Tethered (The Stables Trilogy #2) by Penny Lam Read Free Book Online Page A

worse? As soon as she said it she regretted it. J.B. hated when she sounded unsure. The problem was, well, she was unsure. There were so many things she did that could have made him mad, but if this was about Bane--
     
    “Wrong answer, Maple.” Another step. Now he was inches from her. His body was a magnet, irresistible and tugging ruthlessly at her. “Go to my desk.”
     
    She did. It was a monstrous beauty. Made of glass that was tinted a frosty charcoal, it was both elegant and reserved. Maple’s fingertips brushed the surface and she shivered-- it was quite cool.

“Raúl told me something interesting today,” he drawled, moving in a half-circle around her. His body was tight, the muscles straining against the buttondown shirt he was wearing. Dark eyebrows pressed tightly together. A vein popped out on his temple. Maple was beginning to see he was not just angry. He was livid .
     
    “W-what did he tell you?”
     
    “That Bane was groomed. Oh, someone threw some dirt on him and tried to hide it.”
     
    Well, she’d not thought that through and knew she might get caught. And here she was. “Look, J.B.--”
     
    His hand whipped out and slapped across her mouth. It stung a bit, but he held it there, silencing her. “You don’t get to talk,” he ground out. His control was a finite thing. Every line on his face, every muscle in his body let her know how close he was to losing it.
     
    Thrills ran through her. The air was thick with danger, her body became heavy with fear and lust. Slowly his hand lifted from her mouth, but he didn’t move away. Her ass rested on the sharp edge of the desk. His thighs were pressed into hers, searing her.
     
    “Are you going to fire me?” Timid. Meek. It wasn’t a show. The situation was so like her times with Tony that she couldn’t help but revert into the small submissive she’d been. It felt startlingly good. Comfortable.
     
    “Didn’t I tell you about him? About what that fucking horse is?”
     
    “Yes, but--”
     
    His hand flew into her hair, knotting in it and wrenching her head back. “There is no ‘but,’ Maple! I fucking gave you an order, and you ignored it!” He was shouting in her face now. Sharp, tugging pain radiated from her scalp where he held her captive.
     
    Liquid heat flooded between her legs.
     
    Twisting, he forced her to turn around. Her hands caught on the desk, preventing her from falling on it. J.B.’s body pressed into her back, and she felt the stiffness of his erection rubbing against her ass.
     
    Maple moaned.
     
    J.B.’s mouth nuzzled against her ear. “You make me so goddamned angry, Maple. And so--” his free hand reached around her front, groping her breast. He wouldn’t miss that she wasn’t wearing a bra. “So fucking hard.” He palmed her breast, squeezing until she gasped and arched back into him.
     
    His hand tugged her head back further, her neck craned. The other hand released her breast and crept slowly, tantalizing and terrifyingly slow, up to her throat. It cupped her there. She knew he’d feel the rapid-fire pounding of her heart through her delicate skin.
     
    “Why can’t you just obey?” The question hissed in her ear, making her quiver. “Why do you challenge me?” The fingers on her throat tightened. Her breaths became thin wheezes. Maple’s eyes rolled, and her hips ground against J.B.
     
    “Damn you,” he cursed, the pressure growing on her neck until she couldn’t inhale. Burning air immediately built in her lungs. Between her legs she was aching, her clit so swollen just a touch would set her off. “Damn what you do to me!”
     
    J.B. released her throat, and she drew a deep, bruising inhale. He let go of her hair, too. Both of his hands reached around her, quickly unbuttoning her shirt. Working quickly, he unbuttoned it all of the way, yanking it off and down.
     
    “Pull your pants down,” he commanded.
     
    There was a voice that J.B. used when training the pony girls. It