Mercy by Annabel Joseph Read Free Book Online

was still in love with his ex?”
    “Why do you care so much?”
    “I’m sure you can puzzle that out if you try.” His jaw clenched a little and he looked away from me, scratching his neck with a frustrated sigh. I looked at him, beautiful Mr. Matthew Norris, sitting there in his tuxedo and his unkempt tie. I just looked as my mind spun with a thousand questions. But there was one question I had to ask right away.
    “How did you know?”
    “The same way you knew. And you did know, Lucy, from the moment you saw me. I can’t explain how.” He leaned very close to me, speaking low. “You set off alarms. Look at me.”
    I dragged my gaze to his.
    “When you started talking about pony tricks, I nearly laughed out loud.”
    “I’m not into that animal stuff.”
    “I have no interest in playing ponies, believe me. I have no interest in ninety percent of the stupid games dominants play with their submissives .”
    Dominants. Submissives . I felt like I’d just fallen ass-backwards into the life I’d wanted but thought didn’t really exist. I honestly had no idea people really did the things I wanted. I honestly couldn’t believe he might want to do them to me.
    “What are you interested in?” I asked.
    “Owning your body and doing whatever I want to it.”
    There it was again, the hot rush of wetness between my legs. I looked at him from under my lashes while my cheeks burned crimson. He wanted my body, wanted to do things to it. That man sitting there, virile and dangerous, he wanted me . I shivered and pressed my thighs together. Somehow I couldn’t phrase a response. I could barely draw breath.
    “Is that something that might interest you, Lucy?”
    I stared down at my hands twisting in my lap. “I don’t know.”
    “No more I don’t know ‘s ,” he said. “Yes or no?”
    “Maybe! I can’t say! I don’t know what you want to do to me.”
    “I’ll do a lot of things to you. I’m only asking you if it’s something you’d like to try.”
    My mind raced in circles, stimulated by horniness and caffeine. All around us, regular people talked and laughed casually, but my life had changed. I scrabbled for words, my thoughts in a tangle. I lifted my cup to take a slow drink, buying time.
    “Is this how you pick up all your partners?” I asked. “You give them this tough little talking to?”
    He tapped his fingers on the table impatiently, as if he already owned me and I was already making him mad. “First of all, this is far from tough. And secondly, I haven’t picked up a partner in six years. I had a girlfriend and we recently broke up. I would have thought you knew that from your reading about me.”
    “She was your submissive?”
    “That’s really none of your business.”
    “What happened? Why did she leave you after six years?”
    He frowned down into his coffee, then looked back up at me with narrowed eyes.
    “She didn’t enjoy it. Power exchange. I thought she did. But she did it for me, for my money, I guess.”
    “All those years?”
    “Yes, Lucy. Now you see why truth thrills me. I’ve lived without it for far too long.”
    Truth. He talked about it an awful lot.
    “If you’re so rich, why don’t you just buy a hooker?”
    “Because I don’t want a hooker. I want you.”
    “How do you know? You don’t even really know me.”
    “I know enough. I know that your body turns me on. I know you’d get off on submitting to me.”
    “That’s all you need in a girlfriend?”
    “A girlfriend?” He laughed. “Sorry, I don’t want another girlfriend. I just want a submissive to put through her paces. I’m giving you truth here, Lucy. I’m not saying that to hurt you.”
    So it showed then, the hurt and humiliation I felt at his words. My face burned with it. I felt like I’d just been kicked.
    “I want to use your body because I find it beautiful and perfect. I just want to play with you, but I think you’ll enjoy it all the same. And if you want,” he added as an