Dare to Surrender Read online

  Violet gave her a wide smile. “Thanks, Joy. I just might do that.”

  “She’s in bed. I got her to agree to let me take care of you tonight.”

  The girls looked up to see Ash standing in the hallway. “I’m sorry, Ash,” Violet said.

  Ash came into the room and stood before his sister. “I’ve told you a million times, never apologize to me.”

  “I know, but—”

  “Do you need me to spend the night?”

  Violet shook her head. “You’ve spent all this money making this place accessible for me. I’ll be fine, I promise. Can you just help me change for bed?”

  “Definitely.” He looked at Joy. “Do you mind waiting a bit?”

  She shook her head. “No, of course not.”

  Violet moved a control on the right armrest of her wheelchair and backed up a few inches. “It was lovely to meet you, Joy.”

  “Hang on!” Joy dug into her bag, produced a pen and paper, and scribbled her number on it. “Remember what I said. Call me anytime.”

  Violet smiled, her blue eyes warm. “I will. Definitely.”

  Ash followed his sister out of the room, but not before something flashed across his face, something Joy swore could have been admiration.

  And it tore her apart inside.

  The rain had faded to a light patter on the windshield as they drove north, back toward San Francisco. So much had happened that day: discovering Panos had sold the sculpture, the mind-blowing sex in the darkroom, the trip to Ash’s family home, meeting his sister.

  Finding out that Ash had a personal vendetta against thieves.

  She felt like there was a twisting, turning ball of anxiety in her core, tearing her insides apart like jagged wire.

  She had to tell him. And it wasn’t the fact that she was developing feelings for him that made her so afraid to do so; it was the fact that he seemed to trust her, and she was going to break that trust. She had the distinct feeling Ash didn’t trust easily.

  He was going to hate her. And because she was selfish, she also couldn’t help but think that she was about to lose her job. All because of one stupid, impetuous impulse. You never think, Joy.

  “Joy, thank you for coming with me tonight. You were… very kind.” His face was tight, his gaze aimed straight ahead.

  “I didn’t do anything.”

  “You didn’t freak out when you met my sister.”

  “Why would I?”

  He gave a wry bark of laughter. “You’d be surprised. But somehow I knew you’d be okay. You’re a good person.”

  Stop saying things like that!

  “I feel bad.”

  She twisted to face him. “What? Why do you feel bad?”

  “Because you’ve been trying to talk to me about something for a few days, and I keep cutting you off.”

  “Oh, it’s okay. Really.” Joy Procrastination Montgomery. That should be her legal name.

  “No, it’s not. And I’m pretty sure I know what you want to say.”

  She froze. “You do?”

  “It’s about the art, isn’t it?”

  She thought she might puke up the cheeseburger from earlier. “How did you know?” she whispered.

  “It’s pretty obvious.”

  “Are you horribly mad?”

  He glanced her way, his brows furrowed. “Of course I’m not mad. It’s your job.”

  “I-it is?”

  “Yeah. You work for a gallery. You want my art. It’s your job.”

  She stared at him. “You mean…?”

  “Yeah. I’ll do a show for you. After tonight, I think it’s the least I can do. But I have a stipulation.”

  She could barely speak, let alone negotiate. “Okay. Right.”

  “No sculpture; only photographs I already have and any I take of you.”

  She recoiled. “Me?”

  “You got it. Like the ones I took of you the other night, on the table.”

  Out of nowhere, the memory made her tingle a little bit, everywhere. “Um, Ash. I don’t know.”

  “You want erotic art, right?”

  Or I’ll be fired. “Yes.” They could discuss the sculpture later. She was sure she could persuade him to include those beautiful pieces.

  “And, Joy?” He slanted her a look.

  “Yes?”

  “I plan on taking some more. Pictures of you, that is.”

  “You do?” she squeaked.

  “A lot more.”

  “Who’s going to want to see pictures of me? Naked?” A shudder of fear went through her. It was like her worst nightmare coming to life, and yet she was in no position to argue. He was going to do a show for her!

