The Men with the Golden Cuffs (Masters and Mercenaries #2)(47)

Damn it. He was forcing her into a corner. If she got on her knees and spread her legs, she would be open to the viewing public. And if she refused, she would hate herself. It was just a *. She’d written the scene a thousand times. A * was just a *, and it wasn’t like hers was horrible looking. She’d shaved. Sure, it had been awhile, but she no longer looked like Sasquatch. She could do this.

“Serena, I’m waiting.”

“What if I’m not pretty?”

He laughed, a surprised sound. “If you’re not pretty, I’ll give up my left nut. Seriously, Serena, if that’s what you’re worried about, then find your position and let me and Alex put your mind at ease.”

“I can give you a girl’s perspective,” Eve offered with a smile. “I’m totally not into the girl-on-girl thing, but I know an attractive * when I see one.”

It was ridiculous. It was silly. It was precisely why she’d written that first book, because it was also real. She suddenly felt freer than she had before, and she dropped to the ground, spreading her knees wide. She placed her hands palms up and felt the cool air of the room on her feminine flesh. She was open and bare and strangely powerful.

“Serena, you aren’t pretty, baby. You’re beautiful. Isn’t my sub gorgeous, Alex?” Jake’s words were like warm honey, heating her up and making her feel sweet.

“She is, indeed. It makes me want to see mine right there beside her.”

“Alex,” Eve began.

“Are you mine for the night or not?” Alex’s tone turned icy and stubborn. “We have a contract, Eve. Just because I choose to not demand my rights doesn’t mean they don’t exist. I won’t touch you. I just want to look. I want to feel like I actually have a sub for a minute. I’m feeling brutally jealous of Jacob right now.”

Eve sank to her knees beside Serena.

“Is he going to catch you wearing underwear, too?” Serena asked.

Eve giggled, her previous irritation seeming to melt a bit. “I’ve been doing this a long time, Serena. I know no Dom wants his * covered.” She stopped as though her words had made her flustered again.

“We have two lovely subs. And I think both their asses will be red tonight,” Jake promised. “Now, I seem to remember that Alex and Eve have a scene to play, and Serena and I would love to watch.”

Her first real live scene. She looked up, still a little nervous around Eve, but the cool, professional woman gave her a wink.

“I think you’re going to love it here, Serena. Just do what Jake tells you. He won’t steer you wrong.” She patted Serena’s hand.

A warm feeling of acceptance suffused Serena. She could belong here if she just opened herself to the experience. Jake reached out a hand and hauled her up as Alex helped Eve off the floor. Alex quickly let her go, but Jake pulled Serena close. Yes, this was what she’d been looking for all her damn life. She felt cared for in Jake’s arms, and knowing that Adam wasn’t far away made her heart beat faster. Two men. Could she keep them? Could she be enough for them?

“You did a good job, baby,” Jake said. “I know that was hard for you, but you handled it beautifully.”

But it hadn’t been hard once she’d made the decision to trust him. She leaned into his strength. For all his hot body and gorgeous face, he was still a man who needed love and affection. She had so much to give if he would just take it.

He kissed her as though he could read her mind. “Come on. I know you want to see everything.”

He led her through the doors and into the dungeon. She followed, ready to begin this new part of her life.





Chapter Eleven


Adam studied line after line of code, the numbers threatening to run together. He’d been at it for three hours, and all that time Serena had been running around the dungeon, her ass in nothing more than a strip of fabric. He wanted to see her in the pretty thong he’d picked out for her. If she had any idea all the filthy, disgusting lingerie he’d already scoped out for her, she would probably run. She would look gorgeous in something filmy and lacy, her cute little feet in some serious f*ck-me heels.

But no. He was sitting in the conference room surrounded by computers instead of watching his sweet girl get introduced to kink.

He growled a little as the program kicked back out. Nothing. He didn’t believe it. It was possible that Serena’s stalker was really good with computers and was routing the e-mails through systems, but Adam doubted it. Why use a system in such close physical proximity to Serena? If the person was good, he or she would likely have bounced the e-mails all over the place. No. Adam was sure the stalker was using the libraries’ computers in person.

The problem was, Adam wasn’t happy with the facial recognition software that was on the market. He was playing around with the code, trying to make it better. The answer had to be here. He had time stamps from two libraries that matched up with e-mails sent from their public computers to Serena’s computer.

All he had to do was find the face that had been in both places.

“You still at it?” Liam asked, setting a cup of coffee down in front of him.

Adam ran a weary hand through his hair. “Yes. It’s a lot of shit to get through. I got the delivery records. Surprise, surprise. This * paid cash, an address that turned out to be a coffee shop, and a fake name. Joshua Lake. Serena’s big bad Dom.”