No Way Around It Read online

  Without looking, she knew Yale was headed in her direction. He spoke quietly to each individual along the way. Her back muscles tensed. She had nothing positive to report. What would happen if she didn’t prove her worth? Would Yale take her back to the bondage room and whip her into shape?

  That place haunted her. In the privacy of her quarters, she dreamt of Yale tying her up and caressing sensitive spots, sometimes using his hands, sometimes tapping her with the long-handled rubber rectangle she’d seen hanging on the wall. He fondled her breasts and teased her nipples into hard peaks. He rubbed tingly vibrators over her belly and pussy lips. Sometimes he bent her over a spanking bench and paddled her rear end. Hard. Through it all, anxiety rippled through her, yet she savored every minute.

  She’d never fantasized like that in the past. It was disconcerting. She wished she could talk to someone about it. The only person who might understand her unorthodox desires was Fifa, but the collared female’s extreme tastes made Vonna uncomfortable. Plus she didn’t like thinking about Fifa and Yale together in that room.

  “I followed your advice, Vonna.” Yale stood a hair’s breadth away, the smooth sound of his voice and his warmth playing havoc with her senses.

  “Which recommendation would that be?” she asked stiffly. He wasn’t wearing a shirt beneath his open lab coat today. The sheer mass of his chest muscles was astounding. She itched to trace the hard curves beneath her fingertips.

  It was cool in the lab yet perspiration shone in the hollow of his throat. His big body must crank some serious heat.

  “The one that paired up Trippa and Salvi because their work overlapped.” He gently squeezed her arm. “Good call.”

  His touch made her knees weak. The pride in his voice gave her butterflies. Good grief, she hadn’t been this enamored, or wary, of a superior since her university days. “Jaki and I are running enzyme tests on liver tissue. In sixty percent of all cases, the degenerative cells begin there. We’re trying to find out why.”

  His hand slipped down her sleeve, lingered for a few seconds at her wrist, and fell away. “Keep me posted.”

  A tiny spasm near his eye caught her attention. For a moment, he looked unfocused.

  “Yale?”

  He jerked at his name. She’d never addressed him directly before, but she wasn’t sure that’s why he stared at her so hard.

  “You need some sleep,” she told him before she lost her nerve.

  His eyes narrowed.

  Jaki came to her rescue. “She’s right. When was your last break?”

  “I don’t need caretakers in my lab,” he said in a low rumble.

  Yes, you do. Someone needs to look out for you. Curling up beside Yale’s hard body, making sure he drifted off into a deep slumber, held great appeal. “You’re not going to help us find a cure if you can’t concentrate,” Vonna insisted, feeling braver by the second. She was a Distinguished Scientist for heaven’s sake, not an inexperienced intern. An exhausted staff member in a lab full of hazardous chemicals spelled disaster in the making. Someone could get hurt. At the very least, he might knock the calibration on a piece of equipment out of whack. Or… “You might miss something important.”

  Yale glared at Vonna, then Jaki, and back again, assessing her with a look so potent it unsettled her stomach. “If I’m not here, I might miss something important.”

  “I meant in your own findings,” Vonna said, holding his stare without fear. “If you scheduled review meetings every shift, you wouldn’t have to constantly check everyone’s work.”

  “Meetings kill productivity,” he stated brusquely.

  “Lack of communication forces everyone to work twice as hard,” she charged back, feeling like her old self for the first time since she’d arrived. “If you don’t want to attend, fine. I’ll run the meeting and send you the notes from the data stenographer.” The anger she’d seen when she first met him flared in his eyes. Good. At least he didn’t look half dead. “You relate best one-on-one, anyway.”

  His brows lifted at that remark. “Damn right,” he muttered, pinning her with a hard look. “This is my operation, D.S. King, and I’ll run it as I see fit.” A sheen of perspiration gleamed on his chest.

  “You’re going to run it into the ground if you don’t step back, get some rest, and then take a hard look at the inefficiencies with clear eyes.”

  Jaki gasped at Vonna’s effrontery. Even Vonna wondered if she’d said too much, but darn it, everyone seemed to be charging their thrusters and going nowhere.

