Den of Desire by Shauna Hart Read Free Book Online Page B

the room, searching everywhere, but she found nothing.
    “I don't understand. She was right here.”
    She looked back at Joe, hating the disbelief she clearly saw in his eyes.
    “Look, it's late. It was dark,” he reasoned.
    She pinned him with a lethal stare. “Joe, I know what I saw,” she reminded him in an icy tone.
    He held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. I believe you. Look, we'll search every inch of the club until we find them,” he suggested.
    A half an hour later, after a thorough search of the club, Mara's unease was at an all-time high.
    “I don't understand. I saw her,” she repeated, more to herself than to him.
    “The doors are locked, Mara. There's no way out. If someone was here, we would have found them,” he asserted.
    She sighed heavily. “It's just that she looked like...” She trailed off, afraid to put the vision into words.
    He came closer. “Like what?”
    She pulled her lower lip beneath her teeth, worrying it gently. “Nothing,” she said.
    As much as she wanted to tell him what she saw, the evidence was already mounting that she was crazy. If he didn't think it yet, he would if she didn't stop babbling about a person who didn't exist.
    The entire walk home, she couldn't shake the eerie feeling that they were being watched. Once they reached her door, she turned to face him.
    “Do you want to come in?” she invited.
    He looked past her into her apartment. “I should probably check on the club again. Just in case,” he reasoned.
    She nodded, suddenly uncomfortable. He leaned in to give her a chaste kiss on the lips before turning to leave. She stared after him for a few moments before going inside and locking the door. Leaning back against it, she let her head rest against the wood.
    Damn it.
    Things had been going so well.
    Now he thought she was some kind of kook.
    A vision of the woman in the white dress flashed through her mind.
    She wasn't crazy.
    She had seen the woman!
    It looked like she had stepped right out of the pages of one of her books. It had been so real.
    Then, there was the voice.
    She didn't imagine that.
    Did she?
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    Chapter 9
    He watched her through the window.
    The light created a halo around her, illuminating her trim figure. Her head turned as she looked down the length of the street. Her gaze traveled back and forth frantically as if she was searching for someone.
    Searching for him.
    She would never see him.
    He was too smart for that.
    She wouldn't see him until it was too late.
    He had been watching her all night. He watched her get fucked in front of everyone like the slut she was. And she wanted it. She had practically been begging for it. Jealousy burned in his gut. It should have been him! He should have been the one to tie her up, to claim her virgin ass. Not scum like Joe Gates.
    But that would change soon.
    Tonight was just a little taste of what he could do. A teaser to make her buy the book. And she would.
    In the end, she would be begging him for it.
    Having to deal with the whore tonight was a minor irritation. He had picked her up on Bourbon Street, and though she originally claimed that she didn't want any part of his plan, the money he offered had quickly changed her mind. He had bought her, just like he had bought so many others. Maybe later he would find her and take out his frustration on her.
    Mara leaned forward, and he could see the outline of her breasts through her dress. The bitch! How could she let someone like Joe Gates touch her like that in front of everyone? He would definitely make her pay for that mistake. That and more. If it was chains and handcuffs she wanted, he would certainly be more than happy to accommodate her. But before he drove into that tight pussy, he would make her scream for mercy.
    She slid the drapes closed, turning her back on him. Once he claimed her, she would never turn her back on him again. She would be his. His and his alone. And he would never, ever let her