Free Shades of Pleasure: Five Stories of Domination and Submission by Tawny Taylor Page A

noticed how serious his expression
was. How focused he seemed to be. “That’s nice of you, but like I said last
night, there’s nothing you can do. I’m screwed.”
    He pushed his fingers through his hair. “I’ve been thinking
about this all night.”
    “Me too.”
    Their gazes met, and she swore sparks were flying through
the air.
    Insanity. To be reacting this way when she was facing such a
totally devastating threat to everything she cared about. It took her a few
seconds to summon the strength to untangle her gaze from his, but she did. Went
back to staring down at the countertop. And her thoughts took a swerve back in
the right direction—toward the important stuff.
    If only there was a simple answer. But if life had taught
her anything, it had taught her that simple answers usually led to lots of
complications in the future.
    There was a loooong stretch of uncomfortable silence.
Finally, Kyler said, “Okay, this is the deal. You’re going to…” He sighed.
“Dammit.”
    She looked at him. He was obviously struggling with this,
and for that she felt sorry for him. Here he was, trying to deal with an
asshole, while doing his best to keep her out of things. He was a nice guy. A
nice guy who didn’t deserve the shit he’d been dished.
    Life was so unfair sometimes.
    She’d lost the bet. He’d won. Fairly and squarely. But that
didn’t stop her from wanting him to tell her to just leave, go to work, do what
she’d planned, and he’d deal with the fallout when the time came.
    The insane part of her didn’t want to go anywhere.
    He sighed for the bazillionth time. “You’re going to stay
here, and I’m going to handle whatever happens.”
    She wanted to believe he could do just that—take care of
everything. Make all her problems go away. Just like she wanted to believe he
wouldn’t totally freak out if she told him exactly what dirt Becker had on her.
    Maybe he’d believe it was a lie? Made up?
    No, probably not.
    She should just come clean. After all, he was bound to learn
the truth soon enough. All the board members and vice presidents would know by
lunchtime Monday. Wouldn’t it be better to tell him now? Prepare him?
    Oh God, she felt sick. She swiveled the stool, facing him.
Took several deep breaths. Then a few more. “Okay. I’ll tell you.”
    “Okay. Good.” He didn’t smile. He just sat there, looking at
her expectantly, patiently waiting for her to untie the knot from her tongue.
    God, this was hard. Where to start? She couldn’t look at him
as she spoke. “This goes back a few years. My parents died. It was one of those
freakish things that never should’ve happened but did.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    She believed him. “Thanks.” Still not sure she could do
this, actually confess to a crime that might land her in jail for years, she
took a few more deep breaths. “This is hard to talk about. I haven’t told
anyone, since what I did was against the law. But, well… I didn’t have any
choice. My brother and I were sent to live with an older cousin and
well…she…something happened to her too…and I knew my brother would end up
getting sent—”
    The phone rang, interrupting the explanation she was trying
so hard to get out. She was both glad and annoyed.
    Kyler glanced at the caller ID screen on the phone’s back.
“Shit. I need to take this. Hang on.”
    He hit the button. “Hey. Give me a second,” he said to the
caller. To Elena, he said, “I’ll be back in a minute.” Then he left the room.
    Oh. My. God. What am I thinking?
    She had just about told Kyler her darkest secret, a man she
was not only really attracted to but also a vice president at her work. Had she
lost her mind? She wasn’t telling him another word. She’d nearly made one of
the biggest mistakes of her life.
    Saved by the phone.
    She needed to get out of there, before she did something
she’d really regret.
    She hurried upstairs to her room, found her purse, dug out
her cell phone, and flipped