Hair-pulling, backbreaking, mind-numbing sex.

He crossed to the closet and pulled it open. “Hello, beautiful.” Everything he needed to torment a woman into mindless pleasure lined the walls. He eyed the first row of vibrators—small ones, big ones, and waterproof ones.

Yes, he could do a lot of damage with those.

The second row held his instruments. Nipple clamps, feather dusters, clothespins, and zip ties lined the shelves. He pulled out his replacement Wartenberg wheel and placed it carefully on the shelf.

He couldn’t imagine not wanting to make a woman beg or not wanting to control each and every aspect of her response. Watching that moment, when a woman looked at him with absolute and complete trust, it was better than a drug. He needed to feel that instant when they gave themselves over to his inevitable possession. Without it, sex was mechanical. An act between two bodies as opposed to the union of two people.

Sensation play was something he’d gotten into by accident. He hadn’t been looking for a “lifestyle,” but he’d happened to date a woman who was heavily into BDSM. To Elliott’s surprise, his natural tendencies in the bedroom were apparently hard to find and in high demand. For him, it was just a natural part of his personality.

For women like Carly, it was a highly sought-out characteristic. Eli sighed and threw the empty box on his bed. His one night of stupidity had already complicated his life immensely. Women were such emotional creatures, something Eli feared and respected at the same time.

It had been obvious for a long time that Carly was willing to “assist” in more ways than one. She’d intercepted one of his packages he’d accidentally had shipped to the office. The order had been for a new flogger, a sweet brown cowhide that was only available online. He’d intended to ship it directly to the Springfield house but had inadvertently put in the billing address, which was to his office. He’d told Carly to intercept the package and bring it directly to him. She’d caught the mailroom worker just as he was cutting into the packaging.

As soon as she brought it to him, he’d known she’d looked inside.

“You shouldn’t have gone there.” He blew out a breath and flopped down on his bed. His reflection stared balefully back at him. A late night when she’d stopped by to bring him his cleaning had turned into ordering dinner and then ordering her onto her knees.

He’d avoided female company for years and then had only allowed himself quick, impersonal encounters in clubs and hotel rooms. To allow her to come here and enter his personal space had been a mistake.

One he would pay for again and again.

CHAPTER THREE

THE SOUND OF the doorbell ringing was like nails on a chalkboard. Eli pulled out his phone and brought up the camera feed for the front door. Carly stood on the front step, holding a brown paper bag. He groaned and rolled over. Allowing her to come here again had been a mistake. She needed a firm hand, and any sense of softness on his side simply gave her hope of more.

No doubt she’d concocted some excuse for why she’d needed to come back. A document he’d forgotten to sign or something she’d conveniently left behind.

He stalked down the hall and to the front door. When he yanked it open, the smile on her face faded. “What are you doing back here?”

She looked down at the bag she held and then back up at him. “I forgot something. Since I had to come back anyway, I brought you dinner.”

Eli accepted the bag. “Thank you, but you really shouldn’t have.” Guilt assailed him. She’d done something nice, and he’d bitten her head off.

“It was no trouble.” Carly pushed past him and walked toward the kitchen.

He followed reluctantly. “You still shouldn’t have.” Eli held her gaze until he was sure she got the message.

Her shoulders drooped slightly before she picked up the purple gloves on the edge of the counter. “I really did forget something. See?”

While she yanked the gloves on angrily, Eli’s gaze settled on a box at her feet.

“What’s in the box?”

She glared at him and then picked it up and placed it on the counter. “I don’t know. This is one of the boxes I left here earlier. You didn’t open it?”

“I didn’t see it.”

“The mail room said it was some kind of present. Something personal from a former client.”

Eli pulled the box toward him. Kaylee’s name was on the upper corner of the label. His heart sped up a little at the sight. Why would she send him a gift? The only people who ever sent him gifts were his family members, and they wouldn’t bother to mail it. They'd just wait until he came home and hand it to him. The last time he’d seen Kay had been at Christmas. He’d given her a present, just a necklace with her daughter’s birthstone. He’d done it because he wanted to see her bright brown eyes light up. He hadn’t done it to make her feel obligated to give him something in return.

He yanked at the tape on the box. Even though he’d long ago made the decision to have his mail checked at headquarters before he opened it personally, they still tried to give him some illusion of privacy by closing his envelopes and packages back partially and securing them with tape.

Inside the box there was an unsealed, padded envelope. He tipped it over and something slid out, weighty in his palm. Frowning, Eli turned it over, examining the ceramic cat figurine with interest. Why would she send him a knickknack? He wasn’t the type of guy who collected shit. He glanced around at the barren decor of his house. Anyone who knew him—hell, anyone who’d ever met him—knew that dainty breakables weren’t his style.