Red Handed by Shelly Bell Read Free Book Online Page A

locket had meant so much to her when her father had given it to her on her thirteenth birthday. She’d worn her mother’s locket every day since, only removing it to bathe.
    Clutching the locket in her hand, she caught her reflection in the dresser mirror, ensnared by the image of her corseted body and the wildness of her brown eyes. In less than twenty-four hours, how did a woman like her go from the quiet solitude of her desert home to kissing a female slave in a sex club?
    The reflection staring back at her wasn’t someone she recognized. Sensuality radiated from her like a halo, from the flush of her cheeks to the unruly obsidian curls spilling down her shoulders. It was as if her arrival here had been a spark to kindling, igniting something in her she hadn’t known existed. As if she’d been holding her breath, waiting for her life to begin, and it finally had.
    Only she’d never imagined it would take her stepmother’s kidnapping to do it.
    Danielle had never been special. She didn’t have a particularly outstanding singing voice. Her grades at school had been decent, but she’d been far from an A student. And although she’d loved art, she couldn’t draw or paint anything worthy. She conceded she had a pretty face, but at a size sixteen, no one would ever call her beautiful.
    Danielle’s throat clogged with unshed tears, and she took a deep breath to keep them at bay. She’d spent her life being invisible, watching from the shadows, observing like a ghost. But with all the cameras set up in Benediction, slinking around wouldn’t go unnoticed.
    To get into his residence, she could either steal Cole’s key or convince him to bring her there willingly. In both situations, she’d have to get close to him, and there was only one way do that with an owner of a sex club.
    She’d have to seduce him.
    It wasn’t going to be easy. He already doubted her sincerity and questioned her motives. What would it take to get a man like him to lower his guard? Everything she’d read about BDSM in the last twenty-four hours stressed the importance of trust. Yet Cole had dozens of people literally bowing at his feet, and he still relied on cameras in almost every area of his club.
    She shuffled across the room to the window and rested her forehead against the cold glass. Her room faced the back of the mansion, where Cole’s property seemed to stretch for miles. As far as she could see, white snow blanketed everything. Still, she made out the pattern of a kidney-shaped swimming pool and a basketball court off to its left. In the distance, she spotted a gazebo.
    The yard’s brightness surprised her. Before today, she’d never experienced snow, having spent most of her days in the desert, except for trips to the ocean or Europe, which were always taken during summer vacation. She’d thought the sky would remain gray like when she’d arrived, but it was as blue and clear as the Mediterranean Sea in Nice, France.
    She shivered. The beauty outside her window was all an illusion. She didn’t dare forget the frigid temperature or the biting winds. It would prove as dangerous as the middle of the Arizona desert in August.
    Sighing, she turned away and got to work unpacking. Other than her toiletries, the kidnappers had permitted only a pair of black pants and a light sweater, so it didn’t take more than a minute before she’d emptied her suitcase.
    Then she settled on the bed with her trainee application and books. The bed was as soft as it had looked, and she couldn’t help but lay her head on the pillow. Her eyes fluttered shut and she blinked, making herself stay awake. Maybe reading about sex would help. She opened up the first book and started to read.
    The room grew dim as the sun set, the light turning gray and snow falling from the sky. She attacked the application, checking off boxes and answering questions she’d never