by Tessa Bailey
He’d left that morning without a thought, Renee passed out in a jumble of sheets. And he hadn’t heard from her since, until she’d visited New York six months ago with her boyfriend and ran into Jonah when they both tried to hail the same cab. One minute later and he might never have known.
The news had knocked him on his ass. That same day, before she’d found out what he did for a living, Renee had emailed him a photograph of Gabby. There had been no mistaking her resemblance to him. She was his daughter. And she’d spent the first eight years of her life without any knowledge of her father.
To a man whose own parents had left their child to be raised by an indifferent uncle, Jonah had been beside himself. He’d contacted Renee the following day and asked if he could meet her, but she’d adamantly declined, having Googled his name and found out about Serve. After months of sending Renee money and trying to reassure her that he wasn’t a moral threat to their daughter, he’d broken down and hired a lawyer. It had been a last resort. For one, he sensed Renee didn’t have the money for legal expenses and that financial burden could negatively affect Gabby. But he couldn’t continue to send money when he didn’t even know if the money was benefitting her. And money didn’t make him a part of her life. When he’d been Gabby’s age, he would have turned down a million dollars just to have a father to take him fishing like the other kids at school.
Jonah’s phone vibrated in his pocket. When he saw his lawyer’s name pop up on the screen, he answered. “Winston.”
“Are you playing decorator again?”
“Funny.” Jonah tossed the paintbrush into a metal tray. “Fat lot of good it’s doing me.”
“One step at a time.” Winston hesitated a moment. “The apartment doesn’t guarantee visitation. I’m having a hell of a time just getting Renee to meet with you.”
Jonah’s brow furrowed. “I’m aware. Just keep trying.”
“Will do. Listen, I’m sending over a messenger tonight with the finalized deed and some information about visitation rights.”
He acknowledged the lawyer’s words absently, knowing Serve’s manager would see that he got whatever the messenger delivered. “Fine.”
After discussing a few more details about the purchase, Jonah hung up.
Not quite ready to return to the demands of his club just yet, he picked up the remote and pointed it at the forty-inch flat screen hanging over the brick fireplace. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d watched a screen for anything other than customers misbehaving at Serve, so when he saw Caroline’s smiling face looking back at him from the television, he had an odd sense of déjà vu. But she wasn’t sitting at the bar in his club; she was ringing the goddamn bell for the New York Stock Exchange, her father standing behind her looking proud.
Damn, she looks beautiful. That was actually his first thought, when it should have been, What the hell am I doing, trying to change this girl’s mind when she’s so obviously cut from a different cloth? This woman, the one being applauded by some of the most powerful financial minds in the world, would be in his bed tonight. That is, if she didn’t back out at the last second. Something told him she wouldn’t, though. He hadn’t spent a lot of time with her, not nearly as much as he’d have liked, but she didn’t seem the type to waver once a decision had been made.
He just hoped she hadn’t come to a final decision yet about his club.
Jonah took a few steps closer toward the television, squinting at what he couldn’t possibly be seeing. But there it was. Just beneath her skirt was the outline of the garter. She was wearing it underneath her smart, tailored business suit. At the damn stock exchange.
Setting aside thoughts of opening bells and pink paint samples, Jonah walked back toward the subway, allowing a ribbon of anticipation to curl in his gut. What would she wear tonight? Something he’d have to work to remove or a dress he could slip his hands under? Would he find the lacy black garter, or would she remove it before tonight, not wanting him to know she’d worn it?
If he thought for one second she would accommodate him, he would have sent her something red to wear. To set off those green cat eyes. This unholy fixation he had on Caroline was something he couldn’t explain. Almost as if someone upstairs was having a laugh at his expense, putting a disapproving woman in his path he couldn’t seem to resist.
She thought their connection could prove unhealthy for her? Right now, while he was in the process of being denied parental rights because of his lifestyle, the least healthy situation would be subjecting himself to even more criticism. But God, the way she came alive under his hands…it felt like the furthest thing from censure. She appeared unable to resist him, either, and something about that fact made his pulse hammer. Being with one woman, inside one, had never felt essential. It unnerved him.
He needed to remember that their meeting wasn’t just about him slaking his growing need for her—it was about introducing her to something she didn’t understand. Giving her a reason not to slam his club, the way he lived, in her article. He needed to think about his professional goal here, not just his personal one. Otherwise this family-friendly apartment, all he’d done in an effort to meet his daughter, could be thrown away for one night with Caroline.
Jonah’s jaw went tight when a voice in his head whispered that she’d be worth it. No. He needed to keep his head with her tonight, remember what he wanted to prove. The dominant side of him that flowed out, easy as smoke, only came on stronger around Caroline. He’d barely managed to keep a leash on it that night at Serve. Tonight, it would be paramount. By coming to his home, even with her wealth of doubt about his character, she’d placed her trust in him. He had no intention of showing her she’d misplaced that trust.
Furthermore, if his instincts proved correct, he’d want her again. Immediately. To guarantee she’d come back for more, he’d need to tap into needs Caroline wasn’t conscious of yet. Draw responses out of her she didn’t know were possible.