  Yale looked like he wanted to strangle her. “Go to your quarters, King.”

  “You can’t send me to my room like --”

  “Now!” he roared.

  Reflexively, Vonna lowered her lashes to hide her shock, but a stronger will forced them up. She wouldn’t let Yale intimidate her, especially in front of her friend.

  Jaki had jumped at Yale’s bellow. Now she stared at Vonna, not Yale, amazement parting her lips.

  Yale leaned close to Vonna, nose to nose. “You insult everyone here with your accusations. I won’t have it,” he said in an angry tone. “Go.”

  The retort on the tip of her tongue sizzled into a sigh. She shouldn’t have confronted him in front of everyone. For the past few weeks, she’d been compiling her frustrations and possible solutions, intending to request a private meeting with Yale in his office. It had all boiled over sooner than expected.

  Head held high, Vonna walked out of the lab. Given a little time, he’d mull over her words and realize she was right.

  As soon as she cleared the security door, she plucked the antistatic slippers off her feet. Damn his stubborness! They were close to finding the cure. She could feel it in her bones. All they needed was some organization. A little brainstorming. She didn’t have all the puzzle pieces yet, but Yale did. The answer would probably slap him right in the face if he wasn’t so distracted by fatigue.

  She turned the corner into the residence hallway. For some crazy reason, she’d become attached to Yale. Whatever he required in order to bounce back, she wanted to give it to him. She yearned to see the fire in his eyes, the passion and self-control she’d seen the day she’d met him. Something inside her had clicked into place the first time they’d faced off.

  The trouble was, she hadn’t seen that intensity in him since. Yale’s flame was dying out.

  The thud of heavy feet sounded in the main hallway she’d just left. She looked over her shoulder with vague interest, then stopped walking when she saw Yale stomp past the hallway junction, his fists bunched at his sides. Where was he going? The rec hall?

  An inner devil told her to follow him, and she did. He blazed through the crowded rec hall to the exit on the other side. Vonna slowed. Now she knew where he was headed. Dare she follow? She milled around, chatting briefly with co-workers, slanting frequent sidelong glances at the solid door that led to the bondage room.

  Why had he gone there alone? Despite everyone’s claims to the contrary, she wouldn’t be surprised if he had a secret lover he met instead of resting like he should. She crossed her arms and glared at the closed door. Stupid male. He was going to grind himself into the ground.

  His personal affairs were none of her business, but his health affected them all. The collective brainpower at the lab might be off the IQ charts, but they were primarily introverts. They needed a leader. They needed Yale. If he wavered from his purpose, the operation would collapse. She was going to make sure that didn’t happen.

  As unobtrusively as possible, she squeezed through the sliding panel door and quickly closed it behind her. In the silence of the empty hallway, her bravado suddenly disappeared. What was she doing following Yale into his private sanctuary?

  She stood with her back to the door, her palms flat against the cool metal, feeling the vibration of the noise on the other side. As long as she touched the door, she felt connected to the group in the rec hall. Safe.

  She bit down on her lower lip. The blue-lit hallway seemed sho
rter than she remembered. It wouldn’t take long to walk to the end, punch in the code she’d memorized, and face Yale.

  Was she crazy? What if he was lashing someone? Or fucking?

  The truth was, she had to know. Speculation about what he was doing, and with whom, drove her to distraction. It was maddening!

  Maybe when she saw him with another female, she’d stop dreaming about him.

  With a strong push off the rec hall door, Vonna strode down the carpeted hall.

  Chapter Five

  Vonna pressed her ear to the door. Either it was too thick to hear through or nothing was happening inside -- yet. Taking a deep breath, she keyed the long number sequence into the door’s security pad. As soon as the door began to slide aside, she heard the crack of a whip.

  Every muscle in her body tightened. Intuition told her to leave. Now. But her leg bones had stiffened into titanium rods.

