turned to face him, her eyebrows were knotted together on her forehead. Jace cocked his head and frowned. This was clearly more serious than he’d thought.

  “Tell me what’s wrong,” he said.

  “You have to promise that you won’t do something stupid,” she said, rubbing her palms against her tight little jeans. He knew she only made that move when she was nervous. “You can’t go rushing out of here. The only reason they’ve let you out of jail until the trial is because you agreed to stay in your penthouse with that ankle bracelet on.”

  “Tell me now, Carrie.” Jace’s voice went hard. He was suddenly very sure whatever she had to say he didn’t want to hear.

  Carrie sighed and moved over to him, sinking onto the couch and pressing her hands against his thighs. In any other circumstance, he’d be turned on by the feel of her fingers on his legs, but he was far too on edge for his mind to drift to sex now. Something was very wrong, and he needed to know what it was.

  “I found something. A photo that ties Dominique to that man who posed as you in the security footage. Apparently they know each other. It seems they’re good friends.”

  Jace frowned. “I don’t understand the problem. That’s a good thing, Carrie.”

  “Yes, it is.” She closed her eyes and sighed, her entire body going tense and hard before him. “But there was another man in the photo. And it all makes sense now. I don’t think it was Dominique who framed you. I think he was just working for someone else.”

  “Working for the other man in the photo?” Jace nodded. “That makes sense. He had no reason to turn on me like that.”

  “You need a good reason to frame a man for murder,” Carrie said, finally opening her eyes. Her face was strained, and it made him want to wrap his arms around her and pull her close.

  “I still don’t understand why this is a problem,” Jace said. “I know Sarah is having trouble locating Dominique, but surely this photo gives some new leads.”

  “Dominique isn’t the problem, Jace.” Carrie grasped his hands in hers and squeezed them tight. “It’s the other man in the photo. I don’t know how to tell you this, so I’ll just spit it out. It was your father.”

  Carrie didn’t know what to expect. As elated as she was to have Jace out of jail, she’d been dreading this moment all day. At first, she’d considered keeping it from him for another day or two. If he flew off the han
dle, he might decide to confront Walter Holt, leaving his penthouse and breaking his conditions again. If he did that, Carrie knew there was nothing Sarah could do to get him out again.

  But instead of flying off the handle, Jace just sat before her as still and as calm as he’d been in the moments before she’d dropped the bomb.

  “You’re telling me my father is the mastermind behind this entire thing,” Jace finally said, his eyes barely blinking, his face full of stone. “Now it all makes sense. I was a fool for not seeing it earlier.”

  “Are you okay?” Carrie asked quickly. “You’re not going to go running out here after him, are you?”

  “No,” Jace said coolly. “That’s probably what he wishes I would do. That way he can get control of my assets again. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? He set me up to get everything I’ve worked so hard for.”

  “It seems that way,” Carrie said, frowning. She wasn’t entirely sure how to take Jace’s non-reaction to this news. While she was relieved he hadn’t gone rushing out of the apartment, his calm exterior was a little unnerving. Shouldn’t he be feeling something?

  “Tell me how you found this photo, Carrie,” he said as he finally met her gaze with cold and indifferent eyes.

  Carrie shivered. She couldn’t help herself. “I saw it when I went to see my mother. It was hanging on the wall in his office.”

  “I see.” Jace pulled his hands out of her tight grip. “You put yourself in harm’s way again. You know how I feel about that. Don’t you, Carrie?”

  New shivers ran along Carrie’s skin. This was a side of Jace she’d rarely seen. In the past when he’d brought up obedience and punishment, there had been a certain heat to his words and his eyes that made her weak. But this time, he was cold, distant, hard. She wasn’t sure if she should be excited or a little bit scared.

  “I didn’t know when I went over there that he was involved,” she said.

  “But you knew he wouldn’t be happy to see you. You knew I wouldn’t like it if you came face to face with that asshole of a man,” Jace said, standing and slowly unbuttoning his shirt. Carrie’s eyes caught on his chest. She couldn’t help it. His muscles slid into view, taunting her with their perfect shape.

  Squirming, she crossed her legs and stared up at him, her heart beginning to race. “Yes, I knew you wouldn’t like it.”

  “You know what happens when you do things I don’t like.” His eyes went dark, and he threw his shirt to the floor. As she sat there watching, eyes wide and breath stuck in her throat, he removed the rest of his clothes until all that was before her was his glistening naked skin.

  She knew she shouldn’t be aroused, but as he’d undressed before her, her thighs grew hot and wet. She’d spent the night before thrashing around in bed, yearning for his touch. And even though a part of her didn’t want to give into his need for obedience in all things, another part of her was thrilled at the prospect of taking whatever punishment he might give.

  “Punishment,” she breathed, squeezing her thighs together.

  His eyes caught the movement, and that wicked grin of his split his lips. There was something darker and more dangerous about him today. The news about his father had brought it out of him.

  “No, I want you to take off your clothes and spread your legs for me.”

  Carrie slowly stood from the couch, transfixed by Jace’s eyes. She undressed before him, and as each piece of clothing hit the floor, his eyes grew hotter and hotter until it almost felt as if they burned into her skin. When she was finally naked, she sat back on the couch and spread her thighs so that she was open for him, ready to be taken however he wanted.

