Nassir seemed oblivious to it all. He had two laptops open and was focused on something on his phone. He looked up when I started to move across the room toward him, but I couldn’t meet his gaze. I was transfixed by what was happening behind him and couldn’t look away.
“You have the private rooms wired?” It was a stupid question but it was all I could manage.
“Just the rooms that people pay for. The private rooms like the one you sent the blonde off into are not.” He lifted an eyebrow at me. “By the way, that was nice what you did with her. That’s exactly why I wanted you on board with this club. You understand human sexuality and the innate fear people have of it better than anyone I have ever met.”
I lifted an eyebrow at him. “You do realize that a king without people to lord over is nothing more than a lonely man on a fancy chair, right? You can’t have power if there isn’t someone to exert it over. People and prestige go hand in hand, Nassir.” I ignored the way my words made his face darken, and asked, “Why have cameras only in the rooms people pay for?”
He snorted and waved a hand behind his head. “Because people pay for outrageous stuff they can’t get on their own. A little spanking, some light bondage, a submissive to practice basic S&M on, that’s stuff any average Joe can usually scare up if they look hard enough.” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “The kind of stuff going on in those rooms is easier to pay for.”
“How can you work with all of that . . . sex”—I wasn’t sure that was the right word for all the crazy I was witnessing behind him but it would have to do— “going on behind you? Isn’t it distracting?”
He touched the screen of his phone and the video feed went black. “That is work. The guy on the end of the leash is a federal judge. The woman chained up is a district attorney and the couple that paid for the orgy own one of the biggest import and export companies in the state.”
I pushed some of my hair off my face and moved to prop myself up on the edge of his desk. “You set them up. They can’t know you are filming them. They would never agree to that.”
He leaned back in his chair and his dark eyebrows shot up. He always looked like he was up to no good—probably because he typically was.
“Sometimes people ignore all the risks associated with going after something they want. If I promise to make fantasy a reality, then all bets are off.”
I sighed and let my gaze rove over him. He had on a dark gray shirt that was unbuttoned at the collar and his typical suit jacket and neatly pressed slacks. If I could see below the desk, I bet the shoes he had on cost more than mine. My devil dressed to the nines and always looked sharp. That was his disguise, but it never fooled me. I should be used to the impact he had on me but I wasn’t, and my pulse jumped when his gaze settled on me.
“Do you even see human beings or just opportunities and dollar signs?” He’d told me that he saw me, but I wondered if I was an anomaly in his world.
“Depends on what I need them for. All of the people in those rooms knew what they were getting into when they plunked their cash down to indulge their proclivities. They know I’ll give them anonymity, a place to do their thing, and in return, when I need a favor, they will provide it. It’s an even exchange.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, which pushed my breasts up and almost over the top of the fabric. Nassir noticed and my body reacted without thought. Being around him always made me feel like I was moving through a fog of sexual tension and repressed desire. He made the air thick and I could feel his eyes on me like a physical touch. It was getting tougher to convince myself that I couldn’t do forever with a man like him.
“Nothing with you is an even exchange. They think you’ll ask for one favor, but you won’t. You’ll ask for as many as you need, and if they don’t comply, you’ll remind them that you can air their dirty laundry anytime you want to. The second they stepped foot into your trap, you owned them.”
He laced his fingers together and laid them across his flat stomach. I watched the movement and decided he was too far away. Before he could argue with me or tell me I was right about his tricks of the trade, I walked the rest of the way around his desk and planted myself squarely in his lap. He let out a surprised grunt and lifted his hands like he was going to pull me closer. At the last second he swore and put them on the arms of his chair, curling his fingers around the leather like it was a lifeline.
I used the tip of my index finger to trace the way his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as I breathed against his throat. I wanted to lick him, so I did. He tasted tangy and salty, just like I knew he would. He said my name in a low voice as I trailed the tip of my tongue along the thick vein that ran up the side of his neck until I reached his ear. His too-long hair tickled the end of my nose as I nuzzled into him and his body went stone still when I traced the outer shell of his ear before whispering, “How far do I have to push until you fall for me?”
He chuckled and it shifted me on his lap so that there was no missing the bulge hidden behind his expertly tailored trousers.
“I like it when you push at me, Key, even when you’re pushing me away. I mean, you’re here and you’re fighting, me or yourself. It doesn’t matter.” He smirked at me and my heart flipped over. “But I fell for you long ago, so there’s nowhere else for me to go.”
That made the iron grip I had on my heart slip just a fraction. It would be so very easy to hand it over to him.