and he tugged at that as well. She tried to shift away but couldn’t.
“Mmm.” He dipped his head and sucked in a rosy crest, nibbled then let it go with a pop. “Now stop talking or I will have to punish you.”
She bit her lip to hold back her cries, her resistance, her pleasure. She sat in silence as the butler toyed with her nipples and clit. He fished around in a pocket and brought out a small, stiff bristle brush. She couldn’t hold back her cry as he dragged it slowly over one nipple and then the other.
As she threw back her head, she made eye contact with the driver through the rear-view mirror. Mortification washed through her but with it a strange, sweet pleasure.
Her voice was garbled as she cried out. An orgasm hovered close. If only he would touch her there . She yanked at her restraints in frustration.
The butler chuckled. “Patience, little slave. This is nothing compared to what your Master has in store for you.”
Tess shuddered. Hearing Jared referred to as her Master made her go limp.
“We’re almost there.”
Tess jumped at the driver’s low, scratchy voice. Passion thrummed through her. Almost there.
“Almost there?” The butler sighed. “I’ve barely begun.” He plucked at an aching nipple. “Once more around the block.”
Her heart lurched. Dear God, no!
The driver, there in the shadows, quirked a brow. “Sir?” A dark rumble, oddly comforting. It reminded Tess she wasn’t utterly alone. With him .
“Once more around the block,” the butler snapped, impatient.
As soon as the car sped up, he resumed teasing but now with a frenetic energy spurred by the knowledge he was almost out of time. He lashed her with a vicious tongue, pinched and slapped her nipples, making her moan and squirm and dampen the leather seats.
When the car finally screeched to a halt, the driver leaped out and came around to open the door for them. But when the butler finally lifted his head, when he finally helped her awkwardly exit the car, the driver was nowhere to be seen.
Tess couldn’t have been happier. She didn’t want to have to face the man who had witnessed her humiliation.
The butler solicitously closed the lapels of her cloak and led her up the stairs to the double-doored entrance of an elegant brownstone. He raised his hand to knock but before he could, the door flew open.
Jared—delicious, disheveled, discomfited Jared—stood there breathing heavily. He raked his fingers through his hair. “What the hell took you so long?”
The butler offered a sly smirk. “Traffic, Sir.” Impervious to Jared’s glower, he bowed. “Your slave, Sir. As you requested.”
Jared’s gaze swung to Tess and he froze. He drew a wayward strand of hair from her cheek. “Come in,” he murmured. “Not you.” He glared at the butler, who tried to follow.
“Very good, Sir.” Tension crackled between the two men. Jared’s expression was anything but playful. He looked ready to kill. The butler put out his chest and tugged on his waistcoat. “You will receive our bill.”
Jared loomed over the man. “Like you didn’t try to take payment?” He leaned in closer and hissed, “I thought I was clear.”
“Very good, Sir.”
The butler’s aplomb seemed to infuriate him but Jared merely pushed him back off the threshold and slammed the door in his face.
Jared stared at Tess for an eternity. She didn’t move, barely breathed. She couldn’t believe she was here before him. Bound.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.” She wanted to lower her eyes but didn’t.
“I’m sorry about that. Dennison is a prick. I should have…” He trailed off. His Adam’s apple bobbled. And after a moment, “Are you…ready for this?”
“Yes.” A whisper.
“Are you sure?” His body radiated intensity. It was written on his face.
She swallowed. “Yes.”
“If at any time you want to stop, you simply have to say the one word that has no place between us. Do you know what that word is?”
Silently, she