Page 25 of Adam’s Obsession

Katherine never wore red. Never wore anything but mutedcolors, beige and cream and gray, gray, gray. If she wore red today, not onlywould it confirm her online alias, it would be a sign to Savage that she waswilling to submit to his demands, that she fully accepted his dominance in therelationship and understood the rules implicit in their play.

They’d danced around that nuance in their trysts but theundercurrent was always there. It was as though they were skating on the edgeof a cliff, longing to leap into the chasm but fearing the fall.

But now the urge to nudge her closer to the precipice was rising.He wanted her. He wanted her beneath him. He wanted her begging beneathhim. What’s more, he suspected she craved the same. If she wore red today, he’dknow she wanted him to take the next step.

Please God, he sent up a silent prayer. Let herwear red.

Besides, the demon inside him chortled, if he could succeedin getting her to wear red—a color so evocative at its core, so contrary to thefaçade she liked to present—who knew what he could convince her to wear? Heels?A Wonderbra? No bra?

Maybe he could get her to wear her hair down. Oh. Now therewas a fantasy. He could see it spilling, falling in thick, glossy ropes aroundher shoulders and down her back. How long was it? He had no idea. He’d neverseen it down.

A sudden obsession gripped him—the burning desire to yankout the pins and watch that honey hair tumble—but he quickly sloughed it off.Their noon meeting was approaching. The last thing he wanted to do was walkinto the boardroom with his binder shielding his crotch like a kid in junior highwho’d just discovered porn.

He forced those errant thoughts to the back of his mind andfocused on putting the finishing touches on his portion of the presentation.They would merge everyone’s contribution into a seamless whole during themeeting. If past experience held true, it would probably be a long one.

Adam was the first one to the boardroom—afterShannon-of-the-phenomenal-coffee. He set up his laptop at his usual spot,facing the glass windows and the hallway, and laid out the hard copies of hispresentation in neat little piles. And he waited.

He nodded to each member of the team as they filed into theroom. Tristan and Jack and Jenny. The hands on the clock inched closer andcloser to noon—and still no Katherine. He shifted impatiently. Where was she?

At ten minutes after the hour, Adam was beginning to thinkshe wasn’t going to make it. Then the door at the end of the hall opened andSara and Katherine emerged. His heart set up a mad clatter in his chest.

But when he saw what she was wearing, his heart sank.

It was the same damn suit and blouse she’d been wearingyesterday, though slightly more rumpled. Obviously, she’d never gone home lastnight. Sharp disappointment welled and he fixed his attention on the table. Adark, heavy, bitter feeling settled in his stomach, an acrid taste filled hismouth.

Had he imagined everything? Had it just been wishfulthinking?

Or was she really, truly his Wildkat but just not willing totake the plunge with him? Both prospects were equally disheartening. Both causedhim to castigate himself as a fool. He’d made too much of this. He’d givenit—her—too much meaning, too much importance. He’d sworn he’d never dosomething so idiotic again, he’d never let himself want someone again—andagain, he’d stepped right into the gaping maw of biting disillusion.

Steeped in this wash of emotion and fighting for controlover it, Adam didn’t look up as Sara and Katherine came into the room.

“So good of you to join us.” Tristan had never been good athiding his sarcasm.

“Sorry we’re late,” Sara said breathlessly. “We stayed upall night to finish.”

“All right. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Adam’s eyes were drawn to Katherine as she stood to hook herlaptop to the overhead projector. He didn’t mean to glance at her, much lesswatch her every move—it was rather painful for him at the moment—but hecouldn’t help it. He studied her every move the way a starving man inspects abanquet.

She bent over to plug in a cord and his eyes traced thecurve of her ass. She leaned forward to connect the USB and he made note of theway her jacket molded her breasts. She stretched to adjust the presentationscreen and…and…

Adam froze as he saw it. A tiny flash of red. It peeped outfrom beneath her jacket. His heart thumped painfully. His gaze sharpened andhis nostrils twitched but Katherine had settled down in front of the computerto run the presentation and the flash of red had disappeared.

Elation swelled within him, along with a certain body part.

The minx. She was wearing red, just not where it was visible.

Come hell or high water, he was going to get her to take offthat jacket.

He picked up his coffee mug, stood, stretched and casuallywandered over to the beverage bar. Once there, he surreptitiously flipped thethermostat to off, effectively killing the air-conditioning. Biting back hisevil grin, he meandered back to the table and resumed his seat.

Sara was in rare form, discussing the various pages of theirpresentation. Adam, Jenny and Jack made contributions where their data fit intothe flow. The meeting was animated, spirited and very productive. Before long,the room became warm. In their zeal, no one noticed—at least not enough tocomment. But Adam-of-the-watchful-eye noticed a trickle of sweat form onKatherine’s brow and then trace a delicate path down her cheek.

He removed his blazer and like dominos, they all fell.Jackets and sweaters were removed as their erstwhile wearers hunkered in closerand focused on the presentation. Katherine was the last to succumb. Adamwatched through veiled lashes as she stood and unbuttoned her jacket. Sheslipped it off.

His breath snagged, his pulse leapt, an agonizing acheswelled in his groin, in his chest. A burning pain roared through him as herjacket fell to the back of her chair, revealing an elegant damask vest. It wastight on her, emphasizing her rounded breasts and pinning her tiny waist.Turning her from a tightly wrapped businesswoman into a tempting seductress.

Oh. And it was red.