Tonight, he’d make Caroline Preston an addict.
Chapter Eight
Caroline squeezed her clutch bag in a death grip as she walked into Serve. Since it was Tuesday night, the crowd was smaller than the last time she’d been there but still considerable. Colognes and perfumes wafted through the air around her, mingling with the darkly sensual music pumping through the lounge area. Just like last time, she felt distinctly out of place, possibly more so now because she’d witnessed first-hand what went on upstairs. A group of male customers sent her interested glances, and she quickly looked away before one of them could ask to drip candle wax on her private parts. Or something.
If nothing else, they’d confirmed her outfit had been a decent choice. Never one to agonize over clothing, she’d nonetheless found herself trying on no less than five different outfits. While comfort and sensibility usually reigned as deciding factors, tonight she was merely dressing to get undressed. It called for a completely different stratagem. She hadn’t analyzed her underwear so thoroughly since Prom. In the end, she’d worn a strapless nude cocktail dress that was completely out of her comfort zone, but then again, what about tonight was in her comfort zone? A big, gelatinous blob of nothing, that’s what.
As she’d dressed for her preplanned one-night stand, Caroline had allowed herself to shed the pretense that Jonah must have placed her under some form of Dom hypnosis and it merely needed time to wear off. She needed to take control of this urge and stop letting it own her. So she’d thumbed her nose at comfort, shimmied on a thong, and gone braless. If this night was the final stop on the Jonah Express, she wouldn’t hold anything back. Walking out of Serve with anything less than resolve would be unacceptable. And along the way, nothing he said or did would convince her to accept this place or what happened here. Tomorrow morning, she would go back to Preston’s and continue her quest to save it the right way.
Caroline skirted past a man leaning against the bar in full latex attire. Then she saw Jonah. Sitting directly underneath a stainless-steel light fixture, h
is features were perfectly illuminated. The untouched drink in front of him occupied his attention, but the expression on his handsome face brought her to a halt. For just that split second, right before he looked up and caught sight of her, she glimpsed…pain. Loneliness. Her determination to keep herself emotionally removed tonight felt terribly selfish and wrong upon seeing it. Knowing the alternative was to open herself up, she almost turned and ran out of Serve like the worst kind of coward. But when Jonah looked up and smiled, pleasure chasing the sadness from his face, she walked forward as if compelled.
He said something to the bartender, then stood to pull back a stool for her. When she reached him, he slid an arm around her waist and brought her close. “Caroline,” he breathed in her ear. “I knew you’d come, but I didn’t think you’d show up dressed to make me beg.”
Heart hammering, she swallowed the knot in her throat. “I like to keep you on your toes.”
“Let’s see if I can return the favor.” Before she could decipher his intention, he tightened the arm around her waist and lifted her onto the seat. Everything south of her waist clenched at the unexpected action, his show of strength enticing her in a method as old as time. Part of her resented him turning her into a cliché, but the rest of her wondered how else he could employ that power. If she’d get a chance to experience it tonight.
The bartender set down a familiar-looking drink, garnished with a lollipop, on the bar. Almost recovered from Jonah’s unexpected maneuver, she narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t even think about it.”
He smiled devilishly. “A man can hope.”
Caroline sipped her drink, thinking of the research she’d done on him. “Is it true you won this place in a high-stakes poker game?”
“Doing research for your article?” Jonah’s mouth twitched as he leaned on the bar, his posture casual yet somehow authoritative. “Partly true. I won enough money to make an offer alongside an investor. I’ve since bought him out, making me the sole owner.”
“What hand did you win with?”
He looked amused by her question. “A straight.”
Caroline absorbed that with a reluctant smile. “I bet you find something funny about financing a BDSM club with a straight.”
Jonah laughed softly. “No one else has ever picked up on that.”
She sipped her drink with a flourish. “Impressed?”
“By you? Continually.” He rubbed a hand over his mouth. “Do you always perform research when presented with something new?”
“Always.” Caroline gave him a long, meaningful look. “About everything.”
For a heated moment, Jonah scrutinized her. “And it appears you’ve come here tonight for some hands-on experience. Good to know, sweetheart.”
Before she could lose her nerve, her voice dropped to a whisper. “What do you want to do to me, Jonah?”
He set down his drink a little too hard. “You don’t waste any time, do you.” It was a statement, not a question, so she didn’t answer. Ever so slightly, she regretted steering them to this point so quickly, but she didn’t want to know more about him. Already, she’d let herself become fascinated, and it had to stop now. She didn’t want to see this night as anything other than a purely sexual encounter. If his expression served as any indication, he’d guessed her intention. “Are you asking me what I’d like to do or what I plan to do?”
She wet her lips. “What you plan to do.”
“A lot of that depends on you.” His tone turned serious. “I need to know your limits so I can respect them.”
“How would I know what they are if I’ve never come close to them?”
His breath escaped in a rush that sounded almost like a laugh. “I don’t think you have any idea what saying things like that does to a man like me. Finding limits and testing them is what I do, Caroline. What I want to do with you, specifically.”
Those words caused a long, slow twist in her belly. “Tell me what you want. I’ll tell you if I can give it to you.”
