Duplicity Read Online Free PDF Page B

he never failed to point out, he had to recoup
sometime. As a result, in between trysts, there was conversation and this
somewhat surreal affinity between them.
    He lifted his head, tracing her lip with the tip of his finger.
“You’ve got that look on your face. You’re worried about something.”
    “Not worried,” she said. Worried was not the right word.
    “Then?”
    She shrugged. “I think I have too much fun with you.”
    His eyebrows knitted together, but his lips lifted at the corner.
“This is a bad thing?”
    “Seems like cheating, doesn’t it?”
    He folded his arms, resting one elbow across her body and the
other on his pillows. “It’s all about job performance. There’s nothing wrong
with having a little fun at work if you’re fulfilling all your duties.” His
grin was impish. “We’re friends.”
    “We are?”
    “Sure.”
    She raised an eyebrow. “Is it typical for you to pay your friends
for sex?”
    As though he’d been anticipating that question, he had an answer
ready. “Not for sex but other services. What do you pay your friends to do?”
    “I can’t say I pay my friends for anything.”
    “Well, I do. My friend Angelique? She’s
an excellent massage therapist. I used to let her practice on me when she was
in training.”
    “How very generous of you.”
    “I do try,” he said with mock gravity. “But I pay her going rate when
I want a massage now. Though every once in a while, she does throw in a free
five-minute shoulder massage.” He gave her an innocent look. “So if you want to
throw me a little freebie, I won’t tell anyone.”
    Rolling her eyes, she sat up, leaning against the headboard. She
patted the bed between her spread legs. “Come here.”
    Trey was, of course, game. He crawled over to her, leaning back
against her chest. She began to massage his shoulders. “On the house,” she
whispered in his ear in a sultry tone. He chuckled.
    “Can I ask you a serious question?” he asked after a few quiet
moments.
    Lilith tensed, her fingers stilling on his neck. She huffed,
continuing her massage. “You’re telling me all the questions you’ve asked me
before weren’t serious, or you’ve just decided to ask permission now?”
    He hummed an acknowledgement but otherwise waited for her answer.
    She grumbled but waved her hand. “Go ahead.”
    Even then he took his time, and she found a smile was playing at
her lips when he moaned in appreciation of her kneading fingers. “You parents,
the one who gave you your demonic name .  . .”
     “What about them?”
    “What did they do? About the man who hurt you, I mean.”
    She paused before she answered. She knew what to say already. Each
and every one of the personas she wore had an in-depth background. They were
everything from the rebelling daughter of rich parents to the sexually
repressed housewife. The poor little schoolgirl had one of the darker pasts
she’d dreamed up. “It was just my father and me. He told me to be quiet and not
to make a scene,” she said as if it didn’t matter. And really, it didn’t. That
hadn’t happened to her.
    “Your father is an asshole.”
    Lilith bristled.
    In actuality, her father was a very sweet man, and she felt
protective even though she knew Trey wasn’t really talking about him. Her head
spun, and she changed up her story. “Well, he was my stepfather. My mother died
when I was young, and he just got stuck with me.” She squirmed, realizing her
lie was part truth. That was closer to reality than she was comfortable with.
    Trey was quiet, gathering his thoughts no doubt. When he spoke
again, his voice was more lighthearted, teasing. “That’s a little cliché, isn’t
it?”
    “How’s that?”
    “No positive female influence in your life. Some would say that’s
why you choose to do what you do.”
    She snorted. She was familiar with this one, too. “Ah, yes. No one
was there to teach me how to respect my body.” She became a little rougher