From Sanctum with Love (Masters and Mercenaries #10)(76)

Kai doubted it. He leaned in and listened as Case began to explain what needed to be done. He took it all in, but he couldn’t let go of the thought that he’d failed his brother somehow.





Kori looked up as the big, hunky dude in the suit stalked out. He’d shown up with Case, so she was betting he was an applicant at McKay-Taggart. Looked like the psych evaluation had gone poorly.

“Are you still there?” Sarah asked over the phone.

“Yep,” Kori replied, looking at the “bouquet” that had been delivered not moments before. “Still here and still looking at my present.”

It was a beautiful array of torture implements surrounded lovingly with well-placed daisies and chrysanthemums.

“He sent you an entire bouquet of sadisticks? Are you kidding me? He’s the most romantic sadist ever,” Sarah said with a happy squeal. “Send me a pic. It will liven up my super-boring day. Believe it or not the ER is actually quiet for once. We’ve got a couple of boring broken bones and a chick who thinks she’s having a heart attack but it’s actually gas. Give me a good trauma any day of the week. Which brings me to why I’m calling.”

Kori stared at the present. The little instruments of torture called to her in a way no bouquet of lilies ever would. She brushed her fingertips across the round pink tips. The carbon rods were flexible and the tips when they hit flesh stung like hell. They would leave a matchstick-shaped mark that she would wear for however long it lasted. She would touch them and let her fingertips play and remember how much fun she’d had. How much her Master knew her.

Kai. How well Kai knew her.

He hadn’t asked about a contract. At first she’d been happy to not deal with it. Now, as the days went by, she wondered why. He was a man who would want a contract. The few times he’d taken on even a training sub, he’d signed a contract and slapped a collar on her.

She got sadisticks.

“Are you even listening to me? Or are you already playing with your toys?” Sarah groused.

“I wouldn’t dare.” Kai had given her one rule. She wasn’t allowed to play unless he was there or he’d vetted her partners. He’d been very clear that by partners he meant he didn’t mind her playing with her friends. Sometimes the girls and Vince got together and played around with a violet wand or spanked each other. It was all in fun and there was nothing at all intimate about it.

She knew damn well she wasn’t allowed to scene with anyone except Kai.

So why did the fact that he hadn’t asked for a contract bother her? It was perverse. She knew she didn’t want one. The threat of having that conversation with him hung over her. She was waiting for the fight, going over it again and again in her head.

“Yes, I’m listening. What’s going on?”

There was a pause on the line before Sarah began. “You’re going out with Jared tonight, right?”

Kori winced. She didn’t particularly want to go, but Kai had asked her to and it was good he was spending time with his brother. Why he had to do it at some dance club, Kori had zero idea. At least Mia was going. If she had to spend all her hang time with Lena, someone was going to get murdered and hard. “Yeah. We’re going to Top for dinner and then out to some club in Deep Ellum. I was told I have to wear heels. I don’t know why.”

“Because the paparazzi is going to be there,” Sarah explained. “Do you think there’s any way you could see if I can go, too?”

Kori had to smile. “Because you like Jared.”

It wasn’t a question. Sarah hadn’t been able to stop talking about him. He’d run his first scene the night before he’d left for Vancouver and he’d chosen Sarah as his sub. He’d spanked her in a way that proved that man was a born Dom. He was a natural. She’d seen them later, Sarah wrapped in his arms in the bar.

“I do. I know it’s insane. I know there’s zero chance of this working long term, but I want to see him again and I don’t have his number.”

“Sure.” Speaking of the devil, Jared walked by the front doors, his bag slung over his shoulder. He was wearing his normal uniform of a V-neck T-shirt, jeans, boots, and a pair of aviators, but she could see how tired he was from the slump to his shoulders. “Actually, I’ll go and talk to him now. I’ll call you back.”

“Thank you! I’ve got the perfect outfit. I’m totally seducing him.” The line went dead.

Kori ran to catch Jared before he walked up the stairs to the residence portion of the building. He’d been sleeping on Kai’s bed since Kai had started spending every night at her place. The door swung closed behind her as she caught up to him.

“Jared!”

He stopped and turned, and that brilliant smile of his was on his face. If she hadn’t seen him when he’d thought no one was looking, she wouldn’t have thought anything was wrong. He was damn good at hiding his emotions. “Hey, Kori. How’s it going?”

She stopped. This was the time to decide if she was ready to drop into the deep end of the pool. She could pretend she hadn’t seen that look on his face, ask her question and move on. Or she could be his brother’s girlfriend and try to figure out what was going on. “What’s wrong?”

Jared frowned as though no one ever asked him that question before. “What do you mean?”