Power Play

Pleasure Playground Series: Book 2

She wants the escape. He wants control. They both need love.

Jennifer Croft is at the peak of her career. As a bondage model at Altered Ego, she’s become the crème de la crème of the fetish world, ensuring herself a top spot in her profession. The world is her oyster. Her personal life on the other hand… It’s not pretty. Only her fascination with pain play keeps the ghosts of her past at bay.

After tragedy sends Daegan McKenna to the South for a much needed change of pace, the last thing he expects to find is a closet submissive hiding in plain sight. She’s hot-tempered and in denial — a heady combination that brings out the dominant looking for a challenge. He’s already loved and lost more than one man should, but the haunted look in her eyes prompts him to make her an offer. He’ll indulge her darkest fantasies, if she’ll agree to give up control. Then he’ll let her go.

Unfortunately, the past never stays in the past and old insecurities cause complications neither of them wanted. Now temporary is not enough.

Excerpt

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An Excerpt From: Power Play

Copyright © Eliza Gayle, 2012

All Rights Reserved, Loose ID

“I hope you brought the remote.”

Silence.

“What remote?” She hesitated. “Why?”

“Well, for one, the only way you’re going to get a light on in this room is either from the remote or the outside control panel.”

Daegan swore her breathing increased. He hoped she didn’t have a panic attack. He wanted to spend time with her but not in that capacity.

“And for two?”

“You let the door close fully behind you. It automatically locks –”

“And we need the remote to open it,” she finished.

“Aye.”

“Please tell me you’re pulling my leg. This is some kind of joke right?”

Daegan reached for where he thought she stood and circled her wrist. He leaned forward and whispered, “No. I’m definitely not pulling your leg.”

As much as he wanted to see her reaction, he didn’t need his eyes to hear the hitch in her throat or her breath coming in short pants. What he wasn’t sure about was whether it was anxiety or excitement she felt.

“Don’t panic,” He kept his voice calm and reassuring. “It won’t take long for someone to figure out we’re in here. In the meantime –”

“What? Are you crazy? Everyone is gone. I had to use my employee code to get back in the building.”

“Jennifer.”

She didn’t answer.

“It’s not a big deal. Worst-case scenario, we wait until morning when Chase comes in.”

“Not a big deal?” she barked at him. “Everything is a big deal with you. Ever since you made that offer to me, it’s been a big fucking deal. Every time I turn around you’re there. Every time I talk to Murphy he brings you up. Even Eve and Chase have encouraged me in your direction. So don’t tell me it’s not a big deal, because it is a big fucking deal.”

Not the least bit surprised by her outburst, Daegan wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her onto his lap. “Okay, love. ’Tis a big deal.” He brushed his hand along her back in an attempt to soothe her. “Unfortunately, it looks like you’re stuck with me for the night.”

“What about your cell phone? Just call Chase and ask him to get us out.”

He shook his head. “Don’t have it. I left it upstairs so I wouldn’t be tempted to interrupt the party with work.”

“Of course. Figures.”

He tightened his hold around her waist. “Come on, love. Don’t get cross with me. I was sitting here minding my own business when you decided to join me.”

Jennifer blew out a rough breath and wriggled on his lap. Good lord, she knew how to fire his blood. Her ire did nothing to detract his attentions. Quite the opposite. Her spitfire attitude drew him in even deeper, like a moth to flame. And her backside right against his groin teased his hard-on to the limit of what he could take. She smelled good too. Sweet and saucy was certainly a potent combination.

The fact he couldn’t see her at all through the inky darkness only seemed to sharpen his other senses.

She tried to pull away, and he ignored her attempts.

“There has got to be a way out of here. I mean who puts in a door with no knobs on the inside?”

Daegan smiled. “Was that a rhetorical question?”

Her shoulders lifted in a subtle shrug.

“A mean contractor with a hell of a sadistic side. That’s who creates a room like this.”

He felt the moment she gave in to her fate. Her rigid body posture relaxed a fraction, and the nails digging into his thigh eased their pressure.