  “Didn’t you like the photographs you saw earlier in my darkroom? You sure seemed to. In fact, I think you liked everything that happened earlier tonight. You like to be mine for a little while, don’t you?”

  She tried to ignore her pulse, now racing from his words. “I don’t think it’s a good idea, Ash. Really.”

  “Are you questioning my artistic vision?”

  “No… but I just don’t think people are going to want to see that.”

  “See what?” he asked.

  “Me, my body…”

  “You’re crazy.”

  She lifted her chin; this was ridiculous. “Ash! Come on. I’m no model!” Her skin burned from humiliation and shame and frustration. The day had been too long.

  She saw his jaw clench, and then he whipped the car to the right, headed up an off-ramp. They went about a quarter mile in silence before he slowed down. He’d pulled off on a scenic overlook, and for miles beyond and below, the lights of the Bay Area stretched before them, dazzling and blurred through the rainy windshield.

  He snapped off his seat belt and faced her. “Who fucked you up?”

  “What?”

  “You suffer from a major case of delusion, and I want to know why.”

  His words were making the nervous ball in her gut churn faster. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “You like my art, right?”

  “Yes!”

  “Yet you question my judgment when I say I want to showcase you as a model. So, what’s the problem?”

  Too many years, too many words over time, had been too deeply ingrained inside her head to suddenly become undone just because Ash Hunter said it was so. She knew who she was; she’d lived in her body for twenty-nine years. Was she supposed to change her identity just because he instructed her to?

  Leaning her head back against the seat, she closed her eyes. “Listen. It’s been a long day. Can we just go home?”

  “No.”

  “No?”

  “Now I’m mad at you.”

  Blinking, she just stared at him. “What?”

  “For not believing me when I tell you something. Take off your shirt.”

  The look in his eyes had changed; gone was the harried expression from earlier, and in its place was something she was beginning to recognize, respond to. Sex: the ultimate way to lose oneself.

  He was offering and she couldn’t say no. Girl, you are so messsed up! You need to tell him the truth and be done with it!

  But then he pushed some books aside and scooted over until he sat in the center of the bench seat. He faced her, and she wanted him so much it burned inside her like a wildfire.

  “I said, take it off.”

  Hands trembling, heart racing, she pulled his sweatshirt over her head and threw it in the backseat. It was then that she smelled stale French fries from earlier, and the memory of what she’d eaten in front of him was almost more embarrassing than sitting before him in her jeans and bra. She couldn’t look attractive, not after tonight.

  “See? There you go again, thinking things that aren’t true.”

  How could he read her mind like that?

  He pulled her toward him, and she was surprised when, instead of kissing her, he bent her over his lap. She felt his hand on her back roaming, calming. “Beautiful
, pale skin. Were you sore from the spanking I gave you the other night?”

  Her skin went hot at the words, and her pussy clenched. The memory made her throb between her legs. “Just for a bit.” She was surprised, and surprisingly disappointed, her skin hadn’t been red from the spanking he’d given her.

  She felt his palm on her bottom, cupping her through her jeans, rubbing her cheeks through the denim.

  Glancing over her shoulder, she asked, “Are you going to do it again? Spank me?”

  “Definitely. Every time you put yourself down, you get a spanking.”

  “I’m not sure that’s the best incentive.”

  “I better think of a new one, then, but for now you are definitely going to be disciplined. Now, take off your jeans and panties.”

  Slowly, Joy lifted her hips to scoot out of her clothing. He pulled off her shoes, slid her jeans, then her panties, down her legs, and tossed them aside. The air was cold on her bare skin, but now that she was naked, she felt his erection pressing against her side and a hot flush went through her.

  His hand was on her ass, his palm warm and solid on the skin above her leg. He took his right leg and slung it across the back of her knees, and then, with one hand, he drew her arm behind her back, pinning her to him. The submissive position made her sex start to throb.

