Bonds of Courage Read Free Page A

He wouldn’t be surprised if she had a pair hidden under her skirt. Hell, she probably did, and he bet they belonged to the last man who’d tried to challenge her.
    And damn, did that turn him on.
    His palms were instantly clammy, and try as he might, he couldn’t hold her stare. She saw too much. Way more than he wanted her to see. He looked down, covering the action by scratching his nose. He pushed away from the desk, which brought him close enough to catch a whiff of her smoke-and-spice perfume. “I’ll be going.”
    His side step was halted by nothing more than her voice. “I don’t think so, Mr. Hauke.”
    Damn. “Really?”
    She stepped closer. Stalked would be a good word, even though two steps was all it took for her to be inches from him. He could easily move around her. Walk away. Overpower her, even. But he couldn’t move. Breathing had become difficult on its own. Walking, too? That would be impossible.
    “Have a seat.” She pointed to the chair he’d been sitting in before she’d entered. “And we’ll talk about why you’re here. Trust me, you don’t want to leave.”
    “Why not?” His voice betrayed him. The rough gravel pitch could’ve been sexy if it wasn’t for the slight breathiness that went with it. Am I eighteen again? Apparently. His dick seemed to think so. The damn thing was responding like the horn-dog it’d been when his hormones had overruled his brain.
    She arched one of her perfectly sculpted brows before a sultry smile curled over her lips. “Because I can give you everything you desire.” She flicked her chin toward the door. “Or you can leave and end up buried in scandal when this need of yours gets too strong to contain.”
    Holy fuck. Was she serious?
    Even if she was, he couldn’t trust her. This was all too staged to be real. It stunk like a well-set trap.
    “You caught me.” The game had ended, and he was clearly the loser. His main goal now was to get out without injury. “Just tell me what you want.”
    “What I want...” She looked him up and down one more time, the predatory appraisal both hot and threatening. He swallowed but resisted wiping his palms on his pants. She ran a single finger down his chest, her blood-red nail leaving a trail of fire beneath his shirt. “I want to see you kneeling naked at my feet. Hands bound. Your sweet mouth opened wide around my gag with your ankles spread by the bar I put between them.”
    The gulp of air he inhaled gushed through the silence. The image was so clear. God, he wanted that too . So fucking badly.
    “Still denying?” she taunted before running her finger over the rigid line of his erection. “Then thinking of serving me however I wish shouldn’t make this harder.”
    His cock twitched, its state impossible to control or deny. It’d taken him ages to figure out what his needs were, and he was long past denying it to himself. Admitting them to her was another thing.
    A tap of her finger under his chin had him immediately lifting his head. She stared into his eyes, her expression calculating. A silent dare.
    Oh , fuck me. It didn’t help at all when he realized she probably would. Literally. If he submitted to her.
    He’d taken advantage of all the random fucks available from way too many willing women, talked smack and postured with his friends while never coming close to easing the unrest that constantly dogged him. Workouts, training and the exhaustion that came after a game used to help, but those had dwindled over time, ceasing to be enough.
    Yet that one picture of him bound to a spanking bench had almost killed his career. His game had been shaky last season, and there was no guarantee another team would pick up his contract if the Glaciers let him go. Not if he was tied to a sex scandal.
    But if he spun it right, this could be his chance to get what he wanted without revealing how much he longed for it. Admit nothing, but persuade her to give him exactly what he craved.
    Now that he could