Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 144571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 723(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 482(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 723(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 482(@300wpm)
“I think he was perfectly pleased. Is that our last of the night?” They’d run two scenes and had private sessions with two others. It had been a full night. He’d taken the lead on one of the scenes, but the private subs had both wanted her. He was feeling anxious. He hadn’t helped her enough tonight.
She nodded and walked over to the table where her kit was laid out, carefully cleaning the paddle before storing it away. “Yes. So I guess there’s not a lot more I can procrastinate over.”
He didn’t like the sound of that. “Why would you procrastinate?”
“Because I think we have to do something I hate doing.”
Now he was anxious. Like moving firmly into the angst direction. “What do we need to talk about?”
There were several things Kala Taggart didn’t like to do. Whites. She didn’t mind any other laundry with the exception of whites and folding fitted sheets. She tended to get pissed at them and ended up needing a new sheet. She wasn’t fond of cooking, but she could clean a kitchen and never complain. The only thing she really hated doing was talking.
If she thought they needed to talk, it was bad.
She took a long breath and turned, leaning against the table and looking at him across the room. “It doesn’t have to be a long talk.”
Such a remote goddess. “It doesn’t have to be an awkward talk. Want to come sit with me?” He scooted over, offering her half of the bench. “Come here, Kala. Is your knee bugging you? Let’s get you out of those heels. Sometimes the top needs aftercare, too.”
She frowned his way. “How did you know? Damn it. I have to fix it. If I show everyone I’m hurting, they’ll know exactly where to hit me.”
She wasn’t coming to him, so he stood and ate the distance between them. He got into her space. She was more willing to be open with him in this setting. When they were alone and in their element, she would let him closer. The partnership he’d begun with her had at least done one thing right. “Hey, I was watching you closely. You favored your right side. That’s all. I’m sure you were in awful pain and didn’t blink an eye. No one else would notice.”
Her jaw firmed as she turned her head up. “I’ll get better. I’m doing PT.”
He reached up and wanted to run his hands through all those pink cotton candy curls, but that might be a bit much. He was being patient. He settled for clasping her shoulders. “Of course you will. You’re already bouncing back. This whole benching us thing isn’t about you. It’s about Huisman. It’s about Zach. Come on. Let’s get you out of the boots. You shouldn’t wear them while you’re in PT. They’re sexy as hell, but I’m way more worried about your ACL.”
“You know heels are part of the uniform.”
He had to handle her carefully. Despite what most people believed, Kala was actually pretty easy to deal with. She rarely got offended. She didn’t care what most people thought. Often people mistook her deep core of honesty for arrogance. If she was wearing the wrong jacket for some party they were going to, she would shrug and ask advice and change. But this was different. This was about her ability to do her job—both as an operative and as a top. He could address one of those issues. “I think you take excellent care of your submissives, and they would likely be horrified if they thought you were in pain, Mistress. Let them have their compassion. Sometimes it’s good to let them take care of you.”
She was a one hundred percent service top. She didn’t sleep with her subs. Oh, she would allow them to serve her at a party if they enjoyed showing off, but she wasn’t the kind of Mistress who had her subs wash her car or come over to do the dishes. She was the type of Mistress who would bring a sick sub soup and order them to eat it and get well and ensure they had what they needed.
He wanted her to feel that way about him, too.
“It does hurt.” She started to lean over. “I ganked it coming down the stairs. I swear if I step the slightest bit wrong…”
He stopped her, offering his leg. “Let me.”
It wasn’t a plea. It was a…strongly worded request. She stared at him for a moment and then slowly brought her foot up, gently placing it on his thigh. He found the zipper, easing it down, letting his fingertips brush the back of her knee and then her calf. Such warm skin, soft and silky over firm muscle.
He pulled the ridiculously sexy boot off, setting it to the side before running his hand back up to her knee. “Does massage help at all?”