Page 74 of His Haunted Desire

He smirks. “Not that mask.”

He means the metaphorical one; he means putting on another performance.

I’d go to the winter gala with or without the money, but I can’t tell him that. I can’t tell him I’ve been thinking about him almost nonstop since he walked out of the store the last time.

I nod. “I’ll do it.”

He smooths his hands up my arms, squeezes my shoulders. “No, Aurora.”

Relinquishing control feels so, so good after two weeks of tension and responsibility. “Yes, sir, I’ll be your date.”

“First, let’s make sure we can still kiss convincingly.”

“Just one last job, yeah?” I put my hand on his chest. God, I’ve missed the way his heart pounds for me.

He pushes my hand away and seizes my hips, making a throaty noise of hunger. When he pulls me against him, I forget about the money and Goliath and everything.

All I know, all I care about are his lips, his tongue, the heat in his hands as he runs them up and down my body. He pulls me against him, letting me feel his manhood, already hard for me.

My sex throbs with the memory of last time.

“Raiden,” I whisper between kisses. “People can see in here.”

“I want people to see me with you. To know how special you are to me. To know you belong to me.”

“Belong to you?” I murmur.

“When we’re together. When you’re calling me,sir. You’re mine.”

Of course, he means the game, our special dynamic. It’s a mask we wear. He’s the boss. I’m his plaything.

For a second, I thought he meant something else, something deeper, something impossible.

“I should get back to work,” I say softly.

“Translation–if you don’t leave, Raiden, I won’t be able to stop myself from dropping to my knees and sucking your cock until you’re hard, wet, and ready to fuck me like the horny thing I am.”

My cheeks burn. Everything else is on fire too. “I didn’t say that.”

“You don’t have to, Aurora. Not with me. If that jerk returns, call me. Otherwise, see you at the gala.”

He swaggers out, leaving me to grip the counter, holding myself up as lust surges through me.

One night for fifty thousand.

I can do that, right?

But can I do it without getting attached, or even more attached than I already am?

That’s another question entirely.

CHAPTER 28

RAIDEN

Isit in the back of the limo with Grandma, waiting outside Needle & Muse. Grandma is withdrawn, no surprise there. Almost three full weeks since the murder at the Retreat, and still nothing.

“Oh my,” Grandma says with more excitement in her voice than I’ve heard since before the killing. I follow her gaze.