Suburban Dominants #4

Kyle_200Re-release date: November 1, 2016
(A new, re-edited version)
Genre: Contemporary BDSM, some menage
Length: Novel
Order from: Amazon (Kindle)   B&N (Nook)    iTunes    Kobo
Scroll down to read an excerpt
Original Release date: May 22, 2009 (Ellora’s Cave)

Blurb: In a desperate attempt to save the small strip shopping center that houses her bookstore, Meg Travis tries to blackmail developer Kyle Harrison into going with her to talk to the people his project is about to displace. He offers her a bargain.  He’ll give her two hours of his time if she’ll agree to spend a night with him in his bed, and he won’t press charges if she’ll accept the punishment he proposes. He refuses to tell her what that penalty would be. Both honor their promises, but neither is prepared for the attraction that blazes between them in the process, turning duty into joy and punishment into pleasure.

Reviews:

KYLE’S BARGAIN is an erotic romance in which the author Katherine Kingston gives us an in depth look into the world of BDSM.  The roles between dominant and submissive are very clear.  It’s the interaction between all the characters, that I found interesting… On the whole KYLE’S BARGAIN is a good read, the sex is hot with graphic bondage scenes which makes for an interesting story.” —  Gloria Gehres for The Romance Readers’ Connection

Kyle’s Bargain is one of those stories that I simply could not put down. I found it did have a few slow moments but the storyline kept me riveted so that I didn’t mind too much. This story has a host of characters, from Meg’s sister to fellow store owners who helped to move the story along and make it all the more real. Meg’s character is far braver than I would be in her situation which made for an interesting story. I wanted to dislike Kyle from the start but I found that I couldn’t. He is a very nice guy who just happens to have unique tastes. I enjoyed the interaction between these two a great deal… ” — Stefani Clayton, for Just Erotic Romance Reviews

This is a hot story with great characters. Intense sex scenes heat up the story while several sub-plots provide conflict which aren’t easily resolved. Even the most minor of characters are used to utmost perfection to set the scenes and evolve Kyle and Meg’s characters. A recommended scorcher. — Romance Junkies Reviewer: CinLee * Read full review *

Chapter One

Meg Travis pushed against the tide of people leaving the building, working her way into the lobby. No surprise that so many were eager to get out at ten after five on a Friday afternoon. If any of them gave her a glance, they probably figured she’d forgotten something and needed to go back to retrieve it.

She had the elevator car to the fourth floor all to herself. The offices of Ryder & Harrison Development presented a bit more of a challenge. When she tried the main office door, she found they’d already locked it. She lurked in the hall, beside the water fountain, waiting. Her patience was rewarded within a few minutes when someone pushed the R&H door open from the inside. Meg hurried and caught it before it closed again completely. The young woman who’d left was so intent on catching the elevator she never turned around to see Meg.

Meg slid through the opening into an empty reception area. A single voice sounded from an office down the corridor to her left, maybe someone on the phone, but she didn’t see anyone. Kyle Harrison’s office was off to the right. The door stood partially opened, so she stayed close to the wall, sliding along it until she could peer in. The man was in there, working on his computer, his attention tightly focused on the screen.

Dark hair fell forward over his brow, getting more disarranged when he ran a hand through it as he studied the display. His thin, lean face pulled into a slight frown that narrowed the brilliant blue eyes and made his lips press tightly together.

Her heartbeat sped up as she watched him. While that came mostly from fear, some of it was a more personal reaction to the man himself. It infuriated her. Why did someone so handsome and sexy have to be such an asshole as well? And why did his looks affect her at all?  She knew lots of other attractive men who never made her pulse skip a beat.  But every time she saw this man—this infuriating, obstinate, pig-headed man—every time she talked to him, her entire body tensed and her blood sort of bubbled in her veins.

