Page 5 of United
Or had he?
She replayed it. His face, his voice, the way he moved with her. Chris, who always stood solid and self-assured. A man who never gave ground. And last night he had simply… gone along with her? Let her believe she had that effect on him?
The warmth drained away.
Maybe he had just been indulging her.
Trying something different. Playing along because he knew she wanted it.
Her chest went tight.
She had not been playing. She had opened herself, let him see how much she wanted that control, that edge, that kind of connection. She did not show that part of herself easily.
And he was out there talking about breakfast.
Heat crawled up her neck, sharp and humiliating. She felt exposed. Foolish. Like she had offered something real and been met with a polite performance.
Her jaw locked.
No. She did not get handled. She did not get humored.
Kate lay still for a beat, staring at the ceiling, her jaw tight enough to ache. She curled her fingers into the sheets, released, curled again, then swung her legs over the side of the bed with more force than necessary.
The air felt too warm against her skin. She stood and crossed the room, her temper flaring with every sharp, efficient stride. Her clothing was draped over the chair, and she grabbed her panties and stepped into them with a little too much force, fabric snapping against her thighs.
Across the room, she could feel him without looking. That only made her spine straighten more. No one pushed her buttons like Chris Smith.
Her bra came next. She yanked the straps up her arms and reached behind her back, fumbling once before the clasp caught. Irritation flared hotter at that tiny delay. She dragged her dress over her head, the hem catching briefly at her shoulders. When it fell into place, she smoothed it down with a brisk swipe.
She was overdressed for the morning, but it couldn’t be helped. Her stockings and shoes in hand, she went to the bathroom. She would brush her teeth and give the man a piece of her mind.
Kate flicked on the bathroom light and froze at her reflection—mascara smudged, hair a wild mess, cheeks flushed from sex she shouldn’t have enjoyed as much as she had. Her pulse skittered. No. She refused to go back out there looking like the woman who’d melted all over him. She scrubbed her face, worked the brush from her handbagthrough her hair until it behaved, and kept her thoughts on every irritating thing about Chris. It helped. A little.
Ten minutes later, feeling somewhat more like herself, Kate emerged from Chris’s bathroom determined not to show her temper. The aroma of fresh coffee came from the kitchen, where Chris was struggling to get his jeans on over his morning wood.
“I can’t stay for breakfast.” She sounded hoarse.
“What’s wrong?” He halted his struggle, the jeans still unbuttoned.
She turned around and placed her hands on her hips. “You have to ask? Even in a one-night stand, honesty is the most important quality in a BDSM relationship.”
“What are you talking about?”
He took up the doorway with casual ease, arms raised, shoulders flexing as if he had no idea what that stretch did to the lines of his body. Her gaze caught for a fraction of a second before she forced it away. The memory that followed was worse, the feel of those arms under her hands, the way he had responded to her touch. Heat stirred, low and unwelcome. The fact that he could still elicit that reaction from her without even trying made her temper flare.
“You lied. You played the submissive and I. Don’t. Like. To. Be. Played.” Kate punctuated every word with a finger to his chest.
“Kate, I…” With his disheveled hair, bare chest and bare feet, he looked like a little boy whose mommy had told him he couldn’t have another cookie.
Kate had to muster her resolve. “I have to go now.” She headed for the door as she dug her cell phone out of her purse to summon a ride.
“At least let me walk you to your car.”
As she entered her information into the ride-sharingapp, Kate turned back. “Not necessary. My Uber will be here in three minutes.”
“It won’t take that long. My next-door neighbor drives for Uber.”
“Good. I’ll wait outside.” She hated being the cause of his deflated look. She usually enjoyed her subs’ chivalrous impulses, but she had to get out of there before she did something she would regret.
