Master of the Abyss

Rebecca’s mouth dropped open.

“If the goddess-and that would be me, by the way-is displeased, you’ll get bats in your hair and mice in your boots.” Kallie gave her a thin smile and then stomped across the room. She thinks I’m a coward? Just because Jake and I have done…kinky stuff…doesn’t mean I worry about facing him. Or how he affects me.

She stepped into a room that would have her cousins drooling with envy. Dart board, pool table, foosball, and Ping-Pong tables.

Jake leaned against the wall, drinking a beer, while Logan racked the balls and the massive dog sprawled off to one side. When the men smiled at Kallie, her cheeks turned hot. Dammit. “I-”Not affected, remember? “Heather left this in the gear. Can you get it back to her?”

When the dog padded over, she bent to pet it for a few seconds, hopefully hiding her blush.

“Not a problem.” Logan took the electronic device. “Thanks for bringing it out. How ’bout you stay for supper as a reward? We’re eating in half an hour, and Becca’s a fantastic cook.”

“No, but thanks for the offer.” She took a step toward the door. Jake hadn’t said a word. Wasn’t he even going to greet her? “I need to get back.”

Jake tilted his head and studied her. “Do you really have something planned?”

“I-” Hell. “I always have things that have to be done.”

As one half of his mouth quirked up, that tantalizing crease appeared in his left cheek. “In other words, no.” He set his beer on a card table and glanced at Logan. “Tell Becca one more for supper.”

Kallie pulled up straight. “Listen, I-”

He advanced on her, as unstoppable as a forest fire in a strong wind. When she held up her hand in protest, he chuckled and used it to haul her over his shoulder. “We’ll be upstairs, bro,” he said. “I have a craving to play dress-up.”

“Damn you, Hunt. Put me down.”

Ignoring her orders and her fists pounding his back, he hummed a tune and blatantly fondled her butt. They crossed the main room, going past Rebecca-not that Kallie saw her, but the snicker was evidence enough. An electronic keypad beeped, a door opened, and Jake started up a flight of stairs.

Kallie gave up. She hadn’t expected to be hijacked, but face it: she’d hoped for… something. If Jake Hunt wanted his hands on her, she wasn’t about to argue. She laughed and thumped him one more time with her fist…just because.

He wasn’t even breathing hard when he entered a door down the hall and dumped her on a couch. “Stay put for a minute, sprite.”

As he disappeared into another room, she struggled to a sitting position. How did he do this to her? She’d dated before, made love before. And yet the man made her feel like a teenager out with a guy for the first time.

She rose to her feet. “Stay put?” Dream on, Hunt. She strolled around the room, trying to ignore how snug her bra had grown and how each step scraped her jeans over her increasingly sensitive clit.

Nice place, she decided. Cream-colored walls with original paintings of Yosemite…signed by Rebecca. Kallie checked the signature again. Rebecca had mentioned she painted. She was really, really good.

A chess table stood in one corner. The shelves over it held seashells and coral. The next wall displayed framed photographs of family and friends in settings that ranged from a cattle ranch to tropical beaches. Apparently he not only liked to travel, but he also had a lot of friends. Mr. Sociable himself.

A wide-screen TV-of course-on the far wall. Considering the decor downstairs, she’d expected more leather up here, but his oversize furniture was upholstered in a dark blue fabric. Rag rugs in a mingling of blue, green, and white covered the hardwood floor. The room had a homey atmosphere.

Her sense of comfort disappeared when Jake returned, his arms filled with fabric. “Strip.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You know, we need to work on your social skills. You can’t snap out orders to a guest.”

“Oh. Was I too terse?” He cocked his head and gave her a mean smile. “Kalinda, you will remove every item of clothing immediately or suffer the consequences.”

She took a step back as the steely glint in his eyes did funny things to her heartbeat.

“Was that better?”

“Uh, not exactly what-”

“Now, Kalinda.”

Her mouth went dry. But there’s only half an hour before supper kept running through her head, as if that made a difference to someone like Jake. She unbuttoned her flannel shirt, shrugged it off, and removed her boots, socks, and jeans.

And then he got that disapproving expression again, as if the sight of her body displeased him. “Would you stop looking at me like that?” she burst out.

He lifted an eyebrow. “What way?”

“If you don’t like the way I look, why do I keep ending up-”

His laugh rang out, full and strong, and she balled her hand into a fist. If he tried to touch her, she’d belt him one.

He yanked her against him so quickly she didn’t have a chance. His ruthless hands roamed over her back and her butt, and her desire to punch him burned to ashes in the blast of heat.

“I love your body, sprite. So much that what you wear offends my senses.” He unfastened her bra and tossed it on the floor, then ripped her panties in two. “You have the ugliest underwear I’ve ever seen.”

“My underwear? You’ve been frowning at me for two years because of my underwear?”

He eyed her face and started laughing so hard that she swung at him. He caught her fist as easily as if it were a buzzing mosquito. “You hit me, sugar, and I’ll spank your ass-even if we’re late for supper.”

She tried to yank her hand out of his grasp and got nowhere, and then he palmed her right breast, teased the nipple, and turned her legs to water.

“And I not only dislike your underwear, but the rest of your wardrobe too. I understand the need for hiking gear when you’re hiking, but why don’t you wear girl clothes at other times?” He asked the question in an easy voice, but there was nothing casual about the way he scrutinized her.

She started to answer and stopped. “Well.” She vaguely remembered the last sexy top she’d bought, back as a teenager, and how her cousins had behaved, like she’d turned into a slut or something. “It’s easier”- to not rock the boat-“to stay in the same clothes.” She shrugged. “I don’t even own anything fancy.”

“Ah.” The sense of satisfaction that the sprite had never dressed provocatively for a man was a little unsettling. As was the impression that laziness had little to do with her choice of attire. “Well, if you like it easier, I’ll do all the work this time.”

That delightfully suspicious look appeared on her face-the one that said he had all the control and she didn’t think she should like it. Even if she trusted him completely, he’d still enjoy provoking her. A dom shouldn’t allow a sub to get too comfortable, after all. But in her case, it didn’t take much effort.

Right now, he intended not only to please himself by putting her in feminine clothing, but he wanted to see what effect a change of clothing would have on her. Push the boundaries a little. He paused. He shouldn’t be doing this.