The rhythm of her heart kicked up another notch when he shifted back from the desk and stood up. Meg scooted along the wall until she could duck behind a filing cabinet.  Just in time she squeezed into the shadowy corner it made with the wall.

Kyle Harrison walked out of his office, leaving the door open behind him. He didn’t go out the main door, however, but instead went down the hall to the left. Going to the men’s room, most likely.  Good, she could go with Plan A.

Meg slid back along the wall and through the open door, making it in just as she heard footsteps coming down the corridor. Not Harrison returning, however. The tap of heels on the linoleum sounded different. She held her breath for a moment and prayed whoever it was wouldn’t be coming to see Harrison. The clicking stopped at the main door out to the elevator lobby. Meg let out a long breath as it squeaked open.

She might not have much time, though, so she crossed the room, settled into Kyle Harrison’s desk chair, grabbed the mouse and got to work. She became so engrossed, she didn’t realize the man had returned until a masculine voice asked,  “What are you doing here?”

He stood in the doorway, but stepped into the room, leaving the office door open behind him.

She looked up, trying to keep all surprise off her face. “I’ve called your secretary a dozen or more times in the last few days. She wouldn’t put me through to you. Or even schedule an appointment for me.” Meg couldn’t quite get enough air behind the words to make them sound as calm and normal as she would have liked.

Blue sparks glittered in his narrowed eyes. “You’ve said it all already.”

She shrugged. “Desperate times, desperate measures.”

“No kidding.” He pulled his cell phone from its clip on his belt and pressed a number.

“I wouldn’t,” she said. “At least not until you’ve heard what I have to say.”  A shiver ran up her spine at the hard stare he turned on her.  She rushed on before the second thoughts knocking at her brain crashed through the barrier to her rational mind. “You said once that you’d consider not demolishing the shops if I would sleep with you.” She stared directly at him, challenging him to deny it. “Does that still stand?”

Kyle Harrison’s eyes narrowed even more and his lips pressed into a tight line for a moment before he answered. “It was a joke. Or more like an insult, something to make you go away and leave me alone.”

“I figured.” She shut her eyes for a moment and drew a breath, trying to steady her pounding heart. “But would you honor it if I called you on it?”

He continued to stare at her. Her heart drummed so hard she feared it would break free of her chest. She couldn’t seem to get enough air in her lungs either. She fought for calm. She couldn’t afford to be dizzy or light-headed or blinded by sexual charisma.  Still…

Damn but he was good-looking. A sexy six-foot-one-inch package with dark hair, hints of creases in the cheeks of his narrow face and tiny laugh lines around his eyes, plus broad shoulders, lean hips and long, strong legs. He’d taken off his suit jacket and tie and opened the top two buttons of his dress shirt, baring an intriguing triangle of his upper chest and throat.

He was thinking over her proposal, seriously considering it, which both elated and terrified her.

“You’re offering to sleep with me to get what you want?” he asked.

She sucked in a sharp breath and felt a flush climb up her face as she looked down at her hands. “If that’s what it takes.” She had to force the words out past the constriction in her chest.  Part of her still couldn’t believe she was doing this.

He shook his head. “You know, I understand persistence and determination. I even admire those qualities. I mostly understand using every weapon you’ve got when there’s something you really want.  But this is going too far. No, it wasn’t a real offer.”

Drat. Hell. Meg drew a deep breath and tried to laugh but it came out sounding more like a sob. “I was afraid you might say that. I guess I’ll have to provide more incentive for you to consider it.” She reached out and put her hand back on the cordless mouse on his desk. “I’ve got some experience in working with computers, you know. Right now I’ve got this set to reformat your hard drive. All I have to do is press the button and all the documents on it are history.”

“Shit! You bitch!” He lunged toward her, then thought better of it and stood still.

She looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. “Probably. But a desperate bitch. People’s livelihoods are at stake and you won’t even talk to us about it.”

“We did talk.  Twice, if you include the time you stopped me on the way to my car.  I seem to recall a lot of sob stories and insults.”

