Page 1 of Adam’s Obsession

Chapter One

Katherine Hart let herself into her condo and tossed herpurse and keys on the table by the door. She kicked off her shoes, rushed intothe bedroom and turned on her laptop. It might have been her steamingimpatience but it seemed to take forever so she headed into the kitchen to poura glass of wine. She yanked her hair from its prim bun and released the buttonsof her Armani blouse along the way. It fluttered, forgotten, to the floor.

She glanced at the clock on the wall and made a face. Shewas late.

As she scampered barefoot across the plush carpet back intothe bedroom, the computer chimed that it had completed its annoying cycle andKatherine logged online. While she waited for Internet Explorer to surface, shechanged into her silky teddy—the one he liked her to wear because itmade her nipples hard. She knew what was coming so she didn’t bother with thematching panties.

This sharp edge of anticipation always surprised her. She’dnever even met the man, for heaven’s sake. Then again, Savage made her hotterthan any man she’d met in real life.

Well. Except for one guy.

Katherine plopped on the bed and sipped her wine, staring atthe computer, willing it to work faster. When the window finally opened, shelogged on to the Playground—billed as a hot chat site for sexy singles—andskimmed her “friends” column. Her stomach plunged—just a little—when sherealized Savage wasn’t logged on.

He wasn’t there.

She took another fortifying snort of wine and wanderedthrough the rest of the site, scanning for other friends and acquaintances. Shepopped over to check a few news and rumor sites she liked to keep up with butall the while, a hard ball sat in her belly. All the while, a little voice keptwhispering, He didn’t come.

He didn’t come.

She’d spent the whole day thinking about this. About him.Obviously, he had not.

Though she knew she shouldn’t, she padded into the kitchenand poured herself another glass of wine. After a fleeting internal debate, shebrought the bottle with her into the bedroom.

She was well into her third glass of Riesling when a softchime alerted her that she had a private message. Her heart leapt as sheflicked over to the window. It thudded at the sight of his screen name.

He was here.

Breathless with anticipation, she clicked on the box.

SAVAGE: You’re late, babe. We were supposed to meet at six.Where’ve you been?

WILDKAT: Sorry. Traffic was horrible. It’s raining here andpeople forget how to drive when it rains.

The San Fernando Valley was notorious for rain-engenderedidiots.

SAVAGE: No excuse. It’s raining here too but I managed tomake it on time.

WILDKAT: I came straight home.

SAVAGE: Come on, Kat. I was here at six. Waiting for you. Imade dinner and checked the sports news and went through my mail—and you stillweren’t here. I think you were just dawdling.

WILDKAT: I wasn’t. I swear.

SAVAGE: Do you know what I think?

WILDKAT: What?

SAVAGE: I think you’ve been a bad girl. I think you need tobe punished. I think you need a spanking.

Katherine’s breath caught as Savage unerringly zeroed in onher deepest fantasy, stroked her secret passion. She’d always dreamed of amasterful lover, someone who would command her, take her, mercilessly make hercome, but she’d never had the courage to suggest it. At least not after thatdisastrous episode when a guy laughed in her face.

Then again, pretty much everything with Stu had beendisastrous. Hence the pretend relationships with pretend men in a make-believeuniverse.

SAVAGE: Wildkat? Are you still there? Did the spanking thingscare you away?

WILDKAT: Yeah. I’m here. Sorry. You just caught me offguard.

SAVAGE: Did I shock you?