Free Boss: Complete Box Set: A Mob BDSM Romance by Rae Lynn Blaise

re-cross my legs, feeling restless and needy.
    “You need to get it in before you move. One last hurrah before being a real, responsible adult for the rest of your days.”
    I couldn’t.
    Could I?

Volume Two

1
    I ’m not a submissive anymore .
    I was only once and only for one man, but that was a long time ago and not something I plan to reprise. I’m afraid to look at Brent because it seems he’s already peeked deep into my soul. It’s like he knows how easily I remember the satisfaction, the connection, and the pleasure that comes from submitting to a skillful master.
    Maybe that’s not even what he’s proposing here. Maybe he’s just exploring kink without any real commitment to the lifestyle.
    I hope that’s it. Even as my body responds with fluttered excitement at the toys displayed before me, I know I’m not about give Brent my submission.
    He’s my boss. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times I remind myself of that. The real sticking point is that he’s someone from my past I don’t completely trust. How could I ever trust a man who works with Georgios?
    And how could I ever submit to someone I couldn’t trust? No. I can’t give him what he wants.
    Brent closes the lid, but the image stays with me. I drop my eyes as he stares at me because I know he’s waiting for my reaction, but I haven’t decided which one to give him yet.
    “Say something, Erica.”
    It’s a test, his first command. I process that, even though it’s just a question. I know I have to answer him, so I let my gut rule.
    “No.” The word pops out of my mouth and it feels right. It took some stubborn resolve, but I’ve learned to go with my gut instinct over the years, versus listening to my heart. Working for Georgios required that I always say yes, even when my whole being was begging to stop.
    And the last man I put myself in this position for—well, he liked it when I begged him to stop. And he never, ever did.
    Yet, I’m so ridiculously turned on right now that my heart is having a fit. It wants me to drop to my knees and hang my head and wait to see what he’ll do next. But that isn’t an option here.
    “No, I don’t agree to these terms.” I force the words out before I lose my nerve. A flicker of nervousness bounces in my gut. He’s got the upper hand here. I know he won’t hurt me without my permission—he wouldn’t have asked my consent for sex earlier if that was the case. But he can hold my job over my head, and if he’s still reading my mind, he knows I’m already hooked on the fucking.
    Oh, the fucking.
    This is easy for him because he’s going to use sex as the negotiation tool that it is. Which puts me at a huge disadvantage because I want both, my job and the sex, but at what cost?
    Becoming completely subservient for a man with a past as dark as an oil slick? Losing myself in someone else’s life, again ?
    Brent’s eyes narrow as he cocks his head to one side. “I didn’t hear what you said.”
    What? I’m standing two feet away from him. Suddenly very aware of my nakedness, and his, I cross my arms over my breasts and clear my throat.
    “I said that I don’t agree with your terms.”
    His smile goes cold as he moves past me and walks around my perimeter. I don’t turn around, don’t look, don’t give in to temptation. My skin goes electric, sensing him behind me, though he’s not really close enough to swap body heat. My pulse picks up as he pulls the silence as tight around me as a blanket, but I don’t dare say anything.
    Finally, I hear him stop moving, and I square my shoulders as if he might come at me from behind. I don’t really think he would. But I don’t really know him, either. The fine hairs on the back of my neck are raised in a silent warning.
    “Louder!” He barks the order and I jump.
    My breath gets caught in my throat even as a new flood of desire aches between my legs.
    “I said —“
    “Louder, Ms. Lundgren!”
    Oh, fuck him. He doesn’t get to command