“I talked. You didn’t bother to listen.” Honesty forced her to concede, “Okay, I probably didn’t handle things as well as I should have.  I got too emotional about the situation.  I’m not good with words that way.  That’s why I’m hoping to do it differently this time.”

His breath rasped in and out harshly as he forced himself to some semblance of calm. Both of his hands clenched in tight fists. No doubt he wanted to strangle her. He appeared to clamp down on the anger with an effort, as some other reaction or emotion tempered it. An odd sort of speculation crossed his features while he stared at her, leaving her curious about what might have caused it.  It wasn’t a pleasant look, however, and she shivered with fear of what it might portend.

“How do you think you can do it differently?” he asked.

“I’d like to show you a couple of things.”

“Show me?” His brows rose a bit.  He glanced at his watch and shrugged. “Maybe we can reach a compromise,” he offered. “I’ll give you an hour of my time to convince me there’s a good reason not to demolish the strip.  In return you give me six hours of your time, in my bed.”

The sudden accession slammed into her, robbing her of breath.

“You’d… You’d do it?” She wondered if he was kidding or stringing her along somehow. There had to be a catch. “And then you’d call the cops and have me charged with breaking and entering? Or kidnapping?”

“I might. Are you prepared to take a chance on it?”

She closed her eyes for a moment and her breath whispered out on a faint sigh. “I suppose I have to.”

“It’s that important to you?” he asked.

“It is.” She opened her eyes and speared him with her gaze. “I want two hours of your time and you can have more of mine if you want.  As long as you don’t report me to the police.”

He visibly fought back a smile. “You drive a hard bargain, lady.”

She sighed again. “No, I don’t. This is still a bad one for me and we both know it.”

“Okay. Two hours of my time and I get ten hours of yours. Plus I don’t report you to the police as long as you agree to accept a penalty I designate.”

Well, shit.  Here was the catch. “And what would that be?”

He let the smile break through. It sent chills up and down her spine, no doubt exactly the effect he intended. “That’s the rub. You won’t know until later. You’ll have to trust me.”

“Is there any good reason why I should?” Her finger still hovered over the mouse button that would destroy his records.

“Because you want something from me. Want it badly enough to break into my office and bargain with your freedom and your body to get it.”

She hauled in a deep breath. “Point.”

“So?” He stared at her fingers with their neatly trimmed, unpainted nails. “Hey, would you mind moving your hand away from the mouse while you consider?  It’s making me nervous. What happens if you sneeze and accidentally press the button?  Not so much bargaining power left then. And I’d probably strangle you anyway.”

It surprised her that he could actually see some humor in the situation. Drat. That only made him more attractive and she didn’t need to think about that. “Another point.” She moved her hand off the mouse, but let it remain on the desk next to it, so she could still press the button before he could move to stop her.  Worry drove away her amusement. “Do I get my two hours right now?”

“If that’s what you want. I’m not committed for tonight. Do we have a deal?”

“I…” She swallowed hard to clear away the obstruction that made it hard to talk. “I suppose so.”

“Good.”

“I want your promise, your word of honor, whatever you call it, that you’ll give me two hours of your time and you won’t report me to the police or the FBI or whoever afterward.”

Harrison shrugged. “As long as you comply with your part of the bargain, give me your ten hours of time and accept my penalty, I promise you’ll get those two hours and I won’t report you to the authorities.”

It sounded like a reasonably fair deal, though the “penalty” part gave her pause.  It was the best she would get from him. What exactly would he do? An answer struck her but it seemed so ludicrous and far-fetched she couldn’t credit it. Still…something about the gleam in his eyes suggested all sorts of wicked and delicious possibilities. Did he know about her fantasies? The ones she wouldn’t admit to anyone?  He couldn’t. But could he guess? Surely not. Not Mr. Thick-headed, Your-opinions-don’t-matter Kyle Harrison. More likely he’d make her do something unbearably humiliating. Stand out in front of the building with a sandwich board saying “I’m a blackmailer” or something like that. Or perform some sort of service for him, maybe here in the office, sweeping the floors or cleaning the restrooms. Still, that beat going to jail.

