Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 55171 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55171 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Brady was bemused. “Are we in stealth mode?”
Cal rolled his eyes. “You can be pious all you like. I don’t want those bottom feeders getting too nosy.”
He motioned toward an open elevator that seemed out of place on the far wall of the dingy room. As they stepped into the sparkling clean cubicle, Cal took his key card out of his pocket and then stopped to stare at Brady for a long, tense moment. “Sometimes I’m not sure if I’m right about you.”
Shit. Brady tilted his head, trying to send Cal one of the sensual smiles Ken used that always worked on him. “What do you mean?”
“You don’t have to put on a show like the rest of them. You don’t have to pretend to be the perfect moral specimen, like your cousin.” Cal’s laugh was strained. “I mean, you’re not angling for sainthood, are you?”
Brady braced himself and walked purposefully toward Cal, towering over him until he’d backed up against the elevator wall, clutching his key card. “You know me better than that by now, don’t you, Cal?”
Cal’s lips parted and he started to pant. “I…I thought I did. But I don’t know why you didn’t tell me you were staying with that man.”
Fucking hell. “Tanaka?” He shook his head and laughed, scrambling for a smooth answer. “I’m staying on the floor in an office in his building. It’s embarrassing to admit to someone you want to impress.”
Cal frowned suspiciously. “He hasn’t tried anything? He’s a rope Dom with a lot of money to throw around and friends in high places. He never came on to you?”
Brady moved in closer and lowered his voice, knowing how important this was. “If he did, I haven’t noticed. He’s a friend of Tasha’s and she knew he had extra space. So she did me a favor, getting the guy to let me crash at his place when Owen not-so-subtly kicked me out. That’s all it is, Cal. You’re the only one I’m dating. The one I’m on the phone with every night.”
“I know,” Cal whispered.
“Either I’m a sinner or a saint, Cal. You decide. If you want me to play saint, I will,” he offered smoothly, hating himself. “But I’d rather not with you.”
Cal’s free hand reached between them, slipping under Brady’s shirt to touch his flat stomach. Brady flinched in surprise but Cal closed his eyes and moaned, the hand holding the key card shaking. “I don’t want a saint, Brady. I want you to be the big, hard Marine who came back wanting more. Wanting what I can give you. You’ve kept me waiting and teased me for days. You’re bad and I want a bad boy. A big, bad boy that I can take home and punish.”
Don’t throw up. Keep smiling when you back away. Almost done. “Then we’re on the same page.”
He moved back until he was leaning against the opposite wall and started his internal countdown to calm himself down. He didn’t want this to take more than an hour. Especially now that Cal had brought up Tanaka.
How had he found out?
Cal was more relaxed than he’d been since he picked Brady up. He smiled and inserted the key card, pushing a few buttons on a keypad before the doors closed and their short ascent began. Brady pretended he didn’t notice.
“I knew you’d come around, Brady. Knew you were different. When you told me you were interested in exploring your darker urges, it took a lot of restraint on my part not to bring you here right away. But you weren’t ready. You needed to know me. To feel safe with me. Even trust me. I think that’s happened, hasn’t it?”
No.
“Definitely,” he said instead.
“That’s why, when I found out your roommate was crashing the party, I made sure it was canceled. I don’t want anything distracting us, or anyone reporting back to the senator’s wife. After tonight, things will be different between us,” Cal promised, obviously unaware that he’d thrown Brady a surprise punch in the solar plexus. “It might shock you at first, what you see here. The senator’s wife thinks she knows what kink is, but she has no idea. Try to keep an open mind. If you can do that for me, I’ll make sure you won’t regret it. And when you meet my friends, you’ll finally understand what I can give to you. What being with me will do for everyone you care about. Your family.”
Brady’s shoulders tensed and he forced himself not to throw Cal against the wall for mentioning his family. “And here I thought it was just a party with some kinky toys.”
“It’s so much more than that, Brady. It changed my life.” The elevator stopped and the doors opened, but Cal stopped him with a hand on his chest. “Before you take another step, you need to know that you can never talk to anyone but me about what you see here. My friends are serious about their privacy. They’ll do anything to ensure it.”