Having Her: Lies We Tell, Book 2 (9 page)

Manga Café Xtreme. Kara’s café.

Vin parked the car, trying to figure out why the hell his subconscious had brought him here. Though of course, deep down, he knew.

He wanted her again. Wanted those moments again. Where he had something that was his. Utterly and totally his.

He knew he shouldn’t be doing this. That he’d done what he’d told her he’d do, taken her virginity, and that was it. But still he put a hand to the door and still he went inside.

The place was full of university students and other weirdoes. Lots of gothic clothing and piercings and strange hair. Chicks wearing odd, flouncy dresses and guys who…well, looked like chicks. He didn’t judge people, they could wear whatever the hell they liked as long as they weren’t his sister. Each to their own, even if it was bizarre.

But he ceased to notice all the other bizarreness as he spotted the woman making coffee behind the counter.

Kara. Her blue hair had been pulled back in a ponytail high on the back of her head. She wore an over-sized black T-shirt with a wide neck that fell off one shoulder, exposing smooth golden skin, and a denim mini-skirt. With striped stockings complete with black suspenders. And Doc Martens.

Christ, she was weird. And strange. And sexy as hell.

He found himself unable to breathe, unable to move. Staring at her as she made the coffee, her movements quick, efficient and professional. How could making coffee be so damn hot? How could he feel himself getting hard just watching a strangely dressed, beautiful blue-haired woman work?

Kara looked up suddenly and he met her gaze—not purple this time but bright green—watching as a tide of color began to creep up her neck, washing over her face, flushing her cheeks. Her mouth opened, that sweet, full mouth he’d tasted not two nights ago.

And everything abruptly became crystal clear.

For fifteen years what he’d wanted had come secondary to everything else and for fifteen years he’d put up with it. Well, no more. He’d had a taste of what it was like to take pleasure for himself and had found a certain freedom in being selfish. He wanted that again. As much as he could get for as long as he could get it. If he was going to spend the next three weeks worried out of his mind about Ellie and his mother, then shit, didn’t he deserve it?

The rest of the café faded away as Vin strode up to the counter, his gaze locked onto Kara’s.

She’d frozen into place, green eyes wide in her flushed face, bringing to mind all sorts of delicious memories.

“I want to talk to you,” he demanded without preamble.

Her throat moved, her gaze darting away to her customers then back to him again. “I’m kind of busy, Vin.”

“Then I’ll say it here.” He was sick of games. Impatient with pretense and denial. “What we did two nights ago I want to do again.”

Her flush deepened, became scarlet. But there were sparks of anger in her eyes. She put down the metal milk jug she was holding, banging it on the counter. “Jesus, you can’t just walk in here and—”

“If you don’t want it, just say no and I’ll never bother you again.”

Kara, her mouth still open, blinked.

Every muscle in his body pulled tight, waiting for her to answer.

Please, God, say yes. Please.

“Vin, I…”

“Tell me, Kara.”

She let out a breath and looked away from him.

No. It was going to be a no. The disappointment was so bitter he could almost taste it on his tongue.

“Yes,” she murmured, her voice so low it was almost inaudible. “I do want it.”

For a second he didn’t quite understand, so sure he’d been of a different answer. Then, as disappointment became something else, a satisfaction so deep he wanted to reach over and grab her there and then, he put his hands in his pockets to keep from doing just that.

“Good,” he said, trying to keep his voice level. “Text me when you’re ready.”

Then he turned and left without another word. Needing to get out of her immediate vicinity before he did something stupid like haul her away from her café and into his car. Into the backseat where he could pull up her skirt, rip off her panties and bury himself inside her.

Instead he went back to his office, feeling better than he had in weeks. Which was weird since the prospect of sex didn’t normally affect him like this.

Then again, it wasn’t just ordinary sex, was it? It was sex with Kara. And he didn’t know why that should make it different but it did.

He told himself he didn’t care when she texted him, but he kept checking his phone the rest of the morning all the same.

Tonight. He hoped it would be tonight. And that she’d want to do again what they’d done two nights ago.

His slave. His property.

Vin scowled at his computer screen and reached down to adjust the hard-on that had made itself unwelcome in his jeans.

This was crazy. If Kara didn’t text him soon he’d have to go back to the café again. And this time perhaps he
would
haul her away from the counter and into his car instead of just thinking about it.

Someone knocked on his office door then opened it without waiting for him to speak.

“For fuck’s sake,” Vin growled, irritated with the interruption. It would either be Hunter or Ellie since no one else just barged into his office like that. “Could you wait—”

The words died away the instant he raised his head to see who it was. Because it wasn’t either Hunter or Ellie.

It was Kara.

He stared at her with a certain amount of shock as she closed the door behind her then leaned against it. She had her long black coat wrapped around her, incongruous in the summer heat, and there was a spark of defiance, of challenge, in her eyes.

Vin’s breath caught, his body tensing. “What the hell are you doing here?”

She ignored the question. “First of all,” she said, her voice breathless and a little shaky, “you should know that I don’t want a relationship. All I want is sex. So whatever is between us doesn’t mean anything, okay?”

He opened his mouth to tell her that yeah, shit, that was fine with him but she held up a hand. “Wait. Let me finish. Second, this can’t get in the way of me and Ellie being friends. Her friendship is too important to me.” She took a ragged breath and pushed herself away from the door. “And third, if we have sex, then I only want to do it if we do it like this.” As she said the words, she opened her coat, letting it slip from her shoulders to reveal what she wore underneath it.

The slave costume.

Instantly he was hard as a rock, his hands gripping the arms of his chair tightly.

Holy Christ. She’d liked what they’d done. She really had.

“Are you sure?” he demanded hoarsely, because he had to know.

