was.
Gingerly, not wanting to startle her, he wrapped his palm around her exposed shoulder. The shaking stopped. He kept his tone gentle but even. "You didn't answer, pet. Don't you want to know how long your name has been embroidered on those cuffs?"
She didn't respond beyond sucking her bottom lip into her mouth and screwing her eyes more tightly shut. He couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped him. She would likely disagree, but he found her reaction adorable. It was like holding a lattice of fingers over her eyes during a scary movie. She wanted to know, but she didn't.
"More than two days ago." He traced the back of her arm, from her shoulder down to her elbow. "More than two weeks."
She sucked a deep breath in at that, his words making it clear he had been tracking her before she ever filed her resume. He laughed again, his finger continuing down her forearm. She had folded her arm over her breast and his path led inexorably to the pouting nipple. Giving it a gentle tug, he bent to softly speak into her ear.
"I didn't know I even had an opening for a charity analyst, pet." Feeling her breast push closer to him, he gave another tug, slower and longer than the first. "I was concocting far more devious ways to pull you into my net."
Another gasp, this one mixed with a moan. Griffin pushed her onto her back, keeping his mouth next to her ear. He brushed his unshaven cheek along the smooth skin of her jaw. Her breast flushed hotter in response.
Sweet heaven, he loved a responsive partner, a woman who couldn't help but show her arousal. And she was deeply submissive -- not at all surprising with a strong and independent woman who had been forced to shoulder a heavy burden growing up. He growled in appreciation as another quiver rolled through her. His mouth moved down her throat to nip and lick at the flesh as he pinched and rolled her tender nipple between his thumb and finger. "You're going to wear them for me, pet."
He pinched and pulled at the nipple until she groaned her response. "Yes…"
"With your eyes open." He lifted his head from the curve of her neck and waited. Her mouth quivered but her eyes stayed shut. Griffin took possession of her other nipple, both swollen buds lifted taut as he squeezed another gasp from her. "No hiding, Katelyn."
Her eyelashes fluttered and then she looked at him. Her lips parted, showing a hint of white teeth and the pink tease of her tongue. He studied her gaze. More than the ember of submissive heat he had expected, her eyes blazed with the need for him to continue, to dominate her more fiercely.
Griffin relaxed his grip on her nipples, letting the blood flow back in. Shock spread across her features at the sensation, her lips opening wider as unexpected pain filled the tips. A shiver of need running through his own body, he smoothed his hand across her stomach and down to the slit in the leather gusset. He forced a finger in and found her delightfully soaked. Her muscles grasped at his finger. He rewarded her responsiveness with two more pushing into her tight channel.
Moaning, Katelyn wiggled her hips.
"Does pet have an achy little pussy?"
When she bit at her lip but didn't answer, he laughed and dropped his lips to one swollen nipple to soothe away any remaining pain. He sucked the bud into his mouth, warming and moistening it as his fingers explored her cunt. Her muscled thighs pressed against his wrist and lower hand, her strength like a vise. He let his moan go, sent it vibrating across her breast as he made short curling strokes just inside her entrance.
When he had her so close to coming that her hips lifted off the bed, he pulled out. Capturing her head with his other hand, he kept her from turning away. "Communication is everything, pet. It keeps you safe and pleasured until I can learn to completely read your body's reaction."
Her eyes grew wider as he finished then narrowed in a heartbeat. She didn't like the idea of him getting inside her head. Smiling softly
David Baldacci, Rudy Baldacci