PlaybyPlay (5 page)

After dinner, they cleaned up the kitchen, and much like
during dinner itself, and on the drive to her home, they didn’t speak much.
Seth wasn’t known for many words in the first place, but beneath the silence
was a layer of tension that had been there from the moment he’d left her office
after what she had decided to call
the episode
.

“You can relax, you know?”

Startled, Katherine dropped the plate she’d been washing
back into the sudsy water, causing some of it to splash across the front of her
shirt.

“That’s what I’m talking about. You’re nothing but a ball of
nerves.”

She glanced sideways at Seth, a curse on the tip of her tongue.
He stood beside her, drying off the dishes, his body so close her skin warmed
from the heat of him. She wanted to say he was the reason why she was tense,
but that would be revealing too much—besides he already knew that.

He knew his very presence unnerved her—that she was on edge,
wondering and waiting for him to finish what they’d started in her office,
wondering and worrying about what he would do to her when he did. She shivered.
The anticipation was driving her crazy and he knew it, relished it, enjoyed
that he now had her on edge, and apparently planned to keep her there.

He plucked the dish she’d just dropped from the soapy water,
rinsed it, then dried it. “All right, I’m headed to bed now,” he said when he
was done putting the dish away.

Katherine’s head snapped up. “What do you mean you’re headed
to bed?” she blurted out before she could stop herself.

She could swear his lips twitched with just the hint of a
smile. “I’m tired, so I’m going to grab a quick shower and then I’m off to
bed.” He turned to leave. “You should probably get some rest too.”

Her eyes rounded. Was he serious? All he wanted to do was
sleep
?
After what had happened earlier? After she’d spent all day fantasizing about
what he’d do to her as soon as they got to her home? She’d spent a very long
hour sitting through a board meeting, crossing and uncrossing her legs. She
imagined his calloused hands against her bare skin spanking her ass again, or
binding her then forcing her to her knees to suck his cock, just as she’d seen
him do with the woman at the club. By the time her meeting was over, her
panties were dripping wet with her juices and her clit throbbed so hard that
even the tiniest movement sent a shock of pleasure shooting through her. Her
entire body was on fire, hungry, needy, and he wanted to go to
sleep
?

“But I thought—”

He turned to face her, spearing her with his penetrating
gaze. “You thought what?” His voice was low, and even as his eyes revealed
nothing, the deep timbre of his voice was warm and sensual. She shuddered as
her eyes traced the curl of his lips when they slowly lifted into a wicked
grin.

She couldn’t speak—her mouth was open, but nothing came out.

Seth nodded, the small grin still on his lips. “Good night,
Katherine.”

And just like that, just like the night before, he left her
there on the edge of sexual frustration, wanting more, needing more, only to be
denied.

* * * * *

It had taken an almost inhuman strength of will to walk away
from Katherine, to leave her standing there alone in her kitchen, but he’d
managed to do it, which was why Seth now stood beneath a cascade of pelting
water. The warm spray of the shower eased the knots of tension that corded his
muscles. He closed his eyes with a groan. Too bad it did nothing to ease the
throbbing ache of need that hardened his shaft.

Katherine.
He whispered her name in his head.

He rarely called her by her first name, but he thought it
was somehow fitting, given the intimacy they’d shared earlier that day in her
office.

She wanted what only he could give her, what he’d given her
a taste of earlier. He’d glimpsed the desperate need to be mastered in her eyes
as he’d bared her ass and disciplined her. That look had been there all day,
and he could almost feel her desire for him to punish her again pouring off her
in waves. Dinner had been torture, cleaning up afterward—pure hell.

He ached to master her, to dominate her, to force her
complete surrender and claim her, but he wasn’t sure if she was truly ready for
what he would do to her.

He’d never been this uncertain about a woman, a submissive,
before. But with Katherine, things were different. Today in her office, their
relationship had changed, but he was the one who would determine if it was
temporary or something more permanent.

