Authors: Joey W. Hill
stripper to do a lap
dance on Nelson’s limp dick to prove
he actual y doesn’t
have bal s.”
Jon blinked, turned from the window.
“What?”
Matt Kensington arched a brow. The
CEO of Kensington
& Associates was on Jon’s office
couch. As he referenced
the open laptop next to him, he had a
long arm stretched
along the top cushions, the sole of
one polished shoe
braced under the coffee table. Matt
preferred the sofa for
their office meetings, as it
accommodated his tal , powerful
frame better, the legacy of a Texas
oilman father who’d
once been a professional footbal
player. While his
patriarch had given him the strong,
determined features
and broad shoulders, Matt’s beautiful
Italian mother showed
in the aristocratic sculpting of
cheekbones, the dark hair he
wore cropped short and the intense,
deep brown eyes
focused on Jon now. “Trying out
astral projection?” he
asked.
“Sorry.” Jon pushed it aside. “I think
Nelson’s stats on the
start-up—”
“Cut the bul . What’s going on?”
Jon gave him a tight smile. “I was
going to ask you the
same. You already know everything
we’ve been discussing,
backward and forward. You’re
babysitting me. Why?”
“I watch your back. Same as you
watch mine. It’s what we
do.” Matt kept that gaze pinned on
him. “Jon.”
He was the leader of their unique
alpha pack for a
reason. Jon lifted a shoulder. “She’s
divorced. Has been for
years.”
“I know. Dana fil ed us in last night
when we al met for
dinner. Al of us but you. Peter said he
figured you were
going after her, from the look he saw
in your eyes when
Dana told you.”
“Has he spil ed yet?”
Jon glanced toward the new voice.
Lucas had appeared
in his doorway, one shoulder against
the doorjamb. Matt’s
right hand and CFO was also an
amateur cyclist. It showed
in the roped strength of his body.
Because he was getting
ready for another of his marathons,
his sandy brown hair
was cropped short. The discipline
and focus in his silver-
gray gaze said he was ready for the
competition.
Jon wasn’t surprised at his timing.
He was just surprised
that Ben and Peter weren’t here with
him. The almost
psychic bond the five of them shared
was one he’d stopped
questioning a long time ago. He
turned back to the window.
“Should have known you’d be in on
this. I missed it. Missed
that she was fooling me.”
“Doesn’t al that karma and spiritual
bul shit you study say
that things happen for a reason?”
Lucas stepped farther
into the room, slid a hip on the top
edge of the sofa, close
to where Matt’s palm rested on it.
“Maybe you needed al
these months to get to know her a
little bit, to make the next
step easier. From what Dana said,
she’s a lady who’s been
burned badly. A lot like Savannah.”
He looked at Matt as he
referenced their boss’s wife, then
added, “She wasn’t as
easy to sweep off her feet as Cassie
was.”
“I’m going to tel Cass you said that
and watch her chew
you into little pieces.”
Despite the weight of his thoughts,
Jon’s lips curved in an
ironic smile as Peter’s voice reached
them, heralding his
arrival a few steps behind Lucas. It
was his first easy
feeling of the morning. “You al have
a bug in my office too?”
“Nope. We just know when you have
one up your ass.” As
Jon turned, he saw the former
National Guard captain, an
Afghanistan veteran, cross his
massive arms and lean in
the doorway Lucas had vacated.
The Knights of the Boardroom
. Jon
wasn’t sure if their
armor was as polished as the media’s
mawkish name for
them implied. They were more like a
wolf pack, bound by
primal instinct and animal intuition.
Al of them hardcore
sexual Dominants, with varying
styles. They were his
friends, but far more than that. Not
exactly brothers,
because siblings didn’t usual y share
the types of things
they did, but brethren, for certain.
The surface history was that they had
built K&A to
success together. When they went
into business deals
together, they were unbeatable.
However, what simmered
beneath the surface was that their
minds were remarkably
synchronized. They didn’t share the
same viewpoints, but
their viewpoints often hooked like
puzzle pieces. Though he
was the youngest next to Ben, he’d
identified the
inexplicable draw between them
first, helping forge that
bond years ago. It was more than the
sexual Dominance.
That was merely the base catalyst
that had opened their
eyes to other remarkable common
traits.
None of them had siblings, and they’d
al lost their
parents too young. More than once,
they’d pul ed each
other out of the fire of personal
tragedies. Like the psychic
connections of twins, they could
anticipate one another’s
needs over distances. Or across the
space between their
corner offices, like now. They knew
when one of them might
be in trouble, whether or not the
stubborn bastard was
wil ing to ask for help.
They shared the same moral code in
their professional
and personal lives, toward women
and each other. When
one of them found the woman he
wanted to make his
permanently—which, no surprise,
had happened to three of
them within the past couple of years
—they came together
the same way they did in business.
They used every
resource they had to close the deal.
From the moment the
claim was made and accepted, that
woman was part of al
of them. Theirs to pleasure, when her
Master offered the
privilege. To protect, even when he
didn’t. And to love, no
matter what. So the pack had
expanded. Where they’d
each had no immediate family, they
now had one that
commanded unshakable loyalty from
each of them.
