Haunted Read Online Free PDF Page A

say I wanted to be Athena, but you don’t want her either, not really.”
    His smile faded and he studied her so steadily that she felt goose pimples rise on her skin. Just when she was going to turn away, he leaned forward again, that mesmerizing green gaze boring into her own. “You have promise, Amy, and you have spirit. If you really try, and put everything into it instead of trying to get by with half-measures, your fantasy just might come true.”
    “Might?”
    “Domination isn’t about power, Amy,” he murmured. “It’s about wish fulfillment.”
    Amy frowned, because she didn’t understand.
    “It’s about knowing what your sub wants,” Rex whispered. He reached out and touched her cheek, then let his finger trail down her neck. “It’s about fulfilling fantasies and making secret dreams come true.” He drew a circle in the curve of her collarbone, his touch sending tingles through her, then let his fingers ease down to slide over her nipple. His nail slid over the taut peak, making Amy gasp. “It’s about giving someone what they really want, even before they know to ask for it.”
    Amy was ready to beg for Rex to show her how it was done. They sat in silence, gazes locked, his hand on her breast and her pulse leaping. There enough electricity in the air between them to light London for a weekend, and Amy didn’t want the moment to end.
    At least, she only wanted it to end one way. She licked her lips and Rex’s eyes brightened. He started to say something and she leaned toward him…
    The front door to the house slammed and they both jumped. The sound of Athena speaking to Rick carried into the office and Amy knew it would only be a moment before the woman strode into the room, all drama and affection for Rex. Rex turned back to his laptop and Amy heaved an audible sigh, not caring if he heard it. He made no indication that he had.
    She eyed the file in her hands.
    The romance of having secret wishes fulfilled.
    A chance to do it over.
    A reunion with the dead.
    Then she had an idea. Windswept Island, one property of The Phoenix, was a Victorian fantasy island. Hadn’t the Victorians and the Edwardians been crazy for séances and mediums? Could she use technology to make a séance even more real?
    The idea was exciting. She would need an actor and some effects…
    “You look like you have an idea,” Rex mused. He was doing that thing of pretending to be indifferent, but Amy saw the flicker of interest in his eyes.
    “A séance. An illusion.” Amy flicked through the file, reading the application again, then looked up at Rex. “If I had a computer, I could Google her to get more helpful details.”
    She knew it was crazy to hope he’d hand her his laptop.
    “You could,” Rex said without looking up. “Discipline comes in many forms, Amy.” He gestured her toward the huge filing cabinet that filled the opposite wall. “Have at it,” he said, that thread of amusement in his tone.
    Paper!
    “Are they sorted at all?”
    “Alphabetical by surname,” Rex said. “Paid and booked in the bottom drawer. Fulfilled are filed in my desk drawer. The rest are all open for fulfillment.”
    Amy slid open the top drawer and her heart sank at the hundreds of file folders jammed into that one drawer.
    “Lucky for you, we’re just getting started,” Rex said and smiled.
    He was loving this. Discipline in many forms, hmm? More like punishment, with barbaric technology. Amy gritted her teeth and started to search manually through the applications. She might as well read them all, just in case one of them gave her a better idea.
    She supposed the upside was that however long this took, she’d get to stay at the Phoenix for the duration. She looked through her lashes at Rex, realized he was watching her but pretending not to. She flicked her hair over her shoulder, bit her lip and stood on her toes to reach into the top drawer.
    Maybe she could tempt him to take her in hand himself.
    “I don’t suppose