Free Mine Until Morning by Jasmine Haynes

walk down?”
    They were on the twentieth floor. She held on to his arm, as much for balance as a need for connection, and removed the high heels. “Yes, I can walk.”
    The concrete was cold against her soles.
    He took her hand, leading her, holding her in case she fell. There was a whole lot of metaphor in that.
    Would Kern really mind? He’d watched her so many times, gotten off on it. This was just sex, even if it was spectacular and with Mac. She’d actually done more with Spryo. Sucked his cock, fucked him for longer. But she hadn’t gotten this feeling from Spryo. Hadn’t felt it until Mac looked at her, touched her, wanted her. The same emotion had flowed between Spryo and Jessica. Dani had wanted it for herself, with Mac.
    She held tight to his hand as if she’d tumble headlong down the stairs without him.
    Kern couldn’t mind because Kern was dead. She was on her own and doing the best she could.
    “You okay?” Mac asked as they hit the tenth floor.
    “I’m fine.”
    “You’re quiet.”
    “Just tired.”
    He wrapped an arm around her, hugged her close a moment. “I’ll have you home in no time.” Then he took her hand once more, continuing on. His consideration felt so . . . nice. So comfortable. She could start to need it. The main-level door let them out into the lobby, the ladies’ room just by the elevators.
    53

    The Only Way Out
    She slipped on her shoes, then he held her fingers to his mouth, gazed at her over them, a smile playing on his lips. “Powder your nose. I’ll be here waiting.”
    Again, it felt like a metaphor for something more. It might actually be her own wishful thinking. Which was a very scary thought. If she’d thought she’d lost her independence to Kern, how would it be with Mac? The man who didn’t take no for answer, who’d dictated to the Stamoses exactly how the evening would go. Come to think of it, Mac had even dictated to Isabel. No. What they’d done was good. Great. But it was just sex. With that thought, she pulled the ladies’ room door closed behind her. The night was over; now he was just her chauffeur.

    DESPITE THE LATE HOUR, THE LOBBY BORDERED ON BEDLAM. CONVERSATION and laughter spilled from the bar filled with out-of-town conventioneers. Loud groups queued for taxis and waited outside the hotel restaurant.
    The moment the restroom door closed, Mac turned to the wall and pulled the envelope from his jacket pocket. He did not count how much money Spryo had given her; he simply pulled a wad from his wallet and added that to it. When he’d arranged the date, Isabel had said they didn’t talk money, per se, though there was a threshold expectation she communicated to the client. If a courtesan felt underappreciated after the fact—he’d almost laughed when she’d used that euphemism—the client was not matched with her again. Consistent underappreciation and the client was dropped. In other words, a courtesan got stiffed, so to speak, only once. But they also didn’t have an up-front certainty. Dani would never know he’d added to the stack. She wouldn’t take his money. This way, she wouldn’t know it came from him. The debts would be paid down faster. No harm done. He closed his eyes a moment. God, he could see why men paid for her. His body still thrummed. Her scent still enveloped him. He wasn’t done. He needed more. She was not the kind of woman you did once and walked away from. The kicker was the connection, the hours they’d spent together, the things they’d helped each other through. The sex didn’t simply burn hotter, it ran deeper, curling around his mind, his body, his heart. For God’s sake, he could still feel the heat of her hand on his arm as she’d balanced herself to put her shoes back on.
    54
    The Only Way Out
    On the stairs, he’d lost himself inside her, and that had never happened before. Sure, it was the heat of the moment, the hot fucking with Stamos and his wife, need driving him. But it was also Dani. A woman