  “Are you ready, Joy?”

  “Yes,” she breathed.

  Smack, smack. His palm struck her right cheek, then her left. It stung but not as much as that time in the kitchen, and the pain tingled through her.

  “Good girl.” He smacked her again, right cheek, left cheek, repeating the rhythm over and over, just enough pressure to make her veins run hot with desire, to make her squirm, but not so hard the pain was too much.

  “I’m just warming you up, baby. I can barely see the way your ass is turning red. Is it starting to burn?”

  “Yes…” It was a slow burn, getting hotter and hotter as he continued. Smack, smack. He never lost his steady rhythm.

  “Oh, please…” She tried to move, but he’d immobilized her; she felt her hand clenching behind her back as she writhed on his lap. “It hurts; fuck, it’s starting to hurt!”

  “I bet. But I also bet you’re fucking wet for me. Let me check.” He lifted his leg so he could reach between her thighs and slide a finger across her wet folds, and, she cried out in pleasure.

  “Yes, you love this, don’t you?” he asked, his voice husky.

  “Yes,” she breathed. “Don’t stop, not yet.”

  “I wasn’t going to. I’m not stopping until you beg me to.”

  He used his fingers to tease her one more second, and then his leg was clamped down behind her knees again. Then his hand struck her, harder than before.

  “Ow!” But it was a good pain, the kind that made everything around her fade away as sensation took over her body, her mind.

  “That’s right. Tell me how much it hurts.” He picked up where he’d left off, switching sides, her ass burning more and more with each slap. She was on fire; it was spreading from her ass to her pussy, to her blood.

  “Oh, fuck! That fucking hurts!”

  “Good.” He tugged her arms tighter behind her so she had to arch slightly back, and he clamped his legs around hers a bit harder. So helpless as he continued to spank her; and she continued to lose herself.

  “Let me hear you, Joy. Tell me how much it hurts.” Slap slap slap.

  “Oh my God, it fucking hurts!” She tried to writhe, to ease the ache between her legs, but he had her totally restrained. “Yes, Ash, it hurts so fucking much!” She pressed her legs together. “I’m going to…”

  But she didn’t want to come yet. “Please, Ash,” she panted. “Please, stop…”

  He softly rubbed her burning ass. “Ah, yes, my beautiful girl. You can’t take it one more second, can you? You need to come with me inside you, don’t you?”

  Her heart was in her throat, and her brain was fuzzy. She couldn’t think; she was floating.

  He lifted her until she straddled him, and she dropped onto his body like a useless heap, nestling her face next to his. But between her legs, she felt his erection through his jeans, felt the hard surface of the button-fly against her pussy. “Fuck me,” she whispered into his ear.

  He brushed a wild strand of hair off her face. “Oh, Joy. Beautiful girl.”

  She smiled against his ear. When he said it like that, she nearly believed him. It was such a strange feeling, so unfamiliar, it would have frightened her in any other situation, but she was too far out of her head right then to fight it, to fight anything. When she felt like this, it was so easy to forget everything else, and she welcomed it.

  He lifted his hips, sliding his jeans down his legs. Eyes closed, she heard him open a condom and roll it onto his erection. Reaching between their bodies, he took the base of his cock in his hand. She didn’t need any instructions; she sank onto him, filled herself as deeply as she could. They both stilled, savoring the moment their bodies joined. Linked, connected. She met his gaze, and his eyes were dark, reflecting the dim glow of the streetlight.

  She didn’t know what was happening. She felt like an entirely different person than she had just one week ago, like something in the universe had shifted. When she was with Ash, everything felt right. And yet she barely even knew him.

  This was the longest booty call in history.

  Pushing all other thoughts away, she lifted her hips and sank back down on him. He tilted his head back on the seat, his eyes drifting shut. “That’s it, Joy. Fuck me.”

  His hands gripped her burning ass and sent a new wave of lust over her. She braced her hands on the seat, riding him, using him the way he’d used her. Fucked him until she saw a sheen of sweat on his brow.

