Releasing Kate Read online

“Give in,” he said, “and the stress will disappear.”

  Kate started to stand. He grabbed her forearm, stopping her movement. “Finish your drink and relax,” Michael said as he handed her the glass.”

  She surrendered to his will and sat back down. “If I surrender what are the conditions of my capture?”

  He smiled and the smile lit his eyes like a lighthouse beacon in the fog. “Pleasure,” Michael replied. His hand caressed her arm. “Pleasure like you’ve never known before. I will pamper you, take care of you and pleasure you.” His seductive voice wound through her willpower.

  “And after you’ve conquered? What happens when you tire of me?” Kate asked as she sipped her drink.

  “There are no guarantees,” he replied. “Besides, who knows, you might tire of me first. I can tell you I want more than a one-night stand. I don’t know where our affair will lead.”

  Kate jerked her arm away from him or he let her go. She wasn’t certain which because, as she stood, a wave of dizziness assailed her.

  Michael stood, clasped her around the waist and whispered in her ear, “You are mine. Accept it. We’re going home now.” He helped her out of the club as she fought the dizziness. It wasn’t until they reached the sidewalk that she realized he’d drugged her drink.

  “You bastard!” She tried to get free, knowing it was already too late.

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “I will wait for you to ask. Of course, I will help you make the right decision.”

  Chapter Seven

  Kate woke up in a strange room, in a strange bed—a canopy bed—nude and tied to the bedposts. Just as in the vision she’d had the first time she met Michael, light streamed through the window as she took stock of her situation. The scarves around her extremities were of the softest silk. A sheet covered her. She tugged but the scarves were well tied. She couldn’t get free.

  Michael entered the room before panic overwhelmed her. Kate stopped struggling and asked, “Aren’t drugs cheating?”

  He shrugged, the movement emphasizing his broad shoulders. He sat next to Kate and caressed her body through the sheet. “I’ve never had a woman make a date with another man while I was pursuing her. I got angry that you’d try to find satisfaction with someone else. You belong with me. You want what only I can give you.”

  “If you really believe that then why bother waiting for my surrender? Obviously, it’s a moot point since you have me at such a disadvantage.”

  “True, but if you don’t say the words,” he paused, “and mean them, I won’t take you. It is your choice,” he said as he drew the sheet off, leaving her open to his heated perusal.

  His hands followed his eyes across her body. He used a light touch she could barely feel but her breath caught and her chest tightened with anxiety as she realized just how helpless he’d made her. A slight smile played across his lips as he took his time touching her.

  Kate glared at him. “Enough of the fun and games. I don’t like your idea of sex. Let me go!” She spoke with far more bravery than she felt. She felt helpless and vulnerable, totally under his control, and she was furious. Furious with herself. Moisture gathered in her pussy. She realized she liked being at his mercy. She liked feeling vulnerable. What was wrong with her?

  He paused in the act of gently pinching a nipple. “You know you want me,” he said as he gave a quick twist.

  Her thighs and buttocks tightened. She couldn’t stop the moan that escaped. “Obviously, my body wants you. So let’s have sex and then we can both move on to other things.”

  “No.” He moved a hand lightly over her nipples and another stab of desire shot through her. “I want you to feel to the essence of your being that you belong to me. I don’t want only your body. I want your mind as well. You need to surrender mentally and physically. Just having sex won’t make you mine…entirely mine. Before I’m done, your every thought will be of me and for me.”

  Kate stared at him. His eyes were bright with some kind of inner enjoyment and just a hint of dimples showed. Kate longed to run her hands through his hair. Her fingers wanted to trace his unshaven face. She needed this man but still she fought. “Why?”

  “Because I can. Your ancestry makes it not only possible but desirable.”

  “Enough with the cryptic riddles. What about my ancestry?”

  Michael remained silent. He used his fingertips to circle Kate’s nipples. His gentle touch was driving her crazy. She couldn’t remember ever being this needy.