  He lowered himself to his knees and dropped his head to her thighs, his tongue drawing slow circles on her skin. She moaned, eyes fluttering shut. This wasn’t what she’d been expecting. A whip or a chain, but not this. His mouth moved across her skin, higher and higher until he was so close to her pussy that she could barely breathe from the intense lust pouring through her. She needed his mouth on her now. She needed to feel his touch. All the blood in her body was roaring to that one spot, and it ached with a need she’d never felt before.

  But instead of giving her what she so desperately needed, he pulled away.

  “Jace,” she groaned, reaching to pull his head back toward her. “Stop teasing me.”

  “You will come when I say you’ll come,” he said in a dark voice before lifting her from the couch and flipping her over.

  Her cheek pressed into the leather as he lifted her ass into the air. His palm sent searing pain through her right cheek as he slapped her hard from behind. Stars dotted her eyes. She gritted her teeth as he spanked her again, five more times until all she could feel was the pain. Panting hard, she gripped the leather in her fists and clung on as he continued to spank her as hard as he could.

  Her arousal dripped down her thighs, and her entire body ached for Jace to be inside her. She knew this punishment wasn’t about her. It was about him. His need for control after learning the truth. And being what he needed for his release made her excitement only grow. Pleasing him gave her a satisfaction like she’d never felt from anything she’d done before in her life.

  Jace’s slaps turned to soft caresses on her skin, and suddenly he was thrusting deep inside her. She gasped and gripped the couch tighter. He took her hard, rough, and intense, as if she was the only thing he could cling to in the world. Carrie kept her legs spread open for him and the ache inside her began to build.

  “Can I come?” she gasped out as his thrusts quickened. Her arousal was so much that she could barely hold on.

  “Yes, Carrie,” he gasped. “Show me how much you love me.”

  Carrie cried out as she finally let go, letting her orgasm pulse through her. Jace came with her in tandem and gripped her thighs tight as he pounded his final thrusts into her throbbing sex. When he had emptied his seed inside her, he pulled away and left her panting on the couch, her ears ringing and her eyes dotted with stars.

  When she turned around to reach for him, he was gone.

  Jace wanted nothing more than to leave his penthouse prison, go straight to his father’s Upper East Side apartment, and confront him about what he’d done. He’d never been stupid enough to believe the man had much of an attachment to him, but never in a million years would he have expected something like this. All this time he must have held a hidden contempt for Jace way down deep inside his gut, and he’d been waiting and biding his time until striking like the viper he was.

  Jace was glad his mother wouldn’t see what Walter Holt had become. It would have broken her heart.

  He turned on the shower, letting the hot mist coat his body. Carrie hadn’t come after him when he’d left her panting on the couch, and he could understand why. He’d gone hard and demanding the moment she’d told him about the photo she’d found. Everything about his life was a ruse. Nothing felt inside his control. All he could focus on was Carrie’s pursed lips, her slick skin, her voluptuous breasts. And he’d needed to bend her over and exert his control. It made him feel grounded. It made him feel as if the world was still right side up, spinning on its axis as it circled the sun rather than spinning out of control into the vacuum of space.

  As he eased out of the shower and began to towel off his wet skin, he hoped his punishment hadn’t been too severe. He knew Carrie was eager to please him in bed, and she enjoyed being submissive, but he’d never gotten that rough with her before.

  When he walked out of the bathroom, he found her perched on the edge of the bed, her hands clasped tight in her lap. Her face was pure white, like the very sheets surrounding her on the bed. Jace’s heart panged, and he cursed himself for letting his domineering side take over his brain. She was upset, he could tell, and he’d been the cause of it all.

  “Jace,” she began slowly, and then stopped.

  “I’m so sorry, Carrie,” he said, the words sounding alien coming from his mouth. Jace Holt never apologized to anyone, but Car
rie Simmons wasn’t just anyone. She was his world, the only star in his dark sky. “I never would have been that rough with you, but you were so wet and so eager, I thought you were enjoying yourself.”

  “What?” Carrie shook her head and frowned. “Yeah, you were a little rough, but I did enjoy it.”

  “Good.” Jace dropped the towel to the floor, allowing his cock to spring free. If she’d enjoyed that after all, then perhaps she would be ready for round two. He sorely needed another release, and her mussed sex hair was one of the hottest things he’d ever seen.

  “Sarah just gave me a call.” She sighed and dropped her head into her hands. Hunched over like that, she looked so weak and so frail, so unlike the Carrie Simmons he knew and loved. All of this was taking a toll on her, and he wished there was something he could do to take the burden from her shoulders. But he was stuck there. In his penthouse. Because of Walter Holt.

  Jace flexed his hands and gripped them into tight fists. “What’s wrong now?”

  “She’s been fired, too.” She looked up at Jace with wide eyes. “Your father found out what she did and demanded she be let go from the firm or he’d go public with some dirt he had on Rick Allen. So, that was that.”

  “Walter Holt strikes again.” Jace twisted his lips into a grimace. “I should have known he’d retaliate. She completely ruined his plan by getting me out of there, though I’m sure he expects they’ll find me guilty at the trial. Which means he still wins.”

  “And now you have no one on your side at the firm.” Carrie’s voice cracked, and a tear slipped out of her eye. “No one to handle your case the way it should be. Your father will see to that.”

  “The hell he will.” Jace clenched his fists tighter. “I’m my own man, and my money is mine as long as I’m free. That means I can hire who I want as my legal team, and Hanson, Allen, & Chase no longer meet my requirements.”