Katherine
—always-in-charge Katherine. He blew out a
long, shaky breath, his hand curling around the stiff flesh of his cock as the
water peppered his skin. What would it be like, feel like, to have her beneath
him, completely bound as he rode her body and watched her surrender to him—body
and soul.

He stroked his hand up and down his hard length, slow at
first, but as the image of her grew sharper, he pumped his ruddy shaft harder
and faster. He could hear her cries of pleasure, soft, feminine, wanton. Her
breath hitching as he pushed inside the dark, tight tunnel of her wet flesh,
her warm, full breasts flattening against his chest, her nipples piercing his
torso.

Seth clenched his eyes shut tighter, his head falling back
against the bathroom tiles. It was a fantasy, but he could almost taste her on
his lips, smell her, the sweet scent of her perfume. Her cunt was plush, tight,
wet around him as he sank into her over and over again. Seth groaned,
tightening his hand around his cock as he jacked himself faster. Every muscle
in his body corded, his gut clenched and he came on a swift jerk, a shattering
cry echoing off the walls as he shot his seed in thick ropes against the tile.

He slumped against the shower and ran a hand through his
hair, finally opening his eyes when his panting eased. He felt like a fool.
Countless times he’d fantasized about Katherine, the one woman he could never
have, the one woman he shouldn’t even dare to want. Katherine was ballsy, a
real firecracker. She certainly wasn’t a submissive, probably didn’t possess a
submissive cell in her body, and yet, she’d taunted him the night before, then
in her office she’d revealed a side of her that hinted at more than just a
passing interest in submission.

In the two years he’d known her, he’d never seen her yield
or bend to anyone. How could he be so sure that in the bedroom things would be
different? What if he was wrong about her? What if he introduced her to that
part of himself he’d only shown a chosen few and she rejected it—rejected him?
It would ruin their professional relationship, but there was more at stake than
that. He wanted Katherine, and not just for one night, a brief sexual odyssey
or even a passing affair—no, he wanted more, and from her, he would accept
nothing less.

* * * * *

Katherine went to bed soon after Seth left the kitchen but
she didn’t fall asleep. How could she? Her body pulsed with unfulfilled sexual
energy. How could Seth tease her like that, then leave her hanging? Even her
attempts at masturbation were useless. After coming so wondrously against his
bulging cock, she wanted the real thing, not her hand. She wanted
Seth
.

It took her a long time to fall asleep, as pent-up sexual
frustration kept her tossing and turning. So when she was abruptly awoken in
the middle of the night, just after one o’clock, she was
pissed
.

She shot straight up in her bed, the blaring of her alarm
wrenching her awake. Disoriented, her belly churned with fear as she breathed
slowly, trying to gather herself. Within seconds, she snapped into action,
reaching for the loaded .38 handgun inside the drawer of her bedside table.
Chambering the bullet, she slid out of bed and tiptoed across the room.

Katherine listened for the sounds of movement but heard
nothing, only the alarm. She slowly cracked open her door and, with hesitant steps,
walked down the hall. She halted when the alarm abruptly stopped, her heart
pumping wildly in her chest.

She turned the corner to her living room just as she heard
someone shout her name. She raised her gun, screaming when she saw one was
already pointed at her.

A sharp curse drew her attention to her intruder’s face and
she lowered her gun with a startled frown.

“Seth?”

He flipped on the light and she blinked as her eyes adjusted
to the bright glare.

“Of course it’s me,” he growled out. “What the hell’s wrong
with you?”

“What the hell’s wrong with me?” She was incredulous. She’d
done nothing wrong. “You’re the one who tripped the alarm.”

He glared at her. “I didn’t trip the damn alarm.” She yelped
when he wrenched the gun out of her hands. “And what the hell are you doing
with a gun, anyway? You could have gotten us both killed.”

His words deflated her anger in an instant and she began to
tremble, now frightened, realizing that he was right. When the alarm went off,
all she could think about was protecting herself. Disoriented and groggy, she’d
completely forgotten Seth was in her home. She could have shot him—or worse.

