Page 21 of A Secret and a Lie
I level him with a flat look that takes more effort than it should asI’msuddenly the one feeling as though they’re topping from the bottom. “You’re not. You’re a Dom.”
“How do you know?”
“Experience.” My tone is bored, my patience beginning to wane.
He changes tactics yet again. I suspect that he’s good at his job; negotiating deals, ensuring that he signs favorable contracts. “I paid the price—theentireprice. I want in.”
I shift, unfolding my legs and spreading them. Leaning forward,with my elbows on my knees, I mimic his power pose from earlier. I watch as his gaze dips to my cleavage and the top of my embroidered leather bustier peeking out from beneath my sheer black blouse, before flicking back to my eyes.
Smirking internally, I keep my face impassive as I grind out, “Fine.” Lips pursed, I explain, “I’ll set you up with one of my girls.”
Without missing a goddamn beat, he says, “On one condition.” He smirks then, his dimple popping, the expression a death sentence for my panties. “You teach me how to be a Dom.”
Ford
Idon’t know how I expected things to go tonight, but it sure as fucking shit wasn’t like this. Masking my increasing panic, I take a sip of the Godfather she made me, which is surprisingly good, if a little sweet.
Of all the women, why did it have to beher? The one woman on planet fucking Earth I feel drawn to, one I might actually like, and she’s my motherfuckingassignment.
“No,” she says, her blonde hair—softly curled today—swishing around the column of her neck. Her voice brooks zero argument, and I wonder briefly what it would look like to see her dominate someone, to see someone on their knees, fully submitting to her.
That’ll never be me, though. She’s right. I never could’ve truly submitted to her, not even for an assignment. I couldn’t even pretend. I’m not a good enough actor to have passed that off as truth.
Fuck, Jackson really,reallyshould’ve chosen a different agent. I was a poor selection if they knew Madam Allison preferred to dominate.
Not only that, but I’ve already blown my goddamn cover. While this isn’t the first time that’s happened to me, it’s never happened this early in an op. Jackson is going to get an earful from me tonight.Asshole.
“I don’t give lessons,” she adds, settling back, draping an armalong the back of the couch as she takes a sip, the picture of calm confidence. She really is a sight to behold.
Seeing her in her element, I know why the government wants to take her down. She exudes power from every inch of her body, and the sight alone would have someone on their knees, begging her for just a moment of her time, no matter the cost.
The corner of my lips lifts, signaling that I’m gearing up to negotiate her to fucking death. Holding her attention for another moment, I give her my besttry mecountenance, praying I won’t actually have to open my mouth at all. I’m bluffing here. I don’t have an ace up my sleeve, but Ineedher to agree to this.
I shouldn’t be here. I wish I’d told the FBI to fuck themselves. I should’ve run the fuck away from this assignment.I still can, the angel on my shoulder urges, while the devil whispers,and let someone else touch this beguiling creature? I think not.
Fuck, I’m already pussy-whipped and I haven’t even touched her.
When she had me on my knees for her, telling me to “use my words” and that I was “topping from the bottom,” my fingers twitched to palm her ass until it was red and white-hot to the touch.
What the hell is wrong with me?This is not good.
Relief floods my system as she sighs, glancing away from me. “There will be rules—additional rules—and you’ll be required to pay for the submissive’s time, as well as mine.”
My lips curl in delighted triumph. “We have ourselves a deal,Genevieve.”
She sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose.
“Do you have a preference for a female or male sub?” she asks less than five minutes later, stepping into the elevator next to me.
“I’d prefer that it be you,” I answer without thinking, leaning against the back wall. Maybe I shouldn’t have admitted that, but it’s the most truthful statement I’ve made since I saw her tonight.
There’s clearly a reason why she won’t let me dominate her. Maybe it’s a safety precaution, but something tells me there’s more to it, and I intend to get to the bottom of that.
Her elegant hands slip into the pockets of her trousers easily, and she stares at the chrome doors, her face not giving away a single thing. Her next words are like a dagger flying through the air, suspended briefly before finding its target: in this case, my chest. “We can’t always get what we want, Superman.”
Most peoplecan’talways get what they want, but I’m Ford fucking Crawford. Iwillget what I want. And right now, what I want most in this world is her.
“My goddamn cover’s been blown,” I bite out into the burner phone the moment I step into my apartment.“Again.”
