Master No (13 page)

She was asleep, her eyes closed and her breathing already steady. She’d curled on her side away from him. Her arms had come up as though protecting her chest.

How much had been left out of that report on Ghana? The “general” she’d been taken by was known for being brutal, but he also had his own code. He would brutalize anyone he couldn’t make money off of. Faith would have been a prisoner, but she likely hadn’t been beaten or raped because the “general” had been waiting on payment and believed in his business reputation. As long as payment was made in a timely manner, the prisoner was released whole and unharmed physically.

Her ransom had been paid and she’d been released. All the reports claimed she’d been in good physical health, though dehydrated.

She likely hadn’t known she was safe. She’d likely seen her colleagues die and wondered if she was next. She’d been held in a prison, wondering if every day would be her last.

He’d had the same thing done to him, though his captors hadn’t been so kind and there had been no talk of a ransom. He’d known he would die in that dank prison. He’d practically accepted it, but Faith hadn’t been trained. Faith hadn’t viewed the world the way Ten did.

What had it taken for her to go back?

He turned off the light and shrugged out of his shirt. It was dark, but he could make out her form in the bed. He set his bag down because it didn’t look like he was going to need those condoms tonight.

Most women in her situation—most people—would have hightailed it home and never left the safety of the States again. Faith had simply moved from Ghana to Liberia and set up shop again. She’d been back to vaccinating babies and treating people who couldn’t afford medical care. And then she’d been on the front lines of the Ebola outbreak.

She was tough, but she didn’t look that way now. He shoved out of his jeans and got down to his boxers and thought about what he would tell her about his scars. His body was covered in them. They were ugly, but there was no way to hide them. He damn straight wasn’t going to fuck her with his clothes on, though he’d done that before.

Somehow he thought Faith wouldn’t mind his scars. She wouldn’t turn away in disgust and she wouldn’t be one of those women who was fascinated by them either. Faith would likely simply accept them.

He got into bed, knowing damn well he wasn’t going to sleep. He rarely did for more than a few hours at a time. He never slept with someone. Never. He might take a woman, but he left her before he fell asleep. He’d made that mistake exactly once and he had the scar from the knife wound to prove it.

So he wouldn’t sleep.

He stared at the ceiling, listening to the sounds of her breathing, and then she turned. She sort of sighed and cuddled up to him. Before he knew what he was doing, his arm had curled around her like it knew where to go. Her head found his chest and one leg curved over his, her arm draping over him.

“Warm,” she whispered. “You’re so warm.”

Then her breathing was back to that even gait.

He wasn’t warm. He was cold on the inside, despite the heat his body gave off. He had nothing to give her but dominance and pleasure, and the pain that would come after. Still, his body seemed to mold to hers and somehow between the even sound of her breathing and the hum of the ceiling fan, his eyes closed and for once, Tennessee Smith found some peace.

CHAPTER FIVE

She came awake slowly, well aware she’d slept better than she had in forever. Maybe she’d made a horrible mistake by sleeping alone all this time. Even with Roger, they went their separate ways after sex. It had been years since she’d actually slept beside another human being.

She cuddled close because she wasn’t exactly beside the man. She was mostly on him. One leg had gotten thrown over his and her arm was wrapped around his muscular chest.

“You’re a cuddly thing, aren’t you?”

God, that Southern accent sounded good. Deep and rich, Master T’s voice rumbled from his chest.

“You’re warm, Sir. Apparently Theo and Erin like to keep their house subarctic, but it’s all right because you’re so warm.” He was like a furnace. She’d gotten used to sleeping in the heat. The air conditioner at the clinic and in the small houses for the doctors only worked sporadically.

He shifted slightly, though not away from her. His arm curled around her shoulders, drawing her near. “I’m glad I could help. I suppose I should be happy you’re so cuddly. Otherwise one of us would have ended up on the floor. This bed was not made for a man my size.”

It worked because they’d been plastered together all night. When she’d woken from a bad dream, she hadn’t been alone. The minute she’d startled awake, she’d felt his skin under hers and known she was safe. It made it harder to do the right thing.

“I don’t want to call my dad,” she admitted, her cheek against his chest.

“There’s no reason to,” he replied.

“I don’t want you to get hurt.” There it was. Her deepest fear. That she would make the wrong call and he would pay for it. That she would panic and more lives would be lost. Every one of their faces haunted her, their names stamped on her brain so she never made the same mistake again.

He moved, rolling over so he was on his side, staring her in the eyes. “This is my job, Faith. I’m not some nurse who wants to vaccinate babies and help the helpless.”

“I didn’t say you were.” It was unnerving that he saw so much of her.

“But they’re the ones you’re thinking about. You’re thinking about those nurses and patients who died during your kidnapping. You’re blaming yourself. First of all, it was the kidnapper’s fault. Second, this is a completely different situation.”

“You could still get hurt.” She couldn’t stand the thought. It had been so much easier when he’d simply been a name on a piece of paper.

“You’re not dragging me into something. I’m telling you that I will protect you. I will figure out who’s trying to hurt you and I’ll stop them. I’ll do it without completely disrupting your life.”

His hand came out and ran along her arm, making her shiver. It had been so long since someone touched her in anything but a friendly way. There was intent in Master T’s touch.

“I think attempts on my life are pretty disruptive,” she replied.

“I was talking about your daily life, darlin’. You had plans to spend time with me, to play with me for the next several weeks. That hasn’t changed. We can still do that, but my orders have to do with your safety as well as your pleasure. Don’t call your father in. Everything changes the minute he gets involved. Let me take care of you.”

“Maybe it was a one-time thing. Maybe it won’t happen again.” She was trying to be an optimist.

