Read By His Desire for Free Online Page B

senseless.
    Why the hell hadn’t he when he had the chance?
    She’d been lying there waiting for him, chained and naked and flushed with the orgasm he’d given her. She was every wet dream he’d ever had. She was the wet dream, the one girl he’d never been able to have, tied down and at his mercy the way he’d imagined so many times. He could drive himself into her and purge all that frustrated lust, all that hopeless longing. Wanting something you couldn’t have made you weak, and now he had that opportunity to take what he’d always wanted.
    To take Sarah.
    So why hadn’t he?
    Going down on her had been intense. Maybe too intense. He’d never been so turned on by turning a woman on, even though he loved to make a woman come and always had.
    But this had been different.
    Maybe that’s why he’d left when he did. Because this felt different, and he wanted to be sure he had a handle on what was going on before he got in any deeper.
    He wanted to be sure he had a handle on himself.
    He was in his office downtown, where he was supposed to be meeting the chairman of one of his boards in half an hour. He scrubbed his face with his hands as if he could get Sarah out of his head that way.
    Because he had to get her out. He had to stop thinking about her. He had to compartmentalize this, to relegate her to the place she belonged, to—
    His cell phone rang, and when he glanced at it he saw his home number on the screen. A sudden chill ran down his spine. Nancy was the only one who ever used that number. Was she calling to tell him that Sarah was gone?
    “Yes? What is it?” he asked brusquely.
    “Did you ever have a pet?”
    It was Sarah’s voice. So she was still there, at his house.
    Relief made him sag back in his chair. “What?”
    “I was wondering if you ever had a pet. During high school.”
    “A pet?”
    “Yes. A dog, a cat, a bird, a fish. A pet.”
    It was so damn good to hear her voice. But what the hell was she talking about? “I...what?”
    “I was wondering, because back in high school the headmaster had that dog, do you remember? I think it was a Jack Russell terrier. And whenever you saw it you’d go down on one knee and let him jump all over you and lick your face, even if you were dressed up. So I wondered if you ever had a pet of your own. Because you don’t now. Or if you do, you keep it in some part of the house I haven’t seen yet.”
    He blinked. “You’re calling me to ask if I ever had a pet?”
    “Yes.” Her voice sounded almost belligerent, as though she might be mad at him. Was this because of last night? Had she not enjoyed herself? It had seemed at the time like she really, really enjoyed herself, but maybe something else was going on.
    “Are you upset with me for some reason?” he asked cautiously.
    “No. Why? Do I need to be upset with you before I can ask a personal question?”
    Definitely belligerent.
    “Of course not. I’m just surprised to hear from you, that’s all. And the question’s a little...” He hesitated. The fact was, he didn’t particularly want to talk about pets or the lack of them. Because it was a personal question. And talking to Sarah about personal things was not going to help him with his problem—this feeling that he was getting in too deep.
    “Now’s not a good time for me.”
    “Okay. When should I call back?”
    He got up from his desk and walked over to the window. “Sarah.”
    “What?”
    “I don’t think we need to talk like this. Do you?”
    “I don’t know if we need to or not. I just know that I want to. If you don’t, of course that’s okay. But if that’s the case then I’ll be heading home today.”
    Panic swept through him, and he gripped the phone as if it was a part of Sarah’s body. “If you leave now you won’t get the painting.”
    “I know.”
    Panic was followed by anger. “Jesus, Sarah. Why does it matter if I had a pet growing up?”
    “If you don’t want to talk about that, I’ll ask something