  Kate’s breath caught as he moved his head between her legs. His fingers spread her wide and his tongue snaked out to lick her clitoris. Kate’s hips jerked. She couldn’t stay still and the fact she could barely move accentuated her need. Michael licked her clit once more before snaking his tongue into her vagina. A quick in-and-out movement that didn’t begin to satisfy her.

  She looked down at his head buried between her legs and she realized just how much power he had over her. She wanted to touch his hair and she couldn’t. She wanted his caresses to continue. She bit her lip so she wouldn’t beg while he continued his assault. She wouldn’t beg but she couldn’t stop her hips from twitching as they tried to get closer to his teasing tongue.

  Michael’s tongue flicked rapidly back and forth across her clit while his fingers dove deep into her vagina. He sucked her clit into his mouth and rolled it against his teeth.

  Kate couldn’t think as Michael continued his intense attack. “More,” she moaned, even as she tried to squirm away from him. The sensations flooding her pelvis were too strong. Too intense. Michael held her tightly and continued his attack.

  Kate felt lightheaded as she tried to gasp for breath. She tried to tell him she couldn’t take anymore but she couldn’t get the words out of her tight throat. Michael moved his fingers in her vagina and she felt something at her anus. Before she could protest, Michael drove a finger inside her rear entrance and Kate screamed as she exploded.

  Her entire body clenched with the power of the orgasm flooding her senses. It seemed to continue forever and when the orgasm released its grip, Kate lay with her eyes closed, too exhausted to protest or move. She’d never felt such a sensory overload. How had he overwhelmed her so quickly?

  She felt Michael move off the bed. She didn’t know he was back until a warm washcloth bathed her face. Michael gently wiped the sweat from her forehead. Kate peeked from under her lashes.

  Michael chuckled. “I know you’re awake.”

  Kate opened her eyes and stared at him. “What did you do to me?”

  “I satisfied you, and from the way you came, I’d say you don’t get satisfied very often.”

  “Untie me.”

  “Kate, that was the barest hint of where I can take you. Don’t you want to explore your sexuality? Don’t you want to see how far you can go?”

  Kate glared at him before shrugging. “Not like this. This is wrong. Your idea of sex is wrong.”

  “Says who?”

  “Says me. Let me go.”

  “You seemed to enjoy it. If you don’t like a little domination, why were you wet? Why did you climax when I hurt you a little? And why does my collection fascinate you?”

  Kate glared at him.

  “I want you, Kate.”

  “Then free me and we’ll make love!”

  “I’ve already told you that straight sex is not my thing. It’s not yours either, though you’re still fighting that idea.” Michael moved away from the bed and paced the room. His forehead creased in a frown. His eyes glittered as if fevered. “The only way I can take you is if you agree to my demands.” He pointed to the statuary in the corner. “I’ll demand your surrender. I’ll demand the right to hurt you. I’ll demand the right to force your submission. You’ll surrender to all my dark fantasies, and make no mistake, my fantasies are very, very dark.”

  Kate lay still. His adamant declaration that they could never have regular sex depressed her. She had trouble accepting that the only sex Michael was interested in involved pain
—her pain. Even more confusing was the fact that his statement caused her pussy to clench with need. She’d just had an explosive orgasm. She couldn’t be aroused again, could she?

  He ran a hand through his hair, leaving it mussed in its wake. “Kate, I want you. I need you. Give me permission.”

  Kate slowly shook her head. “I can’t tell you it is okay to hurt me. I just can’t do that.”

  “Not yet.”

  “Never!”

  “You don’t understand. I can and will convince you to agree to my demands. It doesn’t really require much. A few days, a few weeks. I can destroy your will and your sense of self-preservation. So if you don’t want to go where we are headed, you’d better run, Kate. Run far and run fast.”

  “I want you, Michael. I want sex with you. Regular sex, not this violence you’re describing. Let me go,” Kate demanded while pulling against her restraints.