Would he do that even after they had a night together in his bed? A night she both dreaded and—weirdly—looked forward to?  She planned to make it memorable. She’d been reading up on ways to please a man and had several ideas for things to try. Some of the things she’d read about had seemed rather gross, and some had made her wonder if it those things were actually possible, but most seemed to present interesting possibilities. Of course it was better if you were with someone you liked and who liked you in return. But maybe sexual attraction could be as good as liking.

“Ahem.” He reminded her that he waited for her answer.

“I’ll comply,” she said at last. “You have my promise on that.” She slid her hand back toward her body, away from the mouse.

“Good.” He drew a deep breath and let it out on a sigh before he walked toward his desk and circled around it.

She stood up to make way for him.

“Give me five minutes to wrap up a couple of things.” He stared at the screen and sucked in a sharp breath when he saw she really did have the reformat utility open on the screen. He leaned over and reached for the mouse, centered it over the “Cancel” option and pressed the button.

An aroma of leather and spice and pure male essence washed over her, making her knees wobble. Meg moved away, heading for a chair beside the desk, but she hadn’t gone more than a couple of steps before he stopped her.

“Come back here.”

She turned and raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to indicate what he wanted.

“How about a kiss to seal the bargain?”

It hit her like a sucker-punch to the gut. She drew in a sharp breath. From the first time she’d seen him she’d wondered what his kiss would be like. Given his attitude toward her, though, she worried it would be brutal or cruel.

“The terms of our agreement include you doing a heck of a lot more than just kissing me,” he pointed out as she hesitated.

The heat rose in her face, but she nodded and moved toward him, taking slow, cautious steps. Three of those brought her to within arm’s reach. When she made no further move, he put his hands on her shoulders and drew her toward him, until her breasts met his chest.

Just that little bit of contact set her pulse pounding. Fear mixed with unwanted attraction made her breath hitch and a shiver rush down her spine.

She looked up into his steel blue eyes. Sparks of desire danced across the hardness there, glittering like moonlight on the ocean. Then his head dipped toward hers and she could no longer focus.  She closed her eyes as his mouth drew closer. Another shiver crawled down her spine and set her trembling.

His arms wrapped her in a firm, muscular grip, fingers splayed on her back, pressing her to him so that her breasts were crushed against his chest. The deep musky fragrance of body spray and man surrounded her. Her thighs touched his and the bulge of his cock pushed into her abdomen. No question he wanted her. That might give her some leverage. Maybe. Fear and anticipation combined into a powerful drug that made her weak and dizzy in his embrace.

No. Meg resisted the urge to lean into him, to sink into his strength and sexual pull. Instead she held herself steady, trying to keep a small gap between them.

Until his lips brushed hers in the gentlest, most delicate of touches. Soft, though it was, it roused odd, almost electric tingles in her skin and sent a rush of heat sizzling along her nerves. Several times he moved his mouth side to side over hers, the softness of his lips nuzzling gently.

Muscles tightened in surprised response to the sweet little shocks his mouth roused. She did lean into him then, eager for more contact. Dear heaven, he was delicious, almost unbearably so.

His lips grew firmer, claiming her mouth and sealing his right to it with increasing pressure. Ragged waves of pleasure spread from the contact, zipping through her blood stream until she felt it in the tips of her fingers and toes. Her heart began thumping a drumbeat of desire in her chest and her breath sped up to fuel it.

He moved to encompass her lower lip, sucking it in and nipping at it with careful use of his teeth. She moaned deep in her throat as sensation tore through her. Heat and pressure built inside, tapping into a deep and too-long bottled up spring of need.