  “Yeah, baby. Fuck me until you come. I want to feel you come, Joy.”

  “Yes. Oh, Ash.” She sank deeper, closer to his body so she could rub her clit against his pelvis. Tilted and lifted her body to get it just right.

  “Yes, right there, oh my God…”

  “Touch your breasts, Joy. I want to see you touch yourself.” His eyes were half closed, and his voice was throaty.

  Taking her nipples in both hands, she pulled and pinched, watching his gaze on her body. His grip on her sore ass went even tighter, sending her over the edge. She climaxed, her breasts in her hands, body clenching around his cock. With a powerful groan, he stilled between her legs, and she felt his own orgasm buried deep inside her.

  She wasn’t sure how long they stayed that way, but after a while, reality began to set in. The rain had stopped. The air was chilly on her naked skin. The light feeling she’d been enjoying was slowly being replaced by panic at what she needed to tell Ash.

  Unless…

  She climbed off him and gathered her discarded clothing. “Ash?”

  He was straightening his pants, buttoning them back up. “Yeah?”

  “Are you serious about doing this show?”

  “If you let me use you as the model, sure.”

  “That’s… wonderful.” A plan was starting to form in her head, and as they drove the rest of the way home, she bit her lip, thinking. For the first time, she began to see a way out of this mess, and Ash wouldn’t be any the wiser. If she could pull it off, Ash would never need to know she was a thief.

  Chapter Eleven

  Ash had no idea what he’d been thinking.

  He’d driven Joy home, parked her car, and then hopped a cab back to his place and fallen into bed. By then it was dawn, and he’d woken up in time for lunch, starving.

  Now it was afternoon; he sat at his computer, waiting for it to boot up. The team was scheduled to do a transport later, and Ash would have to be online much of the night, which left the remainder of the day for printing photographs. For at least the twentieth time, he wondered what the hell had gotten into him. Why had he agreed to put on a show for Joy?

  It was, by far, the last thing he needed. But when he was with her, he wanted to pleas
e her, wanted her to be happy. Hell, he felt like that even when she wasn’t around.

  And he needed to capture her: on film, in rope, in his bed. His balls went tight, and he shifted in his chair, pushing the thoughts away.

  His computer screen flashed, and his instant-message window popped up; he already had several messages from the team. They needed him. This and his family, that’s what needed to take priority. When he was with Joy, he wasn’t himself; he lost track of time; he made crazy promises. And he had no control over his libido.

  Things were progressing over there faster than anyone had expected. He’d routed three transfers for American businessmen in the last three days between Baquba and Diyala, two of the most dangerous cities in Iraq. And today the team was escorting a British oil tycoon across the same area. Ash needed to be on top of his game; planning a route free of terrorists, arranging delivery of the appropriate weapons—it was up to him to make sure his team was as safe as possible, and he wasn’t about to let them down because he was distracted by a woman and some photographs.

  A sudden urge to hop on a plane and join his team in the Middle East rushed through him. He recognized the feeling: Run, flee, go.

  But he couldn’t, could he? He’d made promises to people, and he never broke his word. But soon the exhibit would be over. And should he decide to go overseas, his income would triple due to the increased safety risk. The extra money would buy his sister a lot of state-of-the-art equipment.

  His computer beeped with another message, this one indicating the guys needed to know road conditions on a new route. Apparently there had just been a bombing on the track Ash had planned out for them, and now he needed to find alternative, safe roads for the team to travel. Ash immediately snapped his attention to his job. Now, this had to be the priority.

  But he’d made a promise to Joy, and he wouldn’t let her down, either.

  He’d get it done. He’d get it all done. He didn’t know how, but he would.

  The first thing Joy did when she woke up was send an e-mail to start her plan of returning the sculpture before Ash could find out what she’d done. Then she called in sick and didn’t get out of bed except to eat the only thing she could find in the house—microwave popcorn and chocolate ice cream.