Little White Lies

Harmless Addicts always have their favorite couples, but this one ranks high on most lists. When I wrote Micah in A Little Harmless Obsession, I knew he would have his own book. I told my editor at Samhain we needed to do his book and ASAP.

She was the first and only modern virgin I have ever written.

A LITTLE HARMLESS LIE

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Falling for her might be easy, seducing her may be damned hard, but keeping her alive might just be deadly.

Coming from nothing, Micah Ross now has more than he knows what to do with. His Hawai’i BDSM club is flourishing, and he has his pick of women. Except one. Dee Sumners is cute, sexy, feisty…and, since she’s on his payroll, off-limits. Plus, she insists she isn’t into the life. Until one heated kiss hints that his head bartender secretly hungers to be his sub.

Life on the run doesn’t allow Dee to indulge in long-term relationships. Still, Micah manages to work his way through her tough armor and under her skin. Yet even as she succumbs to his skilled seduction, her survival instinct forms a plan to leave the island she has grown to love—and the man she’s in danger of loving. When Dee disappears, Micah’s anger turns to fear when he realizes she didn’t leave willingly. Calling on his skills as a former bounty hunter, he tracks her to the mainland only to discover she is entangled in a web of lies and deceit that not only threatens their love, but her life.

»WARNING: The following book contains: more Hawaiian settings, a Native American Dom who always thinks he’s right, a woman on the run, sexy kisses, murderous relatives, a trip to Sin City, and a seduction that is sweet and hot and everything in between. Ice water and a towel are recommended while reading.

*******

What the fuck was he doing?

Micah asked himself that over and over as he watched Rex let the last of the workers leave. It was just the two of them and one more employee left. She was wiping down the bar, finishing up her work. He could tell she was taking her time. Hell, she had avoided him for the past two days and he could understand that. He felt like an ass for his behavior in the gym. Anyone could have walked in on them. Kissing her definitely would have caused a commotion in the club. Worse, it might have diminished her authority, and that was something he could not allow. Almost everyone who worked there looked up to her. Especially the bouncers.

Apparently finished with her work, she walked toward the stairs to his office. His palms were sweating, his heart thundering. Damn, he was acting like a fifteen-year-old.

He wasn’t even going to touch her. Other than apologizing, he had no plans to do anything in that quarter. But then things never went as planned with Dee.

She knocked on the door twice before opening it.

“What did you need to talk to me about?”

She was straightforward as usual. He stayed seated behind his desk. Normally he would have risen as a show of respect, but he didn’t really want to embarrass himself. He was already half-aroused. He motioned to the chair in front of his desk. She hesitated, her hand still on the door knob. Then she released her breath and stepped forward.

Once she was seated, she stared at him expectantly. What the hell had he called her in here for? Damn, when she focused all that attention on him with her luminous eyes, he couldn’t think. Before meeting her, he had never seen that shade of blue. They were so deep, dark, they were almost violet. The dark lashes that framed them were natural.

“Micah?”

He shook his head. “Sorry. Long night. First, I want to apologize for the other day.”

She shrugged, acting as if it wasn’t a big deal. And it shouldn’t be. Hell, it was a tame kiss compared to what he was used to. But he could still remember the way she tasted, the way her breath caught just before he pressed his mouth against hers.

He shifted in his seat, trying to ease his pain. Unfortunately, the fabric of his pants rubbed over his erection, further frustrating him. Damn, he needed to start wearing underwear.

“Is that all?”

He shook his head. “No. I want to take a few days off and wondered if you would be okay with handling all the ordering for the bar while I’m gone.”

“Sure. I do most of the ordering right now.”

He looked at her. “I thought Eddy did it.”

She rolled her eyes and crossed her ankle over her knee. “I come up with the list. Eddy tends to wait until the last minute. I like a well-stocked bar. Why wouldn’t he be doing it if you’re gone?”

“I’m asking him to take over while I’m gone.”

Another eye roll.

“You don’t agree.”

She sighed. “I like Eddy. He’s a great guy. But he’s too much of a pushover when it comes to the women here.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s great at keeping things hopping, taking care of the customers, don’t get me wrong. But when one of the waitresses wants to go home and you aren’t here, they go to Eddy, even if Sylvia is here. They know that she won’t let them go home early if there is work to be done. They just have to bat their eyes at Eddy and he lets them do what they want.”

“He’s not screwing around with any of them is he?”

She laughed. “Lord, no. He loves that crazy woman he’s married to. But he’s a pushover when it comes to women. If you haven’t talked to Eddy, I would put Sylvia in charge. She’s the Domme out of the two of them.”

He studied her for a long moment. “You talk like you know the life, when I know you don’t practice.”

