by Leah Brooke
After pouring herself a glass of wine, she drew a bubble bath, smiling to herself at the idea of being naked when Sin called.
She’d just poured a generous amount of bubble bath into the tub when her cell phone rang.
Irritated at the interruption, she set Sin’s phone on the counter and rushed to answer her other phone.
“Hello?”
“So you’re finally home. Looks like you have a new boyfriend. What the hell did you tell him?”
“Robert?” Alarmed at his call, Veronica rushed to the front door to make sure she’d locked it. “What the hell do you want?”
“Sinclair Majors paid me a visit this morning. You been making up stories, sweetheart? You giving what’s mine to someone else?”
Veronica winced at the endearment, chilled to the bone. “Nothing about me has ever or will ever belong to you. Stay away from me and don’t call me again.”
“Then don’t tell your boyfriend lies about me.”
Rubbing her forehead, Veronica set her wine aside. “Listen, you piece of shit. I’ll tell him anything I want to. I don’t lie to him.”
“Oh? I saw the way you looked at me when I pulled you close. You wanted me, Roni. I saw the way you dressed. That was for my benefit, wasn’t it?”
“No. It wasn’t. Don’t call me again.”
Veronica disconnected and tossed the phone to the sofa, her good mood completely gone.
Wrapping her arms around herself, she thought about her job and knew she couldn’t keep working with Robert.
When she got back from her vacation with Sin, she would report him and ask to be transferred.
The phone rang again—the phone Sin had given to her—and she rushed back to the bathroom to answer it.
Determined not to bother him with her problems, she injected a cheerfulness into her voice she no longer felt. “Hello?”
“Hello, Veronica. Did you have a nice day at work?”
Even though he couldn’t see her, she forced a smile, the relief and happiness of hearing his voice bringing tears to her eyes.
“Yes. Robert wasn’t there. Did you have something to do about that?”
“Your co-worker got a transfer.”
“Did he? He said that you went to see him.”
“You talked to him?”
Pissed at herself for letting that slip, Veronica blew out a breath.
“He called here a few minutes ago.”
“Tell me what he said.”
Frowning at the tone she’d come to recognize, Veronica repeated her conversation with Robert. “And that’s it. I told him to leave me alone. I just feel sorry for the poor woman he picks on next.”
“He’s being watched.”
Veronica blinked. “What? How?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Chilled at his dismissal, she wrapped her arms around herself. “Oh.”
“What’s that noise?”
Lowering herself to the side of the tub, Veronica turned off the water.
“I was running a bath.”
His voice lowered, became seductive. “Were you? Are you naked?”
Still irritated at his dismissal, Veronica shrugged. “No. I was in the process when Robert called.”
“Put the phone on speaker and get undressed now.”
Smiling, she shook her head and put the phone on speaker. Setting it on the floor, she reached for her top button.
“What do you have in mind…Sir?”
“Mr. Majors, they’re ready for you.”
Veronica stilled. “Who was that?”
“My secretary. Lose the clothes, Veronica.”
With shaking hands, Veronica unbuttoned her top. “You have a secretary?”
“Several. Strip.”
Tossing her blouse aside, Veronica frowned. “How do you know I’m not already naked?”
“Magic.”
Veronica striped out of her skirt. “So, how’s your trip going?”
“Productive. Now the bra.”
Veronica stilled. “Can you see me?”
“Of course not, but I can hear your breathing.”
Veronica removed her bra and panties, tossing them aside. “I wish you were here.”
“I’ll be back late tomorrow night. Get in the tub.”
Veronica shook her head with a smile and slipped into the warm water.
“Okay. I’m in. Listen, I have to pack and—”
“You’ll pack nothing. I’ll pick you up Saturday morning at eight. You can bring your purse, and the only clothes you’ll be permitted to wear are the clothes you’ll wear to and from the island. I’ll provide everything you need.”
“But, Sin. I don’t want you to buy things for me.”
“It’s my responsibility to provide for you while we’re there. You have to accept the whole package, Veronica. Or nothing.”
The idea of being so dependent on him made her slightly nervous but also excited her. “Okay.”
“I’ll call you again tomorrow night at the same time. I want you naked when I call.”
“Yes.”
“Goodnight, Veronica.”
“Wait! How will you know if I’m naked?”
“If you’re not, you just cheating yourself. You can’t have the experience you want to have if you don’t participate. It’ll be whatever we make it, Veronica. I’ll call you tomorrow night. Same time. It’s up to you to decide how it’ll be—or not. Be good, and look over that contract again. I want everything cleared up before we leave Saturday morning.”
* * * *
Sin sipped his drink, staring out the window.
“How the hell do you deal with all these meetings?”
Jordan King glanced up from the contract he’d been reading. “Lots of practice.”
Sin smiled at that. “Bullshit. You thrive on them.”
Jordan’s lips twitched. “I like the challenge of getting what I want.” His smile fell, and Sin knew he was thinking about Leslie—the only woman Jordan had ever loved.
A surge of anger rose inside him at the effect the other woman had had on his friend and mentor’s life.
