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Pain flashed through her glare. “Thirty seconds.”

“I think Roy paid someone to poison your egg salad to separate us for the night.”

Her eyebrows crawled together, her face red from the stooped position.

“Did he know you liked those little oranges in your salad?”

“Yes.” A whisper. “He knows everything about me.”

Not everything. The sick fuck didn’t know how to make her happy. He drew in a lungful of air. “Ella confessed she was hired by Roy to drug my water and…seduce me. No doubt he expected you to catch me in the act and flee.” He scooted closer, placed his fingers over the rapid pulse on her throat. “I don’t remember any of it, Charlee. I don’t even remember singing the encore at the show.”

Her lashes dropped, fringing her cheeks. “You were hard as a rock, thrusting your dick at her, spurring her on. Drugged or not, that shit is seared into my eyes. How do I know your accusation against Ella isn’t a trick to get me back on the bus?”

Bile simmered through his chest, and his fingers flexed against her neck. “I’ve got a metric fuckton of faults, Charlee, but I’ve never lied to you.”

Her breath hitched, and she held it, bottom lip trembling as she searched his face.

Boots appeared beside his sneakers. “She’s been in the strappado long enough. I need to let her down.”

Jay nodded and climbed to his feet. This time, he didn’t stop his hands from roaming her spread thighs, the horizontal line of her spine, and the silky tresses of her hair. She didn’t cringe, so he continued his exploration as Conrad removed the spreader bar and untied the knots.

Conrad worked meticulously without an unwarranted touch or lustful glance. When her hands were free, Conrad cupped her wrists and offered them to him. “Massage the bound area to assist the blood flow.”

Jay raised her arms, rubbing and kissing the circle of pink around her wrists.

She wiggled free from his grasp and touched a finger to his dimple, his chin, and his lips. He held himself immobile, not breathing, waiting.

A glassy sheen slid over her hypnotic eyes and a tear escaped, glancing off her cheek. “Am I…are we safe here? If Roy orchestrated our separation, could he have followed me here?”

Yes. Roy was probably waiting for the right moment, trying to avoid a scene like the one at her apartment in New York. “There are twenty bodyguards surrounding this building. We’re as safe here as we are on the bus.”

A smile trembled on her lips and fell away. “I’m sorry I doubted you.” She pulled her hand back and curled it against her belly.

He cupped her face and rested his forehead against hers. “I’m sorry I ever gave you a reason to doubt me.”

She nodded, released a tattered breath, and threw her arms around his neck.

Spinning on the edge of giddiness, he kissed her face and her lips and dreamed of all the ways he wanted to make her glow. Her flesh warmed under his palms as he ran his hands down her spine and over the taut globes of her ass. “Just like heaven.”

“You look like you’ve been through hell.” She mussed his hair with one hand, the other clinging to his waist. “Have you eaten?”

He stretched his fingers around the back of her thigh and curled them between her legs. “I want to eatyou.”

“Put her on the bed and you can.” Conrad appeared behind her, the rope wound over his shoulder. “That is, if you plan on sticking around for the remainder of the scene.”

87

“What do you mean, the remainder of the scene?” Jay swung his head, scanning the room for Charlee’s clothes. Where did she leave them?

She uncurled from his embrace and lowered to her knees, head bowed. His mind scrambled to make excuses for the change, even as he knew what the pose meant.

Conrad watched him from beneath dark brows. “The look on your face tells me you’ve never witnessed a scene before.”

Did internet videos count? He’d also perused fetish sites while she slept, trying to glean safe techniques to use on her. “We’ve…played.”

“How’s that working for you? Both of you?” Conrad hung the rope on a hook on the wall. “Are you comfortable in your role?”

No. Not if his role meant hurting her. Jay bent, brushed the hair from her face. “Charlee, is this what you want?”