On Her Master's Secret Service (Masters and Mercenaries #4)(57)

He seemed intent on beating a dead horse. She huffed a little. “I’ll fulfill my duties.”

“That’s not the problem.”

God, what was he going to throw at her now? She just wanted to run inside and take a shower and put her armor in place again. Control. She needed to get back into control. “What is the problem, Master?”

He moved behind her, his front to her back and she could feel the erection he pressed to her ass. “I find you very attractive. I’m struggling to keep the relationship on a professional level. It’s going to be hard for me. We’re going to have to live together, to sleep together, to have a D/s relationship. I can tell you it’s going to be very difficult for me to remember where the operation stops and reality begins.”

She turned, anger rising. “Alex, what the hell kind of game are you playing?”

His hands came up, cupping her face the way he had the night before. She could smell her own arousal on those fingers. Yes, they were getting very intimate. More intimate than they’d been in years. “You told me to let go. I let go. We have a problem, angel. The new me is just so f*cking attracted to the new you. You’re so f*cking gorgeous. I want you. I thought you should know. I’m going to do exactly what you asked of me. I’m going to find the new me. I already know one thing about the new Alex McKay. He wants Eve St. James.”

He hadn’t really listened to her the night before. He’d placated her. “This isn’t going to work.”

He backed her up, giving her no space. He very deliberately sucked his fingers into his mouth, tasting her, his tongue working to gather every bit of cream she’d left on his hand. “And you taste like heaven.”

Just like that her * started tightening again. Control. She had to find some. “You can’t just pretend like we don’t know each other.”

“It’s what you wanted. New you. New me. New start.” His mouth hovered above hers. “And if last night was a kiss good-bye, then I want my hello kiss. And I’m going to have it.”

This was no sweet brushing of his lips against hers. Alex pressed his mouth to her with deadly intent. He forced her jaw to open and his tongue surged inside, sliding alongside hers. He cradled her close, rubbing that big erection against her belly as he took her mouth again and again. One of his hands came up and tugged on her hair, fisting it.

“Yeah, I like the longer hair, pet. I’m going to love to hold onto it while I f*ck your ass,” he whispered along her cheek. “Oh, did you think I would forget the fact that you haven’t let me inside your ass in forever? I’m the Master again, and I’m going to have you every way a man can possibly have a woman. You want me to get to know you all over again? I’ll be thrilled to. Now go and get ready. Meet me in the weight room in ten minutes. If you’re not there, it’s twenty smacks. Every minute you keep me waiting is another ten. So be late, if you like. I would love to see how the new Eve handles my discipline.”

He stepped back and opened the door wide, holding a hand out for her to enter first. She forced herself to move.

What the hell had just happened?

“Ten minutes,” Alex announced again as he walked past her. She could only stare as he strode back into the kitchen, his shoulders straight and proud.

“Wow,” Kristen said. “The boss looks like a whole new man. Whatever you did to him last night really worked.”

“Yeah,” Eve muttered. A whole new man. A dangerous man. She wasn’t sure she could handle the new Alex.

She rushed to the bathroom to get cleaned up because she was pretty sure she was running out of time—in more ways than one.





Chapter Nine


Five days later, Alex looked over the men assembled in the VIP section of the club and felt a sense of satisfaction. At least one thing had gone right with this damn operation. Almost a week had gone by and he still hadn’t found a chance to slip into Chazz’s office. Security was lax around the club—everywhere except Chazz’s office.

But Alex had a plan for that and Jake was right where he should be, his eyes bloodshot and his normally pressed suit just the slightest bit wrinkled. His eyes slid over Alex and then back to Eve. He leaned over to the man seated to his left and whispered something in his ear.

Chazz laughed and leered a little Eve’s way before shaking his head. Alex could just catch the last of the conversation. “I don’t think he’s the sharing type, buddy.”

The VIP section of the club had been transformed into a dining area. Only the kitchen staff was around at this time of the day. The rest of the club was quiet. Chazz and Jake sat while three other men were gathered together talking quietly.

He slid his fingers through Eve’s, completely satisfied with the connection. God, he’d gotten to touch her more in the last several days than in the years that came before. Even though they were in the middle of an operation, he allowed himself to revel in the way her hair smelled. She’d changed her shampoo. She used to favor floral scents, delicate rose and lilacs. Now, her hair smelled like grapefruit, sharp and alive.

He dropped his head close to hers and whispered, “Don’t give away Jake, angel. He’s here for a reason.”

“Yes, Master.”

He was almost disappointed with the blank doll look on her face. He’d gotten used to bratty Eve. He would never admit it to her, but when she’d said she was worried that they hadn’t been as solid as they’d seemed back when they were married, he’d agreed. He hadn’t told her that he’d worried their life had become a dull set of never-ending protocols, and he’d actually resented having to select her clothes for her toward the end. That look on her face now was the one she used to get when she simply agreed to everything.