Free Sweet the Sin by Claire Kent Page B

banished the final symptoms of her concussion.
    There was a high wall surrounding the whole estate, and—as she approached it—she noticed the iron gate that led to the road.
    It wasn’t open, but it wouldn’t be very hard to get beyond it, if she were coming from inside and not from outside. She studied it idly, thinking through what she would do tonight, until a man—obviously security—stepped out into the open between her position and the gate.
    He didn’t say anything, but his presence there was meaningful. Obviously he’d been told that she wasn’t supposed to leave.
    But surely even Caleb wouldn’t dare to keep her here as a prisoner.
    —
    She took a short nap in the middle of the afternoon, knowing it would be wise to catch up on her sleep, since she wouldn’t be doing much of that tonight. At about five thirty, she took her towel and the bathrobe she’d been offered up to Caleb’s master bathroom.
    It wasn’t as if she were really in the mood for a long, luxurious bath. She was getting edgier by the minute, thinking about what would happen when Caleb returned from work. But he’d offered, and it was a good idea to accept the invitation.
    She was tempted to snoop in his bedroom, but it was far too early to try something so risky.
    Instead, she went into the huge bathroom, shut the door, took off her clothes, and drew herself a hot bath.
    After dumping some of the bath salts she found into the enormous tub—the salts appeared to have never been opened, so she assumed Caleb wasn’t in the habit of taking baths himself—Kelly turned on the jets. She lowered herself into the water and shuddered in automatic pleasure.
    Caleb hadn’t been lying about how powerful they were.
    It was a very good bath, and Kelly soaked for a long time, closing her eyes and doing her best to release the tension in her body.
    She wasn’t able to relax mentally, but—to do what had to be done—she needed to at least take the physical edge off. So the bath was a good idea for more reasons than one.
    Eventually, she started draining the water. Caleb would be home soon, and she didn’t want to be here when he returned.
    That might look too obvious, like she was throwing herself at him. With a man like Caleb, subtlety would be important.
    After toweling off, however, she slathered some scented lotion on her skin. Hopefully, Caleb would get home soon enough for the fragrance to still be lingering.
    She pulled on the thick, white bathrobe and gathered up her clothes. On the spur of the moment, she dropped the tennis bracelet she’d been wearing between the tub and the potted plant.
    There was nothing blatantly sexual about the bracelet. It was just intimate, and hopefully Caleb would find it in his bathroom sometime this evening.
    Her panties would be better, but she couldn’t get away with accidentally forgetting about those.
    She returned to her room and kept her bathrobe on so she could wait until Caleb returned from work. She’d timed out the trip from his office, estimating how long it would take for him to get through rush hour traffic. Surely he’d be home soon.
    She waited. And waited. And waited even more.
    The housekeeper came in to offer her dinner, which she ate in her room, brewing with a growing resentment.
    Thoughtless ass. Working all evening when he must know she was expecting him to return.
    Some gallant host he was.
    Finally, she was so annoyed by his non-appearance that she changed into her clothes, grabbed her phone, and called a cab to come pick her up after she’d figured out the address to give them.
    If she were really here under the circumstances she was feigning, she might do the same thing. After all, she was better now, and there was no reason for her to hang around here all evening, when Caleb failed to contact her or make an appearance.
    She’d reached the entrance and was about to demand the guard let her out when the gates opened and Caleb’s car drove through.
    He stopped when he saw her