To change the subject, Sin smiled. “I guess it doesn’t hurt to have the upper hand in these meetings.”
Jordan’s jaw clenched. “I make sure I always have the upper hand—in all things. It’s a lesson I learned the hard way.”
Sin nodded once and sipped his drink, hating that his friend still hurt for the woman he’d lost.
On the heels of that came thoughts of Veronica.
Something about her had hooked him from the very beginning, and she responded to him like a dream.
“Problem?”
Sin turned at his friend’s question. “Veronica.”
Setting the contract aside, Jordan sat back, picking up his drink from the coffee table in front of him. “I’ve never seen that look in your eyes before. You’re already in love with her, aren’t you?”
Sin shook his head, missing her more than he cared to admit. “How can I be in love with her? I’ve only known her a few days. Hell, I haven’t even taken her yet.”
He wanted to wait until they were on the island, and only staying away from her made it possible.
Jordan gave him a look that Sin knew well, a raised brow and sharp stare that told him that Jordan either didn’t believe him or waited for Sin to realize the truth for himself.
Sin sighed. “Don’t look at me like that. I can’t let myself get too attached to her. She wants nothing more than to explore her fantasy of submitting.”
“And if she decides that it’s everything she wants?”
Running a hand through his hair, Sin blew out a breath.
“I don’t know. Fuck. She’s so damned sweet.” Turning, he grinned. “Except when she’s aroused and I make her wait. She gets quite an attitude.”
Jordan’s smile held a sadness that he showed only on rare occasions. “Be careful.”
Nodding, Sin turned away from the view of Jordan’s large pool and bac
kyard. “I will.” He studied his friend’s features, features that had hardened quite a bit over the last several years.
“You need to fall in love with someone else.”
In a very telling move, Jordan lifted the contract and started perusing it again.
“I don’t think that’s possible.”
Surprised at that, Sin frowned. “You date all the time.”
Jordan glanced up at him. “Just as you do. The women that I go out with are lovely diversions, and I enjoy fucking them.”
Smiling faintly, he lifted his glass again. “When I want something more…extreme, there are women I can call on, but there’s nothing more than friendship between us. Whichever way, I make sure I’m always the one in control—something you seem to need as well.”
Sin smiled at that. “Thank you for showing it to me.”
Jordan’s lips twitched. “I thought it would help. Your world had been yanked out from under you, and you were a bitter young man. I just didn’t realize that you would have been so taken with it—or so good at it. I understand from Gabriel that quite a few women were very disappointed that you didn’t bid on them the other night.”
Sin sighed, staring into his drink.
“Veronica kept me busy.” Lifting his gaze, he smiled when Jordan frowned and changed something in the contract—something that would undoubtedly require a roomful of lawyers to sort out.
“I’ve told her about you.”
Jordan glanced up and kept reading, his ability to focus on several things at once a great source of fascination to Sin.
As a teenager, when he’d thought Jordan distracted by something else, he’d try to get away with something, but Jordan had always caught him.
“Have you? I guess that’s only natural.”
Moving to sit in the chair across from Jordan, Sin opened the drawer of the end table where Jordan always kept a deck of cards—something he’d done since Sin was a teenager.
One of the physical therapists had encouraged him to practice shuffling the cards to improve the flexibility of his hands, but he found himself manipulating the cards when something bothered him.
Watching Jordan carefully, he cut the cards over and over with one hand. “Veronica fantasizes about having me show her to someone else. It has to be someone whom I trust.”
Jordan smiled, lifting a brow. “She told you this?”
Chuckling, Sin used both hands to manipulate the cards. “No. When I talked about showing her off, she got aroused. The more I pushed it, the more aroused she became. She’s too shy to say a lot of things, something that I plan to change while we’re away, but you can see it in her eyes. I know that you’re planning to fly out to look at one of the condos, and I was hoping you’d spend the day with us.”
Setting the contract aside, Jordan raised a brow. “And spend the day admiring your sub?”
“I wouldn’t trust anyone else. Besides, I want you to meet her, and if she ends up in my life, you’re bound to see things.”
“True.”
Jordan sipped his drink and rose, making his way to the window. “Did you take care of that asshole who’s been harassing her?”
“Yes. He really is an asshole. He tried to tell me that she was the one chasing him.”
Jordan turned, leaning back against the window. “I’ll keep an eye on him, and if he causes any more trouble, I’ll take care of it.”
Sin chuckled, amused at the light of anticipation in his friend’s eyes. “You can be a scary man at times. Don’t tell me you’re using the security company.”
Shaking his head, Jordan smiled. “Buying it has been very lucrative. I’m looking at another right now. It’ll keep both on their toes. I’m also checking out some new technology, and they can help get the bugs out.”
“Hell, I don’t even know how many you own now.”
“We own.” Straightening, Jordan gave him a speculative look. “I’m glad you’re done with the other. It was time for you, and you can help me run them.”
“You don’t need any help. You’ve got all of them running like well-oiled machines.”
“Nevertheless, you need to know them.”