Though the other four badgered him
mercilessly about
what they cal ed his New Age bul
shit observations, Jon
knew they didn’t necessarily disagree
with them. They’d
been born at different times, places
and circumstances, but
now it seemed inevitable that they’d
found each other. The
universe was like that.
“So what’s the main problem?” Matt
took the natural lead
as Jon settled on the edge of his desk,
trying to settle his
mind in the same way.
“My dick.”
It surprised them, he could tel . Of al
of them, he was the
one least likely to resort to crudity. “I
went there worked up,
because she’d kept me off her scent
al that time. But once I
was there…I wasn’t sure how far I’d
get with her. I was
trying to establish how deep her
submission ran.”
He paused, met Peter’s gaze. “Unlike
Savannah and
Cass, who real y didn’t recognize
their submission for what
it was, I think Rachel’s even more
hardcore than Dana.
She’s gone for years knowing it,
playing it out in her head
without doing anything about it. It’s
pretty obvious her
husband wasn’t a Dom, and al signs
suggest he didn’t
handle it wel . Though that can
happen, no fault to him, he
abused her trust, left her damaged.
Her confidence is for
shit and she’s way too fragile.
Whatever happened in her
marriage, he did a real number on
her.”
Matt and Ben already knew about the
Club More
incident, because he’d fil ed them in
as he told Leland he
would. But as he related the bare
bones of it, and some of
his other general impressions, he saw
the same hardness
enter Peter’s and Lucas’ expressions
that had entered
theirs. No man in this room would
tolerate a woman being
mistreated, emotional y or physical y.
Dana had picked on
them the most about it, cal ed them a
bunch of
overprotective sexist Neanderthals.
But there it was.
“I know her, but I know nothing about
her. She’s that
closed off. I wasn’t a complete idiot
this time. I cleared it
with Matt to have Shel ey keep an
eye on her, and she’l do
a discreet tail if she leaves to make
sure she’s okay until I
can go see her today.” He scowled,
shook his head. “I told
Rachel to come here, but I don’t
know if she wil . After I left,
it probably took al of thirty minutes
for her shields to go up
again.”
“So burn them down next time. Ashes
are a lot harder to
reassemble.”
Jon flashed a grim smile at Matt’s
flat comment. “That
worked for Savannah because she’s
as ruthless as you
are. Plus, at a subconscious level,
she already trusted you.
Rachel’s got a lot going on in her
head. She doesn’t trust
anyone, even herself. I won’t
completely kick the chair out
from under her until I’m certain she
knows that I’l be there to
catch her. I don’t want to make
what’s already damaged
worse.”
The men exchanged a significant
look, then Lucas
grinned. “The universe has aligned.
Scorpio is in Pisces, or
however the hel he’d say it. This is
the one for him.”
Jon’s brow rose. “What are you
talking about?”
“You know exactly what he’s talking
about.” Peter shook
his head. “You probably knew it the
second you found out
she wasn’t married.”
Matt nodded despite Jon’s bland
expression. “I’ve seen
that look twice before. The first time
was the night Lucas
threw down his poker chips and said
Cass would agree to
marry him in twenty-four hours.”
“Cocky bastard,” Peter snorted.
Lucas shrugged but memory gleamed
in his eye. “It
worked.”
“With considerable help. Shock-and-
awe tactics, bicycle
boy.”
Lucas bared his teeth as Matt shifted
his focus to Peter.
“You were the second time. When
you came back from
Afghanistan and found out Dana was
hurt and alone, you
didn’t even put down your duffle bag
before you were back
out the door.”
“Three times,” Jon amended,
conceding with a smile.
“The night you told us you were tired
of dicking around, that
you were going after Savannah with
the whole fucking
arsenal, quote, unquote.”
Matt inclined his head again, mouth
set in a determined
line. “Each of us may not know her
name, but the moment
she sets foot on our stage, we
recognize her right off. Your
whole life—every skil you’ve
learned, as a Dom and as a
member of this company—has
prepared you to go after
her. And you know exactly what kind
of assets you have at
your disposal.”
“A whole fucking arsenal,” Jon
muttered. “Speaking of
which, we’re one short.”
“I’m here.” Ben’s voice drifted
around the corner. “Too
much bal -and-chain testosterone in
that room. I’m staying
clear so I don’t get caught in the
epidemic. But if you need
the kind of help I’m better equipped
to provide than any of
the rest, you know where to find me.”
“He means his ego, which is the size
of Texas,” Lucas
put in.
“Not only my ego,” Ben rebounded.
Jon heard the snick
of a laptop closing and then Ben
appeared, flanking Peter.
His emerald green eyes, impeccably
tailored suit and
sharply styled black hair made him
every inch the legal pit
bul Matt paid him to be.
The surge of reassurance was
something Jon could
admit—at least to himself—he
needed. He had the head of
the pack, the calculations wizard, the
operations genius
and the cutthroat lawyer on his side.
And, from a woman’s
point of view, that was the least of
their combined gifts. As
Matt had pointed out, he had a unique
set of backup
resources, ones he had a feeling
would mesh wel with