Playing With Pleasure Read Free

disheveled, half-naked state to her stepsister, Ashley, who had chased after him in nothing but a robe that was sheer enough to see that she had nothing on beneath.
    He’d been caught in the act, and the devastation that had played across Paige’s features in that moment had destroyed him, as well. He’d crossed the marbled foyer to talk to her, very aware of Ashley watching the whole scenario play out from where she was standing at the top of the stairs.
    He’d stopped in front of Paige, the bright pain in her eyes equivalent to a knife twisting in his heart. He wanted so badly to touch her, to reassure her, but how could he explain something that he didn’t even understand himself?
    “Paige …” His voice had been like gravel, and he’d whispered the only thing he could. “I’m so sorry.”
    She’d slapped him hard across the cheek, trying so valiantly to keep the tears shimmering in her eyes in check. “You’re a fucking asshole.” Lifting her chin in an attempt to salvage her pride, she’d turned around and walked away.
    Utterly defeated and racked with guilt, he’d headed back toward the front door, not sure how he was going to repair the damage he’d done. When he’d glanced up at Ashley, the smug smile on her face had made his gut churn. The goddamn bitch was actually pleased that she’d just shattered her sister’s happiness, and he’d had the sickening feeling that he’d fallen into some kind of trap of Ashley’s making.
    Even after leaving the house that morning, he’d tried to text and call Paige, until she’d blocked his phone number, making it very clear that they were over. And because he had no excuse for what he’d done, he’d respected her decision. Five days after that, he’d been deployed to Iraq, and he’d spent the next fifteen months immersed in guilt as he replayed that morning over and over in his mind.
    He’d probably never know the real truth of how he’d ended up in Ashley’s bed, but he definitely had his suspicions.
    “You seem distracted tonight,” the woman sitting on his lap said into Sawyer’s ear, bringing his thoughts back to the present. “What’s going on with you?”
    Jenny was someone he occasionally hooked up with at The Players Club. Neither of them was looking for a commitment, so their arrangement worked well. She liked being tied up and restrained and enjoyed a bit of pain with her pleasure, which matched perfectly with Sawyer’s own need to dominate and be in control. That was a part of himself he’d hidden from Paige when they’d dated, because he’d wanted to be sure they had a solid relationship, as well as trust between them, before he introduced her to his penchant for ropes and showed her how a twinge of pain could heighten her own desires.
    It had taken him weeks to coax Paige into being confident about her body and sensuality, to make her believe that she was sexy and desirable exactly the way she was. In fact, that night on her birthday, he’d planned to show her just how good it felt to let him be completely in control of her pleasure…only to have her sister obliterate everything between them.
    Still ensnared by Paige’s gaze, he absently replied to Jenny’s question without looking away. “I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”
    She trailed her fingers from around his neck and down the front of his shirt. “Maybe I can give you something else to think about,” she murmured huskily, her insinuation clear.
    Paige was the first to break eye contact with him, appearing completely unaffected by his presence, which only served to irritate the shit out of him since his insides were tangled up in a knot when he thought about the reasons she was here at the club. Dane, a regular at the mansion who enjoyed his encounters with women more on the hard-core side of things, walked up to Paige, offered his arm, and escorted her out of the lounge.
    Jealousy shot through Sawyer like a hot spear, along with something darker and more