“Yes. I’m sure.” The sun coming through the windows sent a path of light over the pale golden skin of her stomach and thigh, and he wanted that bikini off. Leave her in just the collar.

His fingers tightened even further on the arms of the chair. “You want to be my slave? Do what I say?” There could be no doubts here. None. Because he hadn’t realized, until he’d seen the costume, that he’d wanted it to be that way too.

His slave. His alone.

“I’m in the costume, aren’t I? Doesn’t that tell you what I want?”

“That’s not enough. I want to hear you say it.”

Her eyelashes, long and thick with blue mascara, fluttered. Her throat moved. And he knew that saying the words was difficult for her. But her gaze when it met his was steady. “I want this,” she said clearly. “I want to be your slave, Vin.”

He felt something shift inside him. A key in a lock.

Slowly he pushed himself out of his chair and came toward her. She didn’t look away, didn’t move from where she stood by the door, but he could hear her breathing become faster the closer he got to her. And when he put his hands on the door on either side of her head, he heard her breathing get faster still.

She smelled so sweet, like flowers with an edge of musk. And she was so warm. He remembered the feel of her skin beneath his fingers, like fine satin. The taste of her in his mouth, heady as a good wine.

She’d backed up against the door so he surrounded her, caging her against the wood. He liked that. Liked feeling he overwhelmed her. He shouldn’t, he knew he shouldn’t, but he did all the same. He wanted her overwhelmed by him. Wanted her panting and flushed, that snarky, sarcastic front gone.

“Are you my slave now?” he asked softly.

Her chin came up. “Of course now. Why do you think I’ve got my costume on?”

“It’s the middle of the day, baby girl. In a building full of people working.”

He knew the patronizing endearment would annoy her. And sure enough, a flash of the Kara he knew lit her unnaturally green eyes. “Why? Does that bother you? Oh my God, Vin. At least I have an excuse for not being adventurous.”

She was taunting him. Of course she was. And it hit him that she was right.

He’d never been bad before. Never done anything crazy or wild. With a little sister and a sick mother to look out for, he couldn’t afford to. Teenage rebellion—shit, any sort of rebellion—had been completely out for him. He’d always had to be responsible. Do the right thing.

Well, not today. Here he was, contemplating fucking a beautiful woman dressed in a slave costume, in his office, in the middle of the day. It was all kinds of wrong but he didn’t care. He’d earned the right to be bad. To be wild. After fifteen years of toeing the line, he’d cross over it if he goddamn wanted to.

Vin reached down and locked the door. Then he took the end of her slave chain in his hand and stepped back from her. “You want it now, you’ll get it now. Take off your clothes, slave.”

He heard her breath catch. “What about you?” she asked. “Don’t I get to—”

“I didn’t give you permission to speak.”

“But I don’t—”

“You can’t accuse me of not being adventurous then wimp out, baby. It doesn’t work that way.” Wrapping her chain around his wrist, he pulled her toward him so her heat and scent were right up close. “You came here to push me, Kara, don’t pretend you didn’t. So consider me pushed. If you don’t want the consequences, then now’s your chance to leave.”

He didn’t want her to leave, but he had to give her an out if she wanted to take it. Because he was afraid that another five minutes and he wouldn’t be able to.

She stared at him for a moment, hesitating. “I’m not going to leave. But…I’m your slave, aren’t I? Yours.”

There was an expression in her eyes he couldn’t read, a hint of desperation in her voice. As if she wanted an acknowledgement of some sort. So he gave it to her, gave it to them both. “Yeah, you’re mine. Now do as you’re told and take your clothes off.”

The words must have been what she wanted to hear because her posture changed, became more relaxed, looser. Accepting. Her fingers went to the fastenings on her costume and a minute later she stood there in his office, the sun gliding a golden hand over her beautiful, naked body.

Calm spread through him, a tension he didn’t even realize he felt leaving him. He had her now. His slave. For his pleasure alone. And now it was time to take it. Take something for himself.

Kara kept her gaze down as he led her toward his desk by the chain. He could hear her breathing fast and sharp in the silent room, and the sound made him harder.

As he sat in his chair, he watched her face, studying it for anything that would indicate fear. Saw none. Only the blush in her cheeks.

Christ, she was lovely. Blue hair and weird green eyes yes, but still so beautiful. What would she be like without the color in her hair? Would it be the same gold as the curls between her legs? And what about the natural color of her eyes? It had been so long since he’d seen her without contacts he couldn’t even remember what color that was.

“On your knees,” he ordered. Then he spread his thighs as she knelt, tugging her forward so she could kneel between them.

He held her chain tight, his heartbeat thudding. “Get my cock out.”

Like she had two nights ago, she reached for the button of his fly then pulled at the zip. But this time her fingers didn’t shake, nor did she fumble as she reached inside his boxers. And he nearly groaned as she touched him, the breath hissing in his throat as she drew him out. She flicked a startled glance at him as she did so and he didn’t look away.

He hadn’t two nights ago. Had wanted her to see how she affected him because it had so clearly turned her on too. So he didn’t bother to do so now.

And when her color deepened still further, it satisfied him on a level he couldn’t name. Turning her on was such a rush.

“Don’t look so surprised, slave,” he said softly. “You know how hard you make me. But now you’ve got to do something about it. So how about you wrap that beautiful mouth around my cock and suck me off?”

He’d chosen his words as much for her pleasure as for his, knowing how she’d got off on his dirty talk the last time. And he wanted to shock her. She’d been pushing him since day one. Time to reciprocate.

Slowly Kara came up on her knees, the warm pressure of her body against his thighs making him ache. She hesitated. “I don’t…I don’t know…”