“I’m sorry,” I say in a breathy voice. It’s a drunken concoction that takes over. I’d let him do anything he’d like to me. Hell, after what he’s done, I’m barely capable of breathing.
He pauses. “Does that apology appear sincere to you?”
I realize after a beat that he’s asking the other man in the room, not me.
“I would say, given the state she’s in, it’s a genuine apology.”
Declan’s hand presses down on my skin. “Thank Nate for sparing you of your first punishment, my little pet.”
Nate? I don’t know the other person in the room after all. Thank fuck for that.
“Thank you,” I utter and it comes out just above a whisper.
“I think she’ll be my good girl,” he comments while lowering the tip of his nose to my shoulder. He leaves an openmouthed kiss there on my bare skin and a shudder of desire runs through me. “She’ll learn to do better.”
“I’m sure she will,” our guest, Nate, comments.
By the time he’s finished talking, I can feel Declan’s breath on my neck, and on my cheek. His face comes close to mine. He kisses me and another shock moves through me. It’s tender. Sweet. Soft. Nothing at all like he’s been.
“Is she a new toy?” Nate asks.
Declan murmurs a hum in response.
The first sign that Nate’s standing is the protest of the chair behind me. The next is the scrape of his shoe against the hardwood floor. I feel Nate get closer. His footsteps move in, and the air shifts. My heartbeat picks up again.
“Mind if I touch?” he questions, his voice above me. There’s no doubt he could see all of me if only he dared to move two feet.
The possessiveness is unexpected in Declan’s answer. As is the manner in which I revel in it. “Only if you want me to cut off your fucking hand. I don’t share my toys.” Declan opens a drawer in his desk, and a moment later I feel something soft between my legs. He cleans me up with the same gentle movements he used to kiss me. Who is this man? My mind can’t take him in. Staying as still as I can, I swallow down my racing thoughts and watch Declan.
“Come,” he says, but his hands show me what to do. Declan takes me into his lap and I settle into him, carefully covering myself and nestling into his lap. He wraps a black blanket around me and holds me close. With my eyes closed, I bury my head in the crook of his neck. His stubble is rough against my skin, but I take shelter in him.
Nate clears his throat. He says something about a man and train tracks. I can’t pay attention to it. The softness of the blanket is too overwhelming, and underneath it is Declan’s hard body. As he carries on the conversation, the deep rumble of his words vibrating through me, Declan runs his hand up and down my arm.
“Are you sure she’s not undercover?” My eyes open wide in shock at that one, my body going stiff and I’m certain Declan notices it.
“She’s not undercover,” Declan tells Nate dismissively. “I’ve gone through her file. Just a pretty little pet.” He looks down at me. “Aren’t you?”
I lift my face to look into his eyes. “Like a cop? I’m not a cop.” It makes me nervous to hear him even suggest it. But for once Declan’s eyes are kind.
“Tell me what you are.”
“What?”
“What exactly are you doing here and don’t make me ask you again. What. Are. You. To. Me?”
“Your fuck toy, Declan.” I barely breathe after saying the words.
“That’s right. That’s all you are, isn’t it?” The kindness in his eyes turns to desire. Nate coughs, and that same cold expression returns to his eyes. He’s pissed. “Get out, Nate.”
My body refuses to move a muscle as the man leaves. My gaze stays on Declan’s although he doesn’t look back. Not until the door has shut.
“You’re hard to read tonight,” he comments. “Do you like it when others watch?”
I don’t know what to say to that. I came on his desk while another man was watching in the room.
“If you don’t know,” Declan continues, “that is an appropriate answer. Nate can be intimidating, and sometimes it’s about who is watching.” I shake my head. I don’t know. I don’t know if it was someone else in the room, or just Declan. Just the fact that he wanted me. “What did you hear of our conversation?”
“Nothing.”
He toys with my bottom lip. “Did you miss the part where I told you all you are is my pretty little pet?”
“Don’t—” Licking my lips, I hesitate but then summon the courage to speak. I bring up all the knowledge I have about arrangements like this between people. “Don’t pets get a safe word?”