REVEAL - Scorpio & Harlan (Fettered Book 2) Read Free Page B

don’t know how to use electrical tape?”
    I snort and keep doing the job she could easily do herself. “If I were smart, I’d fall madly in love with you and run off to Fiji.” Sadly, I don’t think a bad boy with hard edges is what she needs.
    “Fiji’s too far away from my girls.”
    It’s very hard to imagine Gabby with granddaughters, but I’ve seen pictures. Lots of them. “Are they still demon possessed?”
    She laughs. “So Jules says. They’re always darlings for me.”
    I snort and snap off the electrical tape. “You boss around a bunch of Doms without breaking a sweat. Pretty sure you can handle a couple of two year olds.”
    She grins at me over her teacup. “You’re always a darling for me too.”
    I point my pliers at her and growl. “You’re the only woman in the world I let get away with calling me that.”
    “Again?” says a voice from the doorway. “Since when have we become tool nitwits around here?”
    Gabby slides off her stool and has a pretty teacup in Scorpio’s hands before she finishes her protest. “Harlan picked up the electrical tape I needed on his way over, so I figured it was only fair to let him use it.”
    Scorpio and I blink at each other, trying to follow that convoluted bit of logic. I toss the electrical tape at her before she can think too much harder. “Here—I’ll hold the wire ends and you can wrap them.”
    “I can wrap something,” she mutters, but she slides in under my arms to peer at the wiring for the replacement thermostat. “Sure you got that set up right?”
    The thermostat is probably right. The sudden armful of woman definitely is. She smells like flowers—the dangerous ones that bloom in the night and occasionally eat unsuspecting bystanders. “Dunno. Feel free to check my work. I’ll just stand here and hold things.”
    I can feel the moment she realizes exactly where she’s standing. Even better, I can hear how her breath hitches. I bend my head down, resisting the urge to nuzzle the nape of her neck. “Take all the time you need. I like to be slow and very, very thorough.”
    I hear Gabby spluttering behind me, but I ignore her. If she wants Doms running tame in her office, she’s going to hear stuff. Especially from me. I don’t hide who I am.
    An elbow digs into my ribs. No damage—just intent. A threat.
    Damn feisty sub. I can feel myself grinning. I want this woman. And apparently I’m going to have to court her, which is not a game that gets played much in my world. “Put on the tape, woman.”
    She snorts. “Gabby, I have a recipe for cyanide cookies. I think this sexy man deserves a whole batch all to himself.”
    I look over my shoulder long enough to determine the woman in question has run for the hills. Or quietly snuck off because she engineered this whole thing. Never trust a grandmother who knows how to herd small demon people. “She’s gone. You’re on your own.”
    Scorpio traces a finger over some of the ink running down my left arm, which doesn’t help my patience worth shit. “She’ll skewer you with a screwdriver if you mess with me.”
    Gabby’s not my concern at the moment. “You get aroused when I get close to you.”
    “Don’t pressure me.”
    I can hear the scowl in her voice. “This isn’t pressure.” That comes later. I don’t push anyone into consent. “You seem like a woman who knows her own mind, and you haven’t made up yours yet. I’m curious what’s getting in your way.” She’s as comfortable as a newbie gets with kink. Something else is going on here.
    She shimmies out of my arms and turns around, frowning. “You see a lot.”
    I shrug. “It’s my job.” I watch out for everyone at Fettered, but the subs in particular. Quint trains people, and he does a good job, but when they get out onto the real world of the club floor to play, then they’re mine. Mine to watch over, mine to protect, mine to see the doubts and desires and fears they maybe don’t even know about yet and