Page 4 of The Handyman
“Does your partner know where you live?” he asked.
Shaking my head, I pointed around me studiously.
Reece nodded in understanding.
That was the great thing about places like the Black Cat. Paying a membership fee earned safety and a promise that what happened to me wouldn’t be tolerated. It hadn’t stopped it from happening in the first place, but that had been my fault. I chose my partner against the gut feeling that I was making a mistake.
“You said on the phone you’re self-employed, Riley. What do you do?”
Gulping down my bite harshly, I inhaled deeply through my nose. Licking my lips, the taste of chocolate tingled on the tip of my tongue.
Reece arched a brow at this. He was patient and calm as he reached to brush the corner of my mouth with his thumb. “I don’t appreciate hesitation, Riley. Surely, it’s nottoofar out of your capabilities to tell me what you do for a living, huh?”
The fine hairs on my face rose and pleasurable prickles swept down my neck. My eyelids fluttered closed as I relished his gentle touch. “I’m a writer. . .” Even the way Reece called me dumb was gentle and almost loving, and I gasped when he slipped his thumb into my mouth. The taste of him mingled with the lingering taste of my donut.
Rubbing the pad of his thumb along my tongue, he grunted lowly in acknowledgment. “You know, one of the most beautiful sights you’ll ever see is a picture of a perfectly tied piece of meat. Do you know what Kinbaku-bi is?”
Shivers lodged between my shoulder blades and my breath hitched when Reece curled his thumb against my cheek. I shook my head slightly.
“It’s Japanese…literally, the beauty of tight binding. It’s an art form. You should look it up, Riley.”
His thumb left my mouth agape and I cracked open my eyes open.
Reece hovered right in front of my face, not even two inches away. His brown eyes narrowed into slits, and I sucked in a sharp breath when he grabbed my face firmly. Long fingers stretched under my jaw ear to ear, my eyes forced to the ceiling. My brain buzzed with his actions.
Reece dragged the tip of his nose down the length of my throat. “If you want, I can show you. The wonderful helplessness… the emptiness of being unable to move, forced to accept thateverythingis out of your control.” He tapped my jaw before releasing me with a slight jerk, and Reece sat back to throw his arm over the back of the sofa.
Panting faintly, I blinked and lowered my head to watch him through hazy eyes.
He waved a hand in dismissal. “Unless, of course, you simply want to go easy for right now? You may not like being wailed on, Riley, but there’s plenty of other ways to receive pain that don’t involve getting slapped in the face.”
“How did you. . .” Reaching automatically to cover my cheek, I frowned as shame flooded my face.
Across the couch, Reece smiled tenderly, and he stuck his thumb between his teeth with a suggestive arch of a brow. “I can feel it in your mouth— the swelling. Along your jaw, too. You’re great at covering it up. This is not the first time I’ve seen women trying to hide something.”
My lip twitched in a wry, small smile, and I folded my legs under me despite my jean’s protesting. Tapping the underside of my half-eaten donut with my middle finger, it took all my self-control not to look down when Reece frowned openly.
“You made a mistake, Riley. The only thing to be ashamed of is making it a second time.”
I only nodded dully, and my heart thundered hard when he stood up to check his watch. Gnawing on my bottom lip furiously, I watched through wide eyes while Reece pulled his phone out of his pocket. Apprehension gripped me in a vice, and I lifted my donut to my lips with trembling fingers.
“We had some great sex, Riley, and I don’t know you very well, but trust me when I say, you’re agoodwoman and you’re going to be fine.”
That sounded a heck of a lot like a goodbye to me.
Reece glanced up from his phone to catch my gaze. “Do you want a ride home?”
“You’re not supposed to know where I live.”
He snorted roughly, a smirk stretching his lips before he turned his attention back to his phone screen. Tapping away, he let the silence stretch.
I held my breath.
“If I was going to do anything shady, Riley, I wouldn’t need you to tell me shit. I’m only offering. It’s up to you if you want to take it. Besides, you don’t have to direct me to where you actually live. I’ve got easier ways to know you than physically stalking you.”
Licking my lips heavily as my mouth dried at Reece’s casual threat—did that even constitute a threat?—I nodded tentatively.
He smiled broadly, pausing to pull his phone out of his pants pocket yet again, to frown at the screen. “Apparently, the universe is glad I’m not drunk as fuck right now. The movers are at the storage facility a day early. Speaking of fucking— did Brighton void your contract with El Douchebag?”