“I bought it after the second note,” she muttered weakly. “I
know how to handle a gun, and I’m a decent shot.”

He glowered at her but he must have noticed the trembling of
her body because he tempered his voice when he spoke again.

“Wait in here until I get back.” He ushered her over to the
living room couch. “I’m sure whoever was here is long gone, but I need to check
all the rooms and the perimeter to see how he got in and if he took anything.
While I’m gone, call Aaron and tell him to get LVPD up here now.”

Two hours later, the last of the cops were leaving
Katherine’s home. As far as they could tell, nothing was stolen and the
intruder hadn’t broken in. Las Vegas’ finest were saying it was just a false
alarm, that the equipment had probably malfunctioned, and told them to call the
security company. Seth wasn’t buying it. He’d called Aaron who agreed to stop
by and take a look after his shift ended later that evening.

Seth knew whoever was stalking Katherine was getting closer,
their actions creepier, and it was only a matter of time before he acted out.
Seth needed to figure out who they were dealing with so they could catch him
before this asshole caught up to Katherine.

He glanced over at her sitting on the chair beside the
couch. Throughout this whole ordeal she’d remained calm and composed, but he
knew all of this was starting to wear on her. She stared with vacant eyes out
the window, her hands clutching the teacup that had been empty for half an
hour.

She looked up when he walked over to her.

“Let’s get you to bed.”

She nodded with a small smile that didn’t quite reach her
eyes and stood, setting the cup aside.

He followed behind her until they reached her bedroom. He
was about to leave when he noticed she stood there in the center of the room,
her arms wrapped around her body as if she didn’t know what to do with them.

“Katherine? You okay?”

She stared at him with wide brown eyes that held something
in their depths he’d never seen there before.

“Katherine—”

“Will you stay with me—just for the night? I just don’t want
to be alo—”

“I’ll stay,” he said immediately. Closing the door, he
walked toward her, his heart beating faster with every step. “But where do you
want me to sleep?” It was an innocent question, or at least that was what he’d
tell himself later.

She blinked in surprise until desire darkened her eyes.

“Where do you want to sleep?”

In your bed, beside you, underneath you, inside you
was what he wanted to say, but he said none of those things. “The floor is
fine.”

“But you didn’t answer my question. Where do you
want
to
sleep?”

He sucked in a sharp breath.
Christ.
All he had to do
was say the word, tell her the truth. And yet, he held back. She’d been through
a lot already. He didn’t want to take advantage of her when she was already so
vulnerable.

“You’ve had a rough night and you’re not yourself. You need
to get some rest.”

She looked away and he swore his heart stopped. “You’re
probably right…it’s just that I thought—” She shook her head then as if to stop
herself. “You know what? It has been a tough night and I’m not feeling quite
myself—”

“Katherine.” His gut tightened and he cursed himself
silently as he crossed the room, hating that he’d glimpsed a sadness mixed with
disappointment in her eyes and knew he’d put it there. He gripped her
shoulders, forcing her to face him. “I know what you’re thinking—”

Her eyes narrowed. “Do you? Because I’m thinking you have no
idea.”

He released a small breath in frustration, his sense of
reason warring with his own desires. “I know you must think that I don’t want
you—” Damn it, he wanted her, but he just couldn’t, not with everything she was
going through, not when she was already so vulnerable. “But believe me,
Katherine, that couldn’t be further from the truth.”

“The truth?” She wrenched out of his grasp and folded her
arms across her chest. “Please tell me what that is because I’m clueless here,
Seth. One minute you’re kissing me, punishing me, and then the next you’re
pushing me away. I just don’t get it.”

He ran his hand through his hair. He knew that’s exactly how
she would see things, but she was right about that last point—she
didn’t
get it. She didn’t realize just how hard this was for him—that if he took their
sexual relationship in the direction they both seemed to want to go there would
be no turning back.

“Tonight, after everything I’ve been through—that
we’ve
been
through with these crazy notes and this intruder—” His gut twisted into knots
when her voice broke. “I just didn’t want to be alone tonight.”