Page 49 of Pressure

“Sorry for waking you,” he said. When he ended the call, he shoved the phone in the pocket of his sweats and focused his full attention on her.

“Now then. How should I punish the naughty kitten?” he asked, his voice low and husky.

“Why would you punish me?”

“You woke up two house Doms and tried to hack the alarm system. That seems pretty naughty to me, Riss.”

She tried to stifle a giggle at his stern expression but failed.

“And she thinks it’s funny.”

Marissa cleared her throat, trying to cut through some of the sexual tension. “I should go for my run if we’re going to leave soon.”

He chuckled and kissed her neck. “I’ll get breakfast while you run then.”

When she opened the door, she breathed in the chilly morning air, welcoming it after their sexually charged exchange.

As she jogged along the path toward the cabins, planning to go around them twice before circling back, she thought about what had brought her to this point.

Being back with Lance was surreal and she wasn’t sure what would happen with their relationship after they finished the work here. Would they still be together? Chicago was fraught with bad memories and emotional land mines for them and yet it was the city they both called home. They would need to figure out how to address their past with more than just a passing conversation before they went any deeper into a relationship.

As she approached the first cabin, she noticed the porch light was on. That seemed odd since Lance slept with her last night. She would have to ask Lance about it when she got back to the club.

She jogged in front of the five cabins and wound her way around the back of them. They were nice cabins and based on what she’d seen when she knocked on Lance’s door, they had every modern convenience one could ask for.

Solitaire was indeed a luxury retreat but somehow, they still welcomed those who didn’t live a life of luxury every day.

She smiled as she thought about the first time she’d met Lance. He was well off but not anywhere near the billionaire he was now. An app he’d developed had taken off and given him the seed money to found the company he now ran. They met at a BDSM club in Chicago, but she knew who he was because she followed tech news the same way most of the women she knew followed celebrity gossip. When he approached her about playing, she’d been ballsy enough to point out some things she viewed as problematic with his app and he’d listened.

As she rounded the corner and came to the front of the cabins again, her heart skipped a beat. The porch light was off.

Instead of making another loop around the cabins, she jogged back up the path to the main building as quickly as she could. She was panting and breathless by the time she reached the top of the stairs to get to the front door.

Yanking it open, she stumbled inside and bent at the waist, her hands on her knees.

“Jesus woman, have you never heard of a cool down?’

“The light. The porch. Were you down there?” she asked when Lance stepped out of the conference room.

He stood next to her now, his hand stroking her back.

“Breathe, Riss. What are you talking about?”

“The porch light on the cabin you were staying in. When I got to it on my run, it was on. I circled the cabins and when I got back around to the front it was off.” She straightened as she spoke and paced the lobby. Her muscles screamed at her for pushing so hard.

“Stretch your calves, baby. I’ll go check it out. Maybe I just left it on, and it burned out.”

She took in deep gulping breaths as she pressed her palms against the wall and stretched one leg behind her.

“Be careful,” she said as he stepped onto the porch.

Ten minutes later he was back. “Everything seemed to be in place, and I didn’t see signs of anyone. I’ll have our security team patrol back there, though.”

“You have a security team?”

He nodded. “We employ some of Russell’s men to keep an eye on the place through the week. They usually just do quick checks of the place and are nearby to respond to any alarms, but I’ll see if we can get them on the property the whole time we’re gone.”

He pulled her into his arms. “You OK?”

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