Craig Tyler would be here in a minute. The burly ex-Marine could play the outraged Dom like nobody’s business. Clint wasn’t a man to attempt to poach on another’s territory. At least, not staked territory. Her collar proclaimed her a free agent, an unrestrained submissive, free to choose a Dom. Craig’s cover of the Dom attempting to acquire her wasn’t going to work here.
“Do you know how long I’ve been dying to fuck you?” Clint stopped before her, his hands settling on her bare hips as she stared back at him in shock. Her hands gripped his forearms as the heat of his fingers sank into her flesh.
“Well, you sure could have fooled me,” she gasped. “You are the same man who has run from me at every opportunity. Right?”
She hadn’t expected this, couldn’t believe she was standing here with him, his eyes burning down at her rather than freezing her with dismissal.
“I can have you now, can’t I, baby?” he whispered, his voice immeasurably gentle as he watched her. “You’re learning the rules of the game. Happily ever afters don’t happen here.”
A wave of pain suffused her senses as his whispered words processed in her brain. He hadn’t taken her before because he had known what she wanted? Because he knew she loved him? But he could take her now because he thought she was a whore? He thought she was available to any bozo willing to give her the fix he thought she was looking for?
She stared back at him in shock as her hand flew toward his face in a violence she hadn’t known she was capable of. He caught her hand. Inches from his face, his gaze igniting as she glared back at him.
“I don’t want you now,” she said, fighting the tears that threatened to flood her eyes. “Not even on a bet.” She jerked at her arm, enraged by his arrogance. “You’re a jerk, Clint. A complete vicious, dirty jerk.”
Surprise flickered across his expression as he let her go. “If you’re not part of the scene, then what the hell are you doing here?” His eyes narrowed on her as she stilled before him.
“Who says I’m not part of the scene?” she bit out. “I said I didn’t want you. Sorry, Clint, but just any Dom willing to play the game isn’t enough,” she informed him rashly, furious, using the only weapon she had left now. “You had your chance how many times over the past few years? You turned them down. Remember?”
“And now I’m picking them up.”
Morganna’s eyes widened and she felt fear slam into her as he reached for her. If he touched her, if he did as the hunger in his gaze warned her he was going to do, then she was screwed. She had fought to get on Joe’s team, pulling every string she could think of to work this assignment.
If she showed a weakness now, then Joe would have her replaced so fast it would make her head spin. He hadn’t been comfortable with her on the team to begin with. But she was the only recruit he had who was a regular at the Masters clubs.
“Clint, no.” “No” meant no.
He paused, his eyes narrowed, his chest heaving, as she backed away from him slowly.
“Unlock the door and let me out of here. Don’t force me to lodge a complaint with Masters.”
Drage Masters, the owner of the club, did not take kindly to patrons forcing anything from the members. His rules were strict, and everyone knew it.
“Lodge all the complaints you want,” Clint said. “I want answers, Morganna, and one way or the other, I am going to get them.”
He took a step closer and Morganna knew the game was up.
“Morganna Chavez, I’m going to whip your ass red,” a drunken voice yelled from the other side of the door. “Open this door, you little wildcat. I told you no other men until we’ve settled our deal. Period.”
Her eyes widened in shock as she watched rage transform Clint’s features. It wasn’t just anger; it was a killing rage that terrified her.
“Open this door!” Craig yelled, pounding at the metal panel again. “Did you think I wouldn’t find you?”
Oh God. Wrong move. Surely they knew better than this. Merino couldn’t be so insane as to send one of his best men in like this, at this moment. It was like sending a baby into a war zone. Clint was going to mow right through him.
“He’s dead.” Clint’s voice vibrated with wrath as he pushed her aside and headed for the door.
“Clint, wait!” Morganna cried out as he swiped the card through the lock and jerked the door open.
His hand latched onto Craig’s throat before Morganna could yell out in warning, pushing him across the hall and slamming him into the wall.
Years of backbreaking training and SEAL maneuvers had hardened Clint’s body, turning it into a living weapon of mass destruction when needed.
“Back off!” Clint snarled into Craig’s amazed expression.
The DEA agent was decked out in an overabundance of leather and chains that sang in an unholy jangle as Clint seemed to shake him without effort.
“Clint, dammit, let him go!” Morganna grabbed Clint’s arm, her nails biting into his forearm as Craig’s body tensed to fight.
“Get back, Morganna, before I rip your pansy-assed boyfriend in half,” Clint snapped.
“You’re crazy!” she yelled, attempting to shake him loose. “Let him go.”
“Is this how you get your jollies?” he snarled back at her. “Does Reno know where you go for fun, Morganna?”
The threat. There it was. That familiar warning that assured her Reno was going to get a phone call.
“I don’t know; does he know how you have your fun?” she sneered back. “Go ahead and rat me out like you always do and I’ll tell him what you had in mind for me before you were interrupted. Now let him go.” She slapped at Clint’s arm, furious, terrified. Craig was starting to turn blue.
Clint jerked his arm away, turning back to her, the primal danger she glimpsed in his eyes taking her breath. It wasn’t violence; it was lust. Pure, hot, unadulterated lust.
“Get out of here.” His voice was hoarse, his hands balling into fists as he faced her. “Get out of this club and get your ass home. Now. Right now, Morganna, or God help us both if I get my hands on you again.”
She jumped back, watching as Craig quickly moved around him. Craig’s hazel eyes were concerned, his wavy hair disheveled, as he gripped her arm and began pulling her backward down the hallway.