Dungeon Games (Masters and Mercenaries #6.5)(13)

He was almost there. She couldn’t stop the way she shivered in his arms because it was so much more intimate this way. She was so close to him. His cock pressed against her still-sensitive backside. His lips hovered above hers. All it would take was a slight twist of his head and his mouth would cover hers, his tongue licking along the seam of her lips as his fingers played in her *.

“We can work together, Karina. We can make this work,” he murmured as he turned his face down.

Like gravity calling to her, she moved with him. Her legs opened as much as they could, her lips turning up to meet his.

They could make this work. They could be good for each other.

A loud knock cracked through the air.

Karina was jarred back to reality and practically jumped off his lap. Her heart was pounding, her whole body aching for something that wasn’t going to happen. Oh, god, she’d been just about to spread her legs and let a man who didn’t even like her inside. Years and years of chastity and faithfulness to her husband’s memory had almost blown out the door.

Tears blurred her eyes. She’d almost kissed another man.

Derek caught her around her waist before she fell over. “Hey, baby, it’s all right. The door’s locked.”

She shook her head. “Don’t. You can’t call me that.”

She’d been Kevin’s baby. Sometimes she could still hear him calling her baby and telling her everything would be all right. She forced back tears. She’d been naked with Doms at Sanctum, but none of it had touched her the way the last few minutes with Derek had. Not in all the floggings and spankings and demos had she ever once laid in the Dom’s arms and reveled in how he smelled and how his arms had sheltered her.

For just a few seconds, she’d felt safe.

Derek stepped back and his face went to that blank mask she knew so well. “Of course. You should get dressed, Karina. I’ll be at your place tonight at six to go over the specifics of the case. If Sean and Liam have to leave, call me and I’ll arrange to leave here early. I don’t want you alone.”

She managed to get her jeans up and with shaking hands, pulled the zipper. What had she just done?

Derek reached over his desk and pulled a box of tissue. He handed it to her with the politeness of a stranger. “You’re crying.”

She probably looked horrible. She wasn’t a pretty crier. Unlike a lot of other women she knew who could look gorgeous when they teared up, she inevitably went a blotchy red and her face puffed up. She grabbed the box, taking a couple of tissues. “Thank you.”

“Derek! I know you’re in there, lover. Open the door,” a feminine voice demanded.

Karina felt her eyes go wide as she looked back at Derek.

It seemed to be his turn to go red. “It’s my ex and she is most certainly not my lover, Karina, so wipe the indignation off your pretty face and you might want to flee. She’s a raving beast underneath all that Prada.”

She huffed a little. She knew exactly what she looked like when she’d been crying. “You don’t have to be mean. I know I look terrible.”

He frowned and his hand came out to force her to look at him. “You’re beautiful when you cry because I know you mean it. You cry like a woman, not a manipulative little girl. It pleases me, Karina, and at least for the next few weeks, I hope that means something to you. Now go home and don’t look her in the eyes. She’s like Medusa. She will turn you to stone.”

And she was apparently impatient. There was another volley of knocking. “Derek! I’m not kidding. Quit f*cking whoever you’re f*cking and open the damn door.”

“She sounds lovely.” Karina forced herself to stop shaking. It wasn’t Derek’s fault that she felt so damn guilty. He’d done everything he should have done. He’d given her every out. Well, he’d also threatened to take her off the case, but she could almost forgive him for that. He was an old school “protect the women” kind of guy. It was just she was pretty sure up until today, he hadn’t considered her a woman.

God, he’d made her feel like one.

She winced as she caught sight of his previously pristine slacks. “Oh, Derek, I am so sorry. Your pants are…”

He looked down and she was deeply surprised to hear him chuckle. There was a stain on his pants from her arousal. She’d made a hell of a wet spot. Derek always seemed so staid. She’d expected him to get angry, but he merely righted his shirt and readjusted himself. “Next time I’ll remember just how wet you get, Karina.”

The knocking became a staccato nuisance.

“Hold your freaking horses, lady. He’s coming out in a minute.” Whoever his ex was, she was rude.

Derek frowned her way. Derek didn’t do rude.

Karina shrugged as she made her way to the door. “Sorry.”

“Remember what I said about the eyes.” His voice seemed so much warmer than before. “And I’ll expect you to be waiting for me, Karina. I’ll call and get your dinner order and pick it up for us. We have work to do.”

In for a penny… “I’ll cook.”

His face twisted slightly as though he was trying not to contemplate something horrible. “You will?”

Bastard. So he didn’t think she could possibly cook. Well, she wasn’t going to defend herself. Sometimes showing was way better than telling. “Yes, I will. Dinner is at seven.”