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Her entire body went stiff as a car pulled into the gas station behind them. He stroked her hair. “Just security, baby.” One of the men climbed out of the car and came to Bradley’s window. He rolled it down.

“Sir, if you don’t mind, we’d like you and Miss Sanders to ride in the back, and I’ll drive the rest of the way home.”

“You’re the boss,” Bradley said. “Come on, baby, we’ll make out in the backseat.”

Darci blushed and rolled her eyes. “You’re the boss,” she said giggling. They settled into the backseat, and Bradley slipped an arm around her and pulled her close.

Pressing his lips to her ear, he spoke darkly. “For the record, pet, eye rolling makes me get bossy too.” She shivered, as he nipped at her ear with his teeth.

23

WHEN Bradley’s apartment had been cleared by security, Darci’s stomach filled with butterflies as she thought about going inside. Not because of the crazy killer out to get her, but because of the tall man holding her hand. He must have sensed her nerves as they approached his front door because he stopped and put his hands on her shoulders.

“Hey, I’m not going to chain you up in my basement or anything.”

The tension left her, and she giggled. “Considering you don’t have a basement I wasn’t exactly worried about that.”

“What is it then? Be honest. No hiding anything from me, baby girl.” His eyes searched her face as he waited for her to answer.

“I’m enjoying what we have right now. And as excited as I am to explore our mutual kinks more, I’m worried it will change the good thing we have going.”

“You’ve not gone very far down this path with me, so I’m aware that telling you it won't change things negatively isn’t exactly the reassurance you're looking for.” He lifted a hand to her cheek in a gentle caress. “But I’m going to ask you to trust me, and I’m going to trust you, too. Our dynamic isn’t going to morph into some total power exchange relationship overnight. We’re going to ease into this and figure out what works for us.”

When she glanced at the bodyguard, she was relieved to see that he was too far away to overhear them. He pulled her into a quick hug and kissed her forehead. She inhaled his masculine scent before he released her. With a shy smile she said, “I trust you, Sir.”

“Good. I should also warn you that while I’m going to go slow, I’m not going to treat you like someone who’s never done this before. Only as someone who’s never done it with me. We’ll make mistakes, but as long as we can talk about them, we’ll be OK.”

Darci didn’t say anything. Couldn’t say anything. Instead she nodded while he opened the door and pulled her inside. As he closed the door again, electricity crackled between them, as it had the first night he had brought her here. He raised an eyebrow at her as he helped her out of her coat, and she knew the electricity was there for him as well.

Excitement stirred in her and she couldn’t wait to see where the night took them. To her surprise he kissed her cheek and said, “I’ve got to do a couple of things in my office, so I’m going to excuse myself for a bit. I won’t be long, I promise.” Unable to muster anything but a nod, she headed into the living room.

Half an hour later, engrossed in reading for work, she didn’t hear Bradley emerge from his office. Darci looked up from her spot on the couch and smiled when she saw him across the room. He had rolled up the sleeves of his casual blue button up, and bare feet were sticking out from his dark jeans. “Everything OK?” she asked.

He strode over to where she sat and plucked her reading from her hands. Leaning down he planted a gentle kiss on her upturned lips. “Much better now,” he whispered. He looked down at her with a steady gaze.

“Can you get us each a glass of wine?”

“Of course.” When she smiled and stood to go into the kitchen, he gripped her waist and pulled her close. The kiss he gave her was long and deep, leaving her breathless. For a moment after he released her, she stared, dumbfounded.

“Wine, pet,” he said evenly.

“Right, yes, wine, coming right up, Sir,” she stammered and turned for the kitchen. When she returned with two glasses, he had settled on the couch. She handed him a glass and sat next to him.

“Wrong spot,” he said, sipping the wine she offered. She looked at him in surprise. Where did he want her? “Wrong spot,” he repeated. This time he glanced at the floor and back at her with a raised eyebrow. Realization dawned, and she formed an ‘O’ with her mouth. He looked at the floor again, expectation in his eyes as he took another sip of wine.

Feeling shy, and more than a little awkward, she stood, set her wine glass on the coffee table and lowered herself to the floor, kneeling to face him. He stroked her hair and smiled. “You can get comfortable. I thought we would watch a movie.” She turned, unfolding herself from the kneeling position and leaned against his leg. He stroked her hair and picked up the remote from the table beside him. “What would you like to watch baby?”

“Um. Uh,” she stammered, thrown off by his question. He laughed and grasped her hair at the base of her neck, using it to direct her head so she was looking up at him.

“You’re still nervous.” She nodded. “Nothing to worry about baby. We’re easing our way into this, getting into a different frame of mind. So, what would you like to watch?” She leaned into the hand still fisted in her hair and closed her eyes, willing the butterflies in her stomach to calm. This was not anything extreme compared to what she had done with others in the past. She could, and would, get into the right frame of mind kneeling at his feet.

He did not release her hair as he waited for her to answer his question. Taking a deep breath, she spoke with confidence. “Something with lots of explosions.”

Laughter shook him, and amusement lit his eyes as he let her hair fall from his fingers. “I didn’t take you for the Michael Bay type.”

“Are you kidding? Bad Boys is the best movie ever!” she said with a grin.

“I can see we have different definitions of the word best.” Darci relaxed further as he flipped through the Netflix catalog looking for an explosive movie. They settled on‘London Has Fallen.’She bounced on her heels and clapped her hands as the opening credits began.

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