Sin stilled, setting the cards aside with a sigh.
“You’re not planning on doing something stupid, are you?”
Jordan’s lips twitched. “No, Sinclair. I didn’t work so hard to have all this money and power just to throw it away.”
Relieved, Sin picked up his drink again and sat back.
“Have I ever thanked you for taking me in? Hell, you were only in your twenties and got saddled with a moody teenager.”
“You’d just lost your family. Of course you were moody.” Smiling, Jordan came toward Sin, lowered himself to the sofa and picked up the contract again. “I just hope you find the happiness you deserve.”
Watching his friend, Sin sat forward. “So why did you work so hard to become a billionaire with the kind of power most people could never understand? What drives you, Jordan?”
Jordan lifted his gaze, his eyes glittering like black ice.
“Revenge.”
Chapter Ten
She couldn’t even pack a suitcase.
She’d have to trust Sin on far more levels than she’d bargained for.
Too nervous to eat, she sat at the kitchen table, picking at her salad and reading the contract again.
Sin had crossed out everything that she’d truly been afraid of—everything that caused pain.
Except spanking.
Tracing her finger over the contract date, she sighed.
One week.
One week of fantasy.
She could leave any time.
If she didn’t like anything remaining on the contract, she could use her safe word and cross it off.
She turned to the last page of the contract to see that Sin had even added that clause.
What did she have to lose?
It was a chance of a lifetime.
A chance to be with a man who turned her inside out with just a look.
How could she feel so close to a man she’d met only a week earlier?
What would she feel like after spending an entire week with him?
Blowing out a breath, she looked up at the clock, yelping when she realized that Sin would be calling in just a few minutes.
Even though she’d been expecting his call, she jolted when the phone rang, her hands shaking so badly that she almost dropped the phone into the tub.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Veronica. What are you wearing?”
Veronica giggled, sliding deeper into the water. “Bubbles.”
“Excuse me? Did you say bubbles? Are you taking a bubble bath?”
“Yep. You told me to be naked. You didn’t say I couldn’t be taking a bath or that I couldn’t have bubbles.”
“You like pushing my commands to the limits, don’t you?”
Stilling, Veronica sat up, unsure of his mood.
“I’m sorry. I thought you would be happy.” Blowing out a breath, she wrapped an arm around herself, suddenly chilled. “I was trying to be sexy. I’m afraid I don’t have much experience with that.”
“Veronica, you couldn’t be sexier if you tried.” Sin’s voice held a warm affection that brought tears to her eyes.
Veronica’s pulse leapt. “Really? So you’re not mad?”
“No, Veronica. I’m not mad. If I was, you would know it.”
* * * *
Lowering himself to a chaise lounge beside his pool, Sin listened to the splash of water, picturing Veronica naked and covered with bubbles.
“Have you gone through the contract again?”
“Yes.”
Smiling at her breathless reply, Sin rose, suddenly restless. “Have you made any changes?”
“No.” The water splashed again, and she blew out a breath. “Thank you for the clause at the end. It gives me a little confidence to know that I can change my mind about something I don’t like.”
; “But only after you’ve tried it. Giving you free rein for a week is the only way to explore your boundaries.”
Veronica’s voice lowered, so low he had to strain to hear her. “I just hope I don’t disappoint you.”
Sin smiled. “You won’t. If I was with you, I’d wipe the bubbles from your breasts so that they’re not hidden from me. When we get to the island, I’m going to get a great deal of pleasure out of bathing you. Dressing you. Taking care of you.”
“I can’t wait.” Veronica’s sigh was like a stroke to his already hard cock. “Sin, I want this vacation to be as exciting to you as it is to me.”
Smiling at her breathless tone, Sin straddled the chaise, enjoying the warmth of the tiles under his bare feet.
“Wipe them off the way you would if I was with you.”
Smiling at her sharp intake of breath, Sin rose and strolled toward the pool. “You touched your nipples, didn’t you?”
“Yes. Oh, Sin. I wish you were here.”
“Have you been pleasuring yourself?”
“Of course not.”
“Good girls are well rewarded.”
“Oh God.”
“I’ll pick you up at eight in the morning. Be good and go to bed early.”
“Sin?”
“Yes, Veronica?”
“I miss you.”
“Tell me tomorrow.”
Disconnecting, he groaned and tossed the phone onto the chaise.
He missed her, too—far more than he’d anticipated.
* * * *
Lowering both of them to her sofa, Sin lifted his head, searching Veronica’s features.
“You really did miss me.”
Surprised at the tears shimmering in her eyes, Sin adjusted her more firmly on his lap.
“That was quite a welcome.”
“I did miss you. A lot.” Sitting up, she shook her head, running her hands over her hair and gathering the pins he’d sent flying.
He ran a hand over her breast, thrilled at her sharp intake of breath and the pebbling of her nipple against his palm.
“Are you ready?”
She pushed her breast more firmly against his hand and reached up to cup his jaw. “Yes. God, yes.”
Watching her face, he took her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers, rolling them lightly at first, gradually increasing the pressure.