She snorted. “I’ve been working here for two years. I’d have to be dead to not know the life.”

He smiled. “You definitely aren’t that.”

Her smile faded and she looked away.

“Is that all you wanted?”

“No. But I can’t have what I really want.”

Just like that, the air in the room grew hot and his pulse doubled. He shouldn’t have said it. Even now he wanted to kick his own ass for it, but he couldn’t keep his mouth from saying it. No way. He’d wanted her for months, probably since the moment he’d hired her. He wasn’t a man who was used to denying his needs. Damn, the woman didn’t know just what she was doing to him. He hadn’t had a woman in weeks. Hadn’t wanted one. He wanted her, in his bed, submitting to him. He could imagine just how she would look strapped to his mattress—

“I thought we decided it would be best to ignore that.”

“No, you decided.”

“You know as well as I do, I’m not in the life. That’s what you want.”

“That’s what I need.” He corrected her. “Have you ever tried it?”

She shook her head but still didn’t look at him. It was starting to piss him off. She was the type of person who met your gaze head-on, toe to toe. Refusing to meet his gaze was like she was dismissing him, as if he didn’t matter.

“I have a feeling you would like it.”

She looked at him then, her eyes wide with surprise. “Well, if I did, I would probably be a Domme, so what would that have to do with you?”

He didn’t say anything for several seconds, letting the silence grow around them. She didn’t look away this time, but she shifted in her seat. He hid a smile, but it was hard. Dee only fidgeted when she was nervous.

“Why do you think you would be a Domme?”

She did look away then, but it didn’t bother him this time. He could see her pulse beating in her throat through her fair flesh.

“I like being in charge.”

Again, he said nothing, allowing the silence to stretch out.

“That’s not what makes someone the Dominant.”

She glanced at him through her lashes and he bit back a groan. The look was so coquettish, so not like Dee, it sent a shaft of heat to his dick.

“I would think the need for control would suggest that you need to be the dominant in the relationship.”

He shook his head. “You might have worked here for two years, but there is a difference between the need to control…and to be controlled. Many subs are people who have a large amount of control in their professional and personal lives. They need to relinquish it to feel complete.”

“Hmm. Well, if that’s all?”

She said it hopefully, but for some reason he couldn’t let it go. He wanted her to understand that while she might not practice the life and actually avoided talking about it despite working at the club, she was a submissive. A bottom.

He rose, now not even trying to hide the fact he was aroused. He settled on the top of his desk in front of her.

“Dee.”

She hesitated and he fought down a growl. He didn’t have the right to expect her immediate compliance. But he wanted it. The need to be the one who gave her orders, who gave her pleasure, who saw her eyes go blurry with bliss, burned in his gut.

She raised her gaze to his. Her breathing was shallow, rapid.

“What do you like in the bedroom?”

“Micah, this isn’t important.”

But it was. It was more important that she understood she was a submissive, that she would do better by taking orders from her Dom. From him.

He pushed that thought aside.

“I don’t like talking about it, okay. Especially with my boss—who I’ve seen naked.”

He let one eyebrow raise as a blush stained her cheeks. Damn, she was cute when she did that. It didn’t happen often, but when it did, he wanted to do nothing more than pull her into his arms and cuddle her. And he wasn’t exactly the cuddling type.

“Okay, not completely, but you forget you used to perform a lot as Dom when I first started working here.”

“Ah. And you liked that?”

She shifted again and this time he couldn’t help the curving of his lips.

“What’s not to like? You’re a pretty man and you know it.”

He laughed at that. “Pretty isn’t something I’ve been called before.”

“Then you haven’t been paying attention to the women who have been talking about you.”

She fairly bit out the words. Was she jealous? He cocked his head to one side studying her.

“Enough about me. The question was about you. What do you like in the bedroom?”

“Micah—”

“Tell me.” He didn’t raise his voice, but he heard the authority in his tone, and so did Dee. There was a flash of anger in her eyes, but something else. Something he had seen before when he ordered her to stay in the gym. Arousal. Then the look dissolved into calculation.

“I like a good time.”

It didn’t ring true. Normally, he would let it go. If she wasn’t interested in the life, there was nothing he could do. Forcing someone to accept a D/s relationship wasn’t very smart and in his opinion, downright criminal. But right now, in this moment, he knew she was lying to him. About what, he didn’t know. He had tried not to think about her having sex with other men. Thinking back, there had been one or two comments made about her and who she was dating. There hadn’t been many.

“Listen, I really need to go. I have to be up early, and it’s already past four.”

She rose.

“Sit.”

She frowned at him. “I don’t take orders outside of work from you. I think we discussed that a few days ago.”