Wrapping her arms around his waist to pull him closer, she parted her lips. He didn’t immediately respond to the invitation, but spent a few moments, raking around the rim of her mouth with his tongue. Needy little pants and groans rolled out of her as the moist heat blasted into her.

Dear God, this was Kyle Harrison—cold, hard as nails, ruthless Kyle Harrison—making her blood boil and her body melt. Who’d have guessed?  At some deep level, her body had known all along. It clenched and spasmed every time she got close to him. She’d attributed the reaction to irritation, but now she realized how much more it was.

His tongue pushed slowly into her mouth, exploring as it entered, running over her teeth, swiping at gums, brushing over her tongue. Heat became a river flowing through her, beginning to pool in her core. She wanted to melt into him, become part of him, find a way to join herself with that hard, male body.

She squeezed against him and met the dance of his tongue in her mouth, stroking it with hers, twining around it. His hands moved lower, to the hem of her sweater and pushed beneath it, brushing up the skin of her back.  Warm fingers rubbed at her spine and up farther, leaving trails of heat in their wake. She could barely breathe and didn’t care.

A sound somewhere in the building, a metallic clunking, probably the air conditioning system turning off, startled them.

When Kyle disengaged, pulling back just as gently as he’d started, her first reaction was to cling and try to keep him close. Good sense kicked in shortly, even though part of her still longed to have him back. She struggled to calm her breath and her heartbeat, drawing in air so she could talk again.

She sighed softly and shook herself.  A blast of anger coursed through her. Anger with him for rousing her so, but even more anger with herself for being so easy to manipulate.  “I guess the deal’s well and truly sealed now?”

“I guess it is.” He drew a deep breath and plopped down in his chair. “Give me five minutes.” She shrugged and settled into the armchair, struggling to show nothing but calm composure. Though he tried to hide it, his fingers trembled on the keyboard as he typed.

While he concentrated his attention on the computer, she watched his profile. Even from the side, strong, clean lines defined his brow, nose, cheekbone and chin, making him an astonishingly attractive man. From a newspaper feature, she knew he was thirty-three years old, but his expressive face could look either older or younger. Straight, thick, dark hair, a very deep shade of brown rather than true black, fell over his forehead. He brushed it back with a strong, long-fingered hand and chewed on his lip as he thought about whatever he typed.

He hit the “Send” button and turned to look her way. His sharply angled dark brows rose when he caught her staring. Meg blushed but refused to look away, so they spent a moment watching each other, their gazes clashing, challenging. She wondered what he really thought about her since she couldn’t read it from his hard-edged expression. No doubt he considered her a pain in his butt, an aggravation, an idiotically simple and close-minded traditionalist. Maybe the next two hours could convince him to look beyond the obvious and see the deeper reasons for her opposition to his plans.

He turned to shut down his computer, then he stood up and grabbed his keys and wallet out of the drawer. “Your two hours begin now. What is it you want me to see?”

“We’ll have to drive there. My car’s parked down the street.”

“Mine’s in the employee lot out back. Non-negotiable,” he said, cutting of her incipient protest.

Meg stood up when her nemesis did. She stiffened her spine and made sure her expression showed nothing of the mix of emotions roiling inside. Under any other circumstances, Kyle Harrison would still have rocked her boat, but maybe not in such complicated ways. The man was so incredibly handsome. Sexy. Too bad he was such an asshole as well.

She tried to ignore the way he loomed over her when he stood. At five foot four, she didn’t look many men directly in the eye, but he seemed to make his nine-inch advantage mean more than just additional height. He led the way out to the hall and stopped for a moment at the outer office door to be sure it locked behind him.

Meg shivered. This was the craziest, most dangerous thing she’d ever done in her life. No matter how desperate she was. No matter that important things, including her sister’s future and the livelihoods of several of her friends and neighbors on the shopping strip, were at stake. She might well end up regretting this action for a long, long time.

 

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