Sapphire Read Free Page A

know what came next.
    Kirliss stepped close to her. Relieved that he wouldn’t taunt her for giving in so easily, Taylor closed her eyes. His hand slipped up under her skirt again and she held her breath. He stroked upward, sliding toward her sex. She stayed still.
    She didn’t help him by opening her legs and he didn’t tell her to. Kirliss didn’t need to. He inserted one finger into the slight triangular space at the nexus of her thighs. He brushed her labia, and the wet tissues parted, giving way immediately. Here there was no resistance at all.
    Kirliss sighed and Taylor moaned.
    “Slippery. Hot. Begging for this,” he whispered in her ear.
    Taylor shuddered at the words. She pulled at the cuffs, reassuring herself that he had captured her. She couldn’t resist this.
    “Admit that you want this, M. Say you need what I can give you.”
    No.
    Taylor let her head fall forward, so she didn’t have to look in his face while he stroked her and she trembled under his touch. For the first time, she wished she hadn’t put her hair up so tightly, that more strands would fall to shield her face from him.
    “You see?” Kirliss murmured. “Feel how this takes you over. How it can be for us.”
    He twined his fingers into her chignon, gently tugging her head back so she had no choice but to meet his eyes, intense even through the deep shadows.
    “Eyes open. That’s an order.”
    His words thrummed through her and Taylor obeyed in a kind of delirium.
    Kirliss stroked her and she followed the movement of his hand, riding his fingers in helpless pleasure. A shattered moan escaped her. Holding her head still, he quickened the movement and Taylor felt the climax build. She would orgasm here, on the hand of a man she barely knew, cuffed to the rail of her CEO’s yacht.
    Sapphire . The word burned in her throat. A fragile safety net.
    Kirliss plunged a finger into her, pressing her clit with his thumb, and Taylor came. She climaxed in great shuddering gasps, pressing her lips together to stifle her cries. All the while, Kirliss watched her, drinking in every last twitch and moan. Smiling like a cat with cream.
    Taylor sagged there, leaning back against the rail, held up only by Kirliss’s strong hand cupping her skull and his lean fingers plumbing her still-quivering sex.
    As she cooled, the embarrassment and regret rushed in.
    Kirliss must have felt her stiffen, because he withdrew his hand, giving her damp lips a little pat. Her skirt fell against her sensitized skin, the light silk a sensuous reminder. Taylor averted her eyes while he took out a white handkerchief and dried his fingers. He folded it and tucked it into the pocket where he’d put her panties.
    She sighed with relief when he took a key from another pocket.
    He straddled her, one strong thigh on either side of hers, and reached around her to her cuffed wrists. Taylor stared steadfastly at his shoulder, holding her breath, waiting for the click of the lock and freedom.
    But he didn’t move.
    She waited, but he stayed, pressed against her, pinning her to the rail. Taylor tried not to feel mastered by it. Still, she felt small against him, almost fragile. She wanted to bury herself against his warmth and have him hold her.
    Finally she looked up.
    He was watching her, of course. Taylor had the uncanny notion again that he knew what she was thinking and feeling. Kirliss raised an eyebrow.
    “Well?” she said, her voice more arch than she’d thought she could muster. Good for her. “Are you going to unlock the cuffs or what?”
    His eyes glimmered. “I’m waiting for you to ask me.”
    “Fine. Let me go now.”
    He made a tsking sound. “That sounds like an order.”
    “Look—you’ve played your game. The fun is over now. We’ve been away from the party long enough that someone will come looking. Enough already.”
    Kirliss didn’t move. He didn’t answer.
    Taylor sighed. “Okay. Please unlock the cuffs now.”
    “Say ‘pretty