“I’m just tired. It’s been a long day, and I was looking forward to…”

She stopped before she finished, but it didn’t take long to put two and two together and deduce she’d planned on a trip to the club tonight. Probably to relieve her frustration. A wave of possessiveness rolled over him. That she’d reject his offer in favor of a scene with a stranger annoyed the hell out of him. Not to mention he was sick and tired of talking about it. He had to take action.

Daegan brushed her hair to the side, leaned down and bit her skin, right in the curve between her neck and shoulder.

“You’re not alone, you know. I had a different idea on how tonight would go.”

“You thought I would say yes to becoming your play toy for the next few months?”

She sounded breathless when she said that. He liked that very much. Even better was the way she relaxed into him, her body slowly becoming compliant to his touch. Did she even notice how well she responded to him? He seriously doubted it. If she did, there’d be walls slamming into place before he got in a word edgewise. He wanted her as so much more than a simple plaything, but he’d go on letting her believe differently — for now.

This one needed him to go extra slow when it came to getting to the deep-down submission he craved. If he pushed too hard, she’d go into hiding. So he’d go slow, give her pleasure, make her beg for more, and then… A little training could go a long way.

Daegan drew back and despite the darkness, he envisioned the confused look on her face. The full kissable lips that beckoned him every time he saw her. But most of all, the look in her eyes made it clear her life was missing something fairly major. “You were going to go to Purgatory tonight and play, weren’t you?”

“I don –” He placed a fingertip against her lips.

“Yes or no. I don’t need an explanation, an excuse, or any other variation of a long answer. Yes or no, Jennifer.”

A slow exhale brushed past his finger. “Yes.”

“Good girl.” He cupped her chin and lifted her face to his as if they could see each other’s eyes. “You can’t run this time, love.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, slipping his tongue between her slightly parted lips. The simple kiss quickly intensified when he took her mouth in nothing short of possession. A floodgate in his chest burst open. He pulled her closer and poured every ounce of frustration from the last few weeks into the joining of their flesh. To his surprise, she kissed him back with a fervor equal to his own. Heat, lust, desire, want, everything he’d felt for her flowed between them. He could master her, and this was his way of letting her know it without words. Words scared her, but actions didn’t seem to. So he’d spend the night giving her more than she knew she desired.

Daegan didn’t hesitate to make his move. He slid his hand up her back and buried it in her hair. With more than a handful, he pulled hard, breaking the kiss and drinking in the loud gasp like music to his ears.

“Tell me what you need tonight.” The whispered words between them lingered in the air.

“I can’t,” she whispered, pain echoing in those two words.

“Can’t or won’t?”

“You don’t understand.” The hitch in her voice attacked his resolve.

“Then help me understand. Tell me.”

A quiet sob filled the space between them. “I go to the club because it’s the only way I know how to erase the noise.”

Daegan stilled. Not in a million years did he expect a confession like that. He’d grown so accustomed to her pithy comebacks and angry responses, the truth hit him in the chest like a wicked curveball out of left field. It was important to proceed with caution, but he had to know more. “What noise, love?” He didn’t dare loosen his hold on her hair, but he couldn’t resist leaning forward to nip at her chin.

“It’s all noise. Everything. The constant chaos of life is relentless. I only wanted a few minutes of peace.” Her voice cracked on the last word. Daegan had to fight the impulse to gather her in his arms and soothe away whatever this was. God, he had to tread carefully. If he broke the moment now, he feared there wouldn’t be another.

“Jennifer, trust me for tonight. Trust me to help you.”

She whimpered, the sound raising the hair on his arms. Her desire for what he offered lived so close to the surface. If only he could get her to admit it. The challenge of it intrigued him beyond anything in a very long time. He wanted — no, needed to do this.

“Just for tonight?”

Have you read the 1st book in the Pleasure Playground series, Midnight Playground? It’s available now. While both stories stand alone, characters from Midnight Playground are revisited in Power Play.