  Michael continued pacing while he spoke. “Kate, I like hurting women and you, whether you’ll admit it or not, want to be hurt. It completes us in ways normal humans can’t understand. I long ago accepted what I am, as will you. I like seeing arousal in your eyes. Arousal I’ve caused while you’re tied up and helpless, totally dependent upon my will. I wish I liked vanilla sex. Sometimes I wish I were like other men. I wish we could just have sex,” he said as he turned toward her. “Kate, you saw my collection. I won’t be satisfied until I’ve done every one of those things to you. Do you want to be beaten? Do you want nipple clamps so tight you scream with agony? That’s what turns me on. You’ll find that it turns you on too. I will make you my slave and you’ll love that position. You’ll love my toys. You will submit to me and I will put you through hell and you’ll find satisfaction beyond anything you’ve ever imagined.”

  “There’s no way I will ever agree to your demands.”

  “No?” He quirked an eyebrow. “Then why are you so aroused by my descriptions? Why are you wet again? You’re not just fighting me, you’re fighting your biology. It would be easy to overwhelm you but you must want to be overwhelmed. You must want me to take you’ve places you’ve never been.”

  Kate shook her head.

  “You won’t believe me if I just tell you. I’m going to show you. You think you don’t need a man. I’m going to teach you about yourself. I’m going to teach you about the incredible sensations your body can produce when your mind is fully involved, not off on a fantasy. I’m going to teach you that you cannot survive without me,” he stated boldly, walking back to the bed so he could move his hands all over her body. “You’re mine whether you accept it now or not. It will be so easy to overwhelm your body. You are incredibly responsive. I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman as responsive as you,” he murmured. “Your mind will take a little longer. I’ve never pursued a woman with such a strong mind. It is an irresistible combination, both physical and mental strength. You are really quite unique.”

  He took one of her nipples in his mouth, gently licking and sucking. He glanced up and said, “If you’d only stop fighting yourself, stop fighting your desire to surrender entirely and place yourself in my hands, you could find nirvana.” He reached down and placed a finger on her clitoris. He pressed just a little.

  Kate wanted more. She squirmed, trying to increase the contact.

  “Surrender,” he said.

  “No,” she moaned even as she tried to move closer to his finger.

  Michael broke off all contact. He stood and stared down at her. His eyes glittered. “So be it,” he said. He reached over her. His scent filling her lungs as he untied her hands. He moved to the foot of the bed and freed her ankles then he moved back against the door and crossed his arms. “Get dressed.”

  Angered by his seeming indifference, Kate said, “Yes, master.”

  “Don’t call me master. The bondage and domination scene is a travesty of my powers. I don’t need a fake title to be your master.”

  Kate wanted to make him stand outside while she got dressed but she decided she’d pushed him far enough. She would be lucky to escape. Making demands would not improve his mood.

  “Surrender and everything will be much clearer. Your ancestry will see to that.”

  “I still don’t understand what my ancestry has got to do with us.”

  “Give me five minutes and I’ll prove your ancestry.”

  Kate finished putting on her shoes. “No, I don’t think I can do that.”

  “Not yet,” said Michael. Opening the bedroom door, he waited for Kate to exit.

  Ignoring him, she picked up her coat and purse and walked out of the bedroom.

  He grabbed her arm and swung her around. “Why are you so afraid of my challenge?”

  “I don’t want your kind of sex.”

  “You want me. You will surrender eventually,” he countered.

  “Damn you!” Kate swore.

  “Shhh,” he murmured. “You know it isn’t me you’re fighting, it is yourself.”

  Kate glared at him then twisted free of his grip. She turned and found herself at the head of a stairway. Sighing, she started down, feeling a little wobbly. Michael moved close to her side and took her elbow. It didn’t matter that he’d caused her captivity. His strength was intoxicating. She wanted to protest when he led her to his collection room but she didn’t.

  “One more viewing,” whispered Michael into her ear. He moved her in front of the first glass case. She nearly fainted with need. The objects should have horrified her and some of them did but she couldn’t ignore the arousal she felt when she saw or thought about them. She glanced up to find Michael’s eyes on her.