“Very well.” Jonah placed firm hands on her legs, uncrossing them slowly, before wedging his big body between them. As he must have known it would, her breath grew immediately choppy. The flesh between her legs felt the cool rush of air conditioning, triggering an answering pulse in the base of her belly. Suddenly the leather seat cushioning her bottom felt like a caress. My legs are wide open in a public place. Knowing anyone who looked in their direction would see her thighs on either side of his hips felt wrong, yet somehow unbelievably hot. A shot of heat pooled at her center, dampening her in seconds.
He’d done it all with one move.
“First of all, I plan on getting you out of this dress every man in the vicinity is admiring. And in case you were wondering, right now I’m letting every one of them know where I’ll be inside of the hour. Pumping between these beautifully spread legs. Servicing this body of yours with mine. Fucking it.” A groan escaped him as his mouth settled on her neck, a single finger tugging on the garter she’d worn against her better judgment. She felt his mouth curve into a smile against her neck at his discovery. “Before we get there, though, I have to get that pussy wet. Don’t I, Caroline? Your irresistibly tight pussy. My tongue and fingers get you first, but as soon as you’re slippery enough, you belong to my cock. Is that clear enough for you?”
“Yes,” Caroline managed huskily, her world tilting further askew with each word out of his mouth. Every cell in her body screamed toward him, leaving her lightheaded. Need him was all she could think, every intelligible thought in her head floating away on velvet air.
Jonah pulled back slightly to study her face, his gaze hot. “And along the way, sweetheart, I’m going to spank your heart-shaped ass, which happens to be sexy as fuck. I might even use a paddle. How do you feel about that?”
She sucked in a shaky breath. “Suddenly not so conflicted.”
“Be clear.”
“Yes. I…want that.”
“Excellent.” He swallowed the remains of his drink. “I’m going to bring you upstairs now, Caroline. Next time you’re down here, you’ll have been very thoroughly fucked.”
…
Well, that went according to plan.
As Jonah twisted his key to bring his personal elevator downstairs, he cast a look at Caroline, who stood beside him still as a statue, looking shell-shocked. He felt a pinch of satisfaction over rendering her speechless for once, but it was short-lived. He’d played right into her hands. The moment she’d arrived, he’d sensed her carefully constructed wall, knew she’d come here tonight merely to get him out of her system. Hell, she’d dressed like a goddamn sacrifice. At a quick glance, her nude-colored dress could fool you into thinking she stood naked in his bar, a tempting beacon among the sea of black. As a result, the powerful, possessive surge he’d felt toward her had hindered his judgment, allowing him to correctly prove her obvious theory that he was nothing more than a base, sexual creature.
Just before the words had begun pouring out of his mouth, he’d guessed her intention. She’d goaded him into dehumanizing himself, as a helpful reminder of how different they were. How vastly their worlds differed. How much she loathed being attracted to him because it made her a hypocrite. Even recognizing her goal, he hadn’t been able to stop himself from outlining his intentions for the night. He’d felt a driving urge to shake her up, scatter that cool logic she always employed, until she saw nothing but him. Wanted nothing but him.
Now, however, Jonah couldn’t help but feel slightly hollow. While he still desired her to a painful degree, he couldn’t help the yawning need for…more. For her to see him as something beyond a man who wielded control in the bedroom or owned a club that gave people the freedom to explore their cravings. The wish died out as quickly as it had sparked. Caroline would only see what she wanted to see. He could either give her the most unbelievable night of her life or waste time hoping for something that would never happen.
And Christ, he needed to be inside her or he thought he might d
ie.
The elevator door slid open, and he gestured for Caroline to precede him inside. When the door rolled shut, he entered the code that would bring them to his apartment, then made the mistake of looking at Caroline. Her pretty face was tipped up, green eyes hooded as she peered up at him, anticipating a kiss. The pulse at the base of her neck fluttered rapidly, breath ghosting out over the plump lips he’d pictured while jerking off for days. She was too much for him to resist, and suddenly the idea of waiting another minute to take what she offered felt like a crime against humanity.
“Once again, you get into an elevator with me after I’ve spoken inappropriately to you.” Jonah gripped her hip and pressed his thumb into the curve of her pelvis, making her gasp. “I think you like it. I think it makes you wet, knowing I’d move mountains to get a chance between your thighs.”
Her inhale sounded more like a gasp. “Yes, you could say I value honesty.”
“We have that in common, then.” He smoothed his hand up the bodice of her dress, giving her breasts a slow squeeze. “Be honest about what you want tonight.”
For a beat, she remained silent, then spoke in a rush. “I want to walk out of here knowing I don’t ever have to come back. I want everything on the table.” She implored him with her eyes. “Tomorrow morning, I don’t want to second-guess or wonder if…if I’d just let go a little more, if I could have crushed this draw you have on me. I want to end it tonight, leaving no room for doubt.”
Her words hit him like a blow. “You’re hoping you hate it. What I do to you.” He laughed under his breath. “It would solve everything, wouldn’t it? You could write your article however you want. Vote against the merger and still sleep at night. ”
