Master No (Masters and Mercenaries, #9)(53)

Which was likely why she was considering staying with him past their prescribed expiration date.

His hands came around from behind, cupping her breasts and making Faith sigh. Her skin felt electrified. Every molecule of her body seemed to come alive for him.

“Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for someone like you?” His breath was warm against her ear.

She leaned back into him. “At least as long as I waited for you.”

He chuckled as his thumbs ran over her nipples, stiffening them further. “Not at all. You’ve had a Dom before. How long did you have a Dom?”

“A couple of years, but only for a few weeks at a time,” she answered honestly. And then what he’d said really penetrated her brain. “How many subs have you taken?”

“Not a one. You’re the first, sweetheart. You’re absolutely the first woman I’ve desperately wanted to top.” His tongue ran along the shell of her ear.

How was that possible? And yet it made a kind of sense. “I can’t tell you how happy that makes me. Why did you get into the lifestyle?”

His hands moved down over her shoulders and to her waist before moving up her torso again. He didn’t seem to be in a hurry, preferring to take it slow and easy. “I’ve been surrounded by it for a long time, but I kind of resisted it. What can I say? I’m stubborn.”

She sighed back against him as his big palms cupped her breasts. His warmth surrounded her. “What made you change your mind?”

He breathed her in, his thumbs rasping over her already stiff nipples. “I think watching Tag get so invested in building this place made me think I should give it a try. It wasn’t like I had tons of control in my relationships before. And none of them worked. I’m like every other man in the world. I’m looking for something that works. Now turn around and let me look at you.”

His hands were gone, his warmth taken away as she heard him move behind her. When she turned, he was sitting in the lone chair in the room—a comfy-looking thing she could imagine straddling him on. He was truly delicious with his strong chest on display while leather pants and boots covered the rest of his body.

He was clothed and she wore nothing but her heels, fishnets, and a tiny thong she was sure she was about to lose. She wasn’t sure why, didn’t care to delve deep into her psyche, but this feeling of vulnerability did something for her. It only worked when she wasn’t really vulnerable. She knew what it meant to have her life hanging in the balance, but this fantasy always got her blood pumping.

“Like I said before, you’re a stunning woman, Faith. Give me the thong and lose the hose.”

Yep. She’d called that one. She slowly rolled the hose off each leg, taking her time because he didn’t seem to be in a hurry. He seemed determined to take his time, and she was more than all right with that.

“How long has it been?” Master T asked.

She folded the hose and thong and placed them on the corset, leaving her shoes there as well. If he wanted her to wear them, he would ask. Cool air caressed her skin. How long? How long had it been since she’d been comfortable being naked? A long while. She showered and redressed very quickly at the clinic because something was always going wrong. She slept in full pajamas there, too, because she couldn’t be certain someone wouldn’t need her in the night.

She couldn’t be sure a small army wouldn’t show up and drag her off into the jungle either. If that happened, she would rather be dressed.

How long had it been since her skin heated and she concentrated on her body as something more than a simple tool for her brain to use? Almost a year.

How long had it been since she’d felt this way about a man? Never. She wasn’t sure why he called to her. Perhaps it was the mixture of Dominant male and lost little boy that tugged her his direction. Or some odd mix of hormones and pheromones in the exact chemical combination that seduced her. She didn’t want to overthink why she wanted this man more than the others. She simply wanted him.

But she answered the question she was fairly sure he was asking. How long had it been since she’d been with a man? “Almost a year.”

“So there’s no one in Africa? Stop right there. Let me look at you.”

She complied, remaining still and allowing his eyes to roam over her body. She felt nothing but acceptance coming from him, nothing but the sure heat of his gaze. “No one in Africa. I’m the only constant. I have other doctors and nurses rotate in, but they never stay for more than six months at a time.”

“Turn around.” When she did, he continued. “Six months is more than enough time to take a lover.”

She had to chuckle at the thought. “Six months is a blur in Africa. I work twelve-hour shifts, sometimes sixteen depending on what’s happening. When I’m not working, I sleep. I get to know the doctors’ practices, how good they are in surgery, in the field. I rarely know much more than their specialty and why they came out to Africa.”

She always got the speech. Every newbie doctor made it at some point in time. The doctor would sigh and nod his or her head, and Faith would know what was coming. They came in order to give back to the world or because they’d always felt the calling.

And they left, ninety percent of them never to return.

The call didn’t last very long in the face of the reality of Africa.