  His arms closed around her and he pulled her back against his chest. She fought her rising need. He challenged her on every level and she wasn’t sure she wanted the challenge despite the fact she wanted him.

  “These positions allow you to turn your mind off. The woman becomes totally focused on her body and the sensations coursing through it.”

  “I’ve never turned my mind off during sex.”

  “Liar. You just did upstairs. You weren’t thinking when you climaxed.”

  Kate closed her eyes as a thrill anticipation raced through her. She knew on some level that she could trust him. She still hesitated. She’d never freely surrendered the way he demanded.

  “If I let you dominate me, then who am I?”

  “You are Eve,” he replied. “It works both ways, you know. You control me every bit as much as I control you.”

  “I’m afraid.”

  “Of what, specifically, are you afraid? Do you fear me? Fear harm?”

  “Nooo,” she reluctantly admitted. “I think I’ll lose me in you.”

  “More like I’ll lose me in you,” he countered.

  Sadly, reluctantly, she shook her head. “I’m leaving,” she stated. “War devastates the land it’s fought on and your war is fought on my body and in my mind. I can’t afford to lose either. You’ve occupied my body, I won’t deny my arousal, but I simply can’t surrender to you. Not the way you want.”

  Her anger flared when he laughed.

  “You remain untouched.” She spit out the words. “I’ll bet if I talked to prior lovers, I’d find they needed years to pull themselves back together. Always thinking you really cared about them as people, rather than realizing they were simply fodder for your ego.”

  He smiled, a chilling smile that lit his eyes with amber fire. “You are worthy,” he murmured. “No other woman has noticed that my interest might wane with capture. They thought I would always care. Tell me why my interest waned,” he commanded.

  Kate liked that he asked the question. That he paid attention. “Obviously, the chase mattered. Winning the goal finished the game.”

  He moved closer and gently caressed her face, scattering her thoughts.

  “You and I will never be finished,” he stated, still smiling. “You want to feel my power because my power gives you the ability to give up all control, to feel things you’ve never felt before.�
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  Kate stepped away from him and he let her go. She turned and walked to the entryway. Her hand hesitated on the doorknob. She rested her forehead against the door. Damn he’s right. She did want to lose this battle. Yet she straightened, turned the handle and started to open the door.

  He moved so swiftly she didn’t hear him coming. He slapped a palm against the door, closing it at the same time he pressed against her back while his other arm finished her imprisonment.

  How the hell did he know she wanted to be stopped? In her experience, men just weren’t that intuitive. They rarely understood the subtle variations encompassed in the two letters of the word no.

  “We’re not done yet,” he whispered into her ear as his tongue played counterpoint.

  “You’ll destroy me,” Kate said before she groaned. Shivers ran down her spine. Rational thought drowned in the face of his attention. She trembled, chilled and excited by the horror of his occupation. If he continued, there’d be nothing left of her.

  “Will I?” he countered. “Somehow I think you are not so easily destroyed. I simply want to take you places you’ve left unexplored,” he seduced.

  “Nothing is simple with you,” Kate said, a bite in her voice.

  Suddenly he moved away from her. “Leave! I’ll call a taxi. Go!” he said when she hesitated. He waved a hand. “Wait outside!”

  Kate turned, startled by his actions and cold words. Her heart, body and mind in turmoil. She wanted him, yet was frightened by the intensity of her need.

  They stared at each other. His eyes no longer smiled. Instead, something dark moved beneath the surface. Kate feared him in that instant. He meant to own her and part of her admitted he had the power to do it. Her eyes filled with a touch of regret as she turned and left.

  She struggled with herself as she waited for the taxi, staring blindly at the well-manicured lawn. His form of sex was about power but it simply wasn’t black and white. Instead his plans encompassed an infinite multitude of shades of gray.

  Was the presence of pain alone enough to constitute abuse? Was it abuse if she agreed? If she gave Michael permission to hurt her? Kate’s thoughts tangled, circling in her mind in an infinite loop without escape.