“You better sit your little ass in that chair before I pull you over my lap and smack it red.”

He growled the words. He couldn’t help it. The silence that followed told him that he had stunned her. Well, he had shocked the hell out of himself. It was a loss of control to say things like that, especially to an employee who wasn’t a sub, didn’t play in the life. It went over the line of sexual harassment. Something he’d never had a problem with. Until Dee.

“I told you what to do.”

She slowly sat in the chair, her blue gaze never leaving his.

“I want an answer from you.”

“I said I have no problems in bed, Micah. I don’t know why it’s your business, but I can assure you that there isn’t anything to worry about.”

There was something there, something she was trying to hide from him. In the sane part of his brain he knew she had a right to her privacy. But the warrior in him wanted her compliance. He wanted to know everything about her.

“So, you’ve never been spanked?”

Her breath caught, just the barest of sounds, but he heard it. She was aroused. By the discussion…and by the thought of being spanked. His appetite increased. Just knowing that she was turned on by it had his blood draining southward.

“No.”

“Never been tied down…controlled.”

Her breathing hitched again. He couldn’t see her nipples through her vest, but he’d bet a million bucks they were hard.

“So, you don’t know the pleasure of having someone take the control from you, take possession, be the lucky man to give you pleasure.”

She shook. Her tongue darted out over her fuller lower lip, wetting it. God, he needed another taste. The lure of her sweet mouth tempted him. But, he needed her answers more.

“I bet you would be a pleasure to initiate. You would definitely be fun to conquer.”

“I-I need to go.”

But she didn’t get up, didn’t move. He wanted to shout with excitement but he kept it under wraps. He’d wanted her to be a submissive so badly, he hadn’t known if he had been imagining it the past few months. Now he knew. Keeping his hands off her was not going to be possible.

Not when he knew she wanted him. Her pulse was hammering. She shifted again.

“I think you would flourish with the right Dom. Tell me, have you ever had an orgasm?”

“I’m almost thirty, of course I have.”

“A lot of women don’t. Especially if they don’t know what they need in bed.”

“Well, I can assure you that I have. Can I go?”

Even as she asked it, he knew he had her. An hour ago, she would have told him to go to hell. Now though, she wanted to hear, was turned on by his questions.

“With a man?”

Everything in her stilled.

“Ah, so no man has ever given you one.”

She swallowed. “It isn’t that uncommon. You said so yourself.”

“Do they just not understand what you need?”

She looked at him again. “I still think this is highly—”

“I didn’t ask you what you thought.” His words were a little harsher than he expected, but he didn’t regret it. It shut her up. The woman had been driving him to distraction for months and all he wanted was one damn answer.

“So, tell me. What goes wrong in bed?”

He tried to soften the question, but even he heard the simmering desire in his voice. The idea that he could be the first man to give her an orgasm, to give her the pleasure she deserved, was almost too much to take. Definitely too big to ignore.

“I don’t think—”

He took her chin in between his fingers. “Again, I told you I didn’t want to know what you think. Answer me.”

“Fine. You want to know? I’ve never been to bed with a man.”

For a second, he couldn’t compute what she had said to him. He dropped his hand from her chin. His brain just didn’t seem to be able to figure out what the words meant. A look of irritation then embarrassment moved over her face.

“Fuck. I can’t believe I just said that.” She crossed her arms over her chest as if trying to protect herself. “Aren’t you going to say anything? No smart-ass comment from you?”

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. The whole idea that this delicious woman, one that fairly shimmered with sensuality, was a virgin had short-circuited his brain. He couldn’t believe it.

She jumped out of the chair. “That’s it. I’m done.”

Again, he couldn’t think of anything to say as she stomped out of the office and down the stairs. He shook his head, his brain finally seeming to start functioning enough for him to watch the outside monitors. Rex, their bouncer, walked her to her car.

Micah watched as her taillights faded into the dark Hawaiian night then plopped down in his chair.

She is a virgin.

How had that happened? The woman was twenty-seven years old. It wasn’t as if she was a prude, and he didn’t think she was saving herself for marriage. He closed his eyes, need crawling through his body, his heart hammering against his chest, his dick at full staff.

She apparently thought telling him she was a virgin would be a turn off, and usually it was. He didn’t like to play with women who didn’t know the score. Virgins also didn’t understand BDSM, didn’t understand the life. Dee was different though. The woman understood it, and from the flash of arousal and fear, understood it more than most. She had some kind of idea that she was sub and didn’t like it…and definitely didn’t want to admit it to him.

He should back off, and usually he would. But the need to conquer, to take her under his command, surged through him. He opened his eyes as he promised himself one thing.

That woman would learn just what she needed, and she would learn it from him.

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