Read Naked & Unleashed for Free Online Page A

flesh again.
    Pain licked up her spine. Callista’s breath hissed through her clenched teeth and she arched her back, trying to escape the unforgiving edge of his knife. “Stop! I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you.”
    He took the knife away and ran his palm down her thigh. “I’m listening.”

Chapter Four
     
    I want to be raped.
    Mikal stared at his hand, which rested large and powerful at the vulnerable hollow of her knee. His inner predator surged against the mental prison he’d built around it. Violent desire rocketed through him. He could almost hear the harsh, erratic rhythm of her breathing as he ran her down. Her muffled pleas for him to stop taunted his imagination. She would fight him but she was a small woman and she would lose. She’d beg and cry as he wrenched her thighs wide and rammed into her fear-slick pussy.
    Exhaling slowly, he wrestled his inner monster back into its cage and carefully peeled his fingers from her flesh. Her pale skin beckoned but he forced himself to back off. A claim like that…someone in the room had to be a responsible adult, and he’d always prided himself on maintaining control even in the face of overwhelming desire. Especially in the face of a woman who needed him to be responsible for her safety.
    He moved from the foot of the bed and crouched near the headboard. Her blindfold came loose with a single tug. She blinked several times even in the low light.
    When her eyes focused, Mikal spoke. “Callista, tell me the truth. Are you a danger to yourself?”
    She rested her cheek in the bend of her elbow. Her eyes were guarded. “Are you disgusted?”
    Only with himself. Mikal took pride in his skill at bringing a bottom back to a safe reality after an emotionally and physically intense ordeal. When he did his job right, no woman in his care was concerned with the goings-on in his head. Her well-being came first.
    He stood and paced away from the temptation Callista presented. He’d made a mistake indulging her knife-play request and upsetting the balance of equality between them. His weakness compromised what was, up until a week ago, a mutually beneficial relationship of professional service and casual sex. He didn’t want a submissive lover. Correction—he wouldn’t allow himself a submissive lover. His preferences ran to the extreme and very few submissive partners could be trusted to cope with their fear in a way that preserved his freedom while assuring their safety.
    In short, he wasn’t going to prison for a woman who claimed to want him until she panicked and accused him of assault. He’d barely avoided that fate once before and refused to put himself in the same position again.
    “Mikal?”
    The uncertainty in her voice drew him back to the present. He shook off his old problems and focused on her. “I’m concerned. You came here with the intention of putting yourself in a stranger’s hands and you confess to a desire for real violence. If I let you walk out of here alone tonight, will I be making a mistake?”
    She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. “Will you untie me?”
    Scraping his hands through his hair, he had to acknowledge the scene had come to an end. He was reluctant to relinquish control of her sleek little body but he couldn’t ignore the issues they needed to address.
    Mikal released her ankles first. After he unfastened the cuffs at her wrists, he carefully rolled her onto her back and covered her breasts with a cloth. Taking both her hands in his, he began to gently massage her wrists. He kneaded the muscles and tendons from the bases of her palms all the way to her elbows. Gradually the tension left her arms and he moved down the bed to give her ankles and legs the same treatment.
    “I’m sorry,” she said softly.
    He glanced up to find her forearm draped across her face, covering her eyes. “You don’t have anything to apologize for.”
    “We had a good arrangement. Uncomplicated. I’ll give you a referral to someone else who can