Master for Tonight by Elaine Barris Read Free Book Online Page A

monster at what he had done to
her already, and what he would take from her in the end.
    “Kate, listen to me, my sweet, beautiful
girl. You will not get overwhelmed anymore. You are a strong woman.
No more panic attacks, okay? They aren’t good for you, and you
shouldn’t have them. No more jingling those damn keys around,
either. No fear, Kate. No fear. You can handle life. You will
survive. Don’t let anyone intimidate you. But retain your softness,
love. Your innocence. Never lose it. That, and your compassion for
others. So rare these days. Open your heart to someone who will
truly love you.”
    He spoke softly to her mind, choking on the
last part, as he caressed her hair while she stared, unblinking,
into his eyes. Rather than take it back, he chose not to repeat it
as he continued to speak gently to her, losing himself in the life
of her eyes, much as he had her body. As their gazes lingered, he
knew she was seducing him, mastering him without even being
conscious. The flame in his eyes long gone, he took her hand in
his, pleading, “Give yourself to me tonight, Kate. If the only
thing we can have is tonight, just this once, give me all of you,
love.”
    He dressed himself with the discarded shirt,
but remained bare footed.
    “Kate, it’s time to wake up,” he spoke
softly into her ear before scooting back on the floor a few feet
from her. He sat with his hands in his lap, trying to appear as
nonthreatening as possible.
    Her eyes blinked open and she stared over at
him, drinking him in again, much the same as she had earlier when
she thought he wasn’t watching. She struggled to sit up, so he
rushed over to help, and then wrapped his arm around her shoulder,
pulling her close. She let her head fall into the crook between his
chest and shoulder, still shaking off the sleep.
    “How long was I asleep?” She yawned and
covered her mouth.
    “About an hour and a half or so. Not long.
No worries about my getting bored. I perused that book on your
Kindle. Decent read, but honestly, the end was one hundred percent
predictable.”
    Snorting out a laugh, she elbowed him in the
ribs. “You did not read a six-hundred-page novel in an hour and a
half.”
    “Ow!” He grabbed his side in fake injury.
“After all the mind-blowing orgasms I’ve given you, graciously and
unselfishly, I might add, the thanks I get is a hurtful poke in the
ribs, woman?”
    Kate turned to look into his eyes. “I really
don’t understand what’s going on, who you are, or why you’re here.
Why are we doing this? Why am I doing this? I don’t do this. I
don’t. Whether you believe me or not, I don’t. I hope you explain
yourself soon, because I really want and need to understand this.”
She pointed back and forth to him and herself. “I can’t help myself
around you. I can’t defend myself. All my walls come down. I can’t
resist you. I don’t even want to try. I don’t get it.” She sounded
none too pleased with herself.
    “Beauty, you are exactly as you should be
with me. Don’t over think it. Accept it, love. Are you still afraid
of me, Kate?” His tone was soft, with a genuine need to know after
all he had said to her.
    Yes, he had scared her earlier by the
necessity of his overall plan, but that really wasn’t his shtick.
He was a lot of things, but a rapist was not one of them. He simply
knew what excited Kate. He’d done his research into the erotic
literature she liked. After he saw the title of one particularly
well-worn book on her bedside table, he had purchased it to see
what made her hands drift to her pussy when the lights went out.
His suspicion had been confirmed that Kate would react to a
dominant man. She would react to him.
    Julian was naturally dominant in bed, and
what he had told her about his level of expertise was no
exaggeration. If losing control to a man was her fantasy, he was
going to be the man to give it to her. He knew Kate’s perfect lover
would be the man who dominated her body and wrested