His hand moved, running down her arm. “Maybe.”

He was looking at her lips. Staring in fact. She couldn’t help but stare back. She’d spent weeks dreaming about him. Those three weeks where they’d talked and flirted and gotten to know each other made it so much easier for her. Despite the fact that she’d basically picked up a man to have an affair with, now it seemed like their relationship was real.

Which it wasn’t.

“Hey, what went through your head right then?” His hand came back, brushing her hair out of the way. “Are you still afraid?”

After the way he’d easily taken down the first guy? Yes. She was, but not for herself. She was afraid for him. And a little afraid of him, but not in a physical way. “This feels different than I thought it would.”

“How so?” His thumb ran across her lower lip.

“I didn’t expect to like you so much. I thought it would be…less personal.”

One side of his mouth curved up in the most arrogant, sexy smirk. “There’s nothing impersonal about this. This feels really personal to me.”

So much of him didn’t add up. She was trying to merge the cold Dom Erin had described with the warm man in front of her, and she had to add in the cool professional who had killed a man and never broken a sweat.

“Do they really call you Master No?”

He chuckled. “Apparently. But you’re not going to call me that. Are you?”

He was right back to staring at her lips. Actually, it was nice to see the horny side of Tennessee. She loved his name. It fit the man. Enigmatic. “Why do they call you that?”

He scooted closer to her, so close their chests almost touched. “Because I don’t play around. Not with women who don’t mean something to me. I have my duties at Sanctum and I fulfill them, but I’m not indulgent with women who don’t belong to me. I tend to be very much the opposite.”

Another thing she didn’t understand. Even in their texts and Internet conversations, he’d been indulgent with her. He seemed to want to see her do things that pleased her. He’d ordered her to eat chocolate one night when she said she shouldn’t because she was worried about her weight. He’d watched as she’d had her first real chocolate in almost a year. “You’re not that way with me.”

“I have a contract that states very plainly you
do
belong to me.” He stared at her for a moment, and she had an unnerving thought that he could see right through her. “You’re not afraid of what could happen to you after yesterday. You’re afraid of what could happen between the two of us.”

Well, he wasn’t pussyfooting around the situation. “Like I said, it feels different than I thought it would. I feel more than I thought I would.”

He moved in and she could suddenly feel his heat all over again. Not just his heat. Something really big and really hard was resting against her thigh. It was fairly close to where it should be. Could be. Might be soon.

“There’s nothing wrong with that, Faith. Did you really want to sleep with a man you didn’t know?”

That three weeks had been the difference. She supposed she’d expected they would get in touch but not a lot more. They would come together to play and have sex. It felt like more than sex. Being so close to Tennessee felt more intimate than actually having sex with Roger. “No. I thought I did. I thought it was kind of the right thing to do. Real relationships are hard for me. My career is kind of demanding.”

His fingertips brushed over her collarbone. God, he was killing her. “Yes, it’s demanding, but you know what I think?”

He leaned over and kissed the tip of her nose, a sweet gesture.

He was being so tender with her and she wanted to scream at him to jump on her and have his wicked way. Her body was getting primed. Her nipples were so hard. They might climb off her body and try to get between his ridiculously sexy lips. “I don’t. I don’t know anything right now.”

Except the fact that she wanted him. It was probably a bad idea, but she wanted him.

“Then let me help you out, darlin’. You don’t have to think for a while. Let’s both stop thinking and follow our instincts for once.” He moved in and his lips caressed hers.

Easy, thoughtful, at first he simply pressed his mouth to hers, letting them rub together as though taking stock of the feel of her. Ten didn’t overwhelm her. He started slow. He let her sigh against him as he brushed his lips over hers and let her taste the mint on his mouth.

She gasped and pushed against him. “You already got up and brushed your teeth.”

The most devilish look went over his face and he stopped playing. He rolled over and his body was on top of hers, his hips coaxing her legs to open wide. Before she really knew what he was doing, his cock was right on her core. “Yes, I did. I woke up and brushed my teeth and my poor sub slept the morning away. I came back out here and climbed into bed with you and waited for my moment. I’m going to eat you up, Faith.”

His mouth covered hers and she couldn’t fight him. It felt too good. His tongue surged and he seemed eager to devour her. His mouth slanted over hers again and again, his body heavy but in the best of ways. She loved his weight bearing her down into the mattress. There really wasn’t enough space for the two of them, but they didn’t need it. They simply nestled together until she wasn’t sure how to untangle their limbs. His chest pressed down, warmth flaring through her as his tongue invaded.

He’d gotten up and prepared himself for her. Oh, he wasn’t giving her the same courtesy, but he didn’t seem to need it. He wasn’t acting like a man who wasn’t enjoying himself.

“Stop thinking, Faith,” he growled against her lips. “You taste good. You’re fucking perfect, and I dreamed about doing this all night. Best dreams I’ve had in forever. I’m not waiting for you to decide you’re good enough for me. I’m telling you. You’re perfect and I want to fuck you more than I want my next damn breath.”

He took her mouth before she could respond and she kind of melted under him. There was nothing else to do. He’d taken control and she needed this.

He kissed her and his hands explored, running under her tank top and up to the under curve of her breast. His cock was right on top of her mound. Only her pajama bottoms, thin undies, and his boxers were between them. She could feel the hard line of his erection jutting between her thighs, dragging over her pussy in a blatant imitation of what he would do once he got inside her.

“Dreamed about this all damn night.” He shifted off to the side and his hand suddenly cupped her, one thumb brushing over her nipple. “Hell, I’ve dreamed about this since we started talking, Faith, and I think you have, too. That’s why you’re acting so skittish this morning. You like me.”