  Yale, wearing only a loincloth, cracked the whip again. It arched high in the air and streaked outward toward… nothing. No one else appeared to be in the room. Over and over, he snapped the whip, over his shoulder, out to the side, the long tail swiftly undulating in snake-like curves. The sharp pops after each throw resonated in the empty room.

  Well, that was one way to vent your aggravation. Vonna relaxed a fraction and stepped into the room. Whether the hiss of the closing door or her reflection in one of the mirrors alerted him of an intruder’s presence, he spun, whip raised high. The tip bit the floor an inch from her bare toes.

  Mouth agape, she froze.

  “Vonna.” He said her name like an accusation. “I sent you to your quarters.”

  She sealed her lips and swallowed.

  He glanced at the closed door and looked back at her face. “How --”

  Forcing the words past her tight throat, she answered his question before he asked it. “I watched you key in the number sequence.”

  He scrutinized her from head to toe. “Did you?” A hard intensity glittered in his eyes. “Take off your lab coat and turn in a circle.”

  “What?” She eyed the slithering whip as Yale gathered it back and left it pooled at his feet.

  “Weapons check, my sweet.” He twirled the whip at his side. “Do it.”

  Swallowing hard, she shrugged out of her lab coat. The thong and demi-bra she wore underneath left nowhere to hide a weapon of any size. Still, she leaned over to prove she hid nothing in her cleavage, not surprised when his interest lingered on her breasts after she stood up again. “I’m clean, Yale.”

  In a leisurely slide, his gaze lifted back to her face. “Turn.”

  Eye contact broke for a few seconds as she twirled for him, her arms in the air, and reconnected as soon as she faced him again. Warm satisfaction flowed through her veins at the heat building in his eyes. Some influence remained in her control.

  “Why don’t you drop your weapon, Yale?”

  A small grin tilted his lips. He held tight to the whip handle. “Come here.” The command resounded with authority -- and heat.

  Hell no. Twenty feet was close enough to that long, menacing whip.

  “I came to apologize.” She twisted her fingers in front of her. “I spoke out of line. Yes, there’s a lack of cohesion in our group, but my own insecurity triggered the outburst. There’s so much information to absorb. So much to learn. Sometimes, I’m not certain what you expect from me. I’m used to more guidance from my superiors.”

  Given that he stared relentlessly at her body, he didn’t seem to be paying much attention to her speech. Here she was, expressing her lack of confidence and his only interest lay in her feminine form. Disgusted, she bent down to retrieve her clothing from the floor.

  “Leave them.”

  Her fingertips hovered a scant inch above the collar she’d been about to grab. What was it about his commands that made her hesitate?

  He approached her with slow, measured steps, his gleaming eyes pinning her in place. The long whip trailed out behind him. “I can give you guidance, Vonna.”

  She straightened, leaving the coat on the tiled floor. So he had been listening. “Stewing over our differences isn’t my style, Yale. I want to work with you, not against you. All the same, I don’t hold back my opinions.”

  He stopped at least ten feet away and stood in a wide-legged stance, bracing the whip handle on his shoulder. “Just your feelings.”

  “My -- what?”

  “You’re not here about the work in the lab. It’s about you and me.”

  “Don’t twist this into something personal. It’s not.” Anxiety trickled down her arms to her fingertips. Why had she felt so compelled to follow him? What he did in this place, with whomever he chose to do it, had nothing to do with her or her desires.

  “You want to see if I have what it takes to make you surrender.”

  “Surrender? That’s crazy. This isn’t a battle.” Her voice wavered. She threw her shoulders back in defiance. “Look, if you can’t accept an apology at face value, I’m not going to beg for your forgiveness.” She eyed the lab coat at her feet, briefly wondering if she should leave without retrieving it.

  The whip cracked and white fabric flew into the air. She stared in fascinated wonder as the coat floated to the floor behind him. Oh, shit. I’m in trouble.

  “I said to leave it.” Yale’s arm swung out from his side. In the blink of an eye, the whip lashed out and curled around her middle, binding her arms to her sides.

  A little yelp pushed past her tight throat. The lasso hadn’t stung, though. The loud crack was more frightening than when the braided tail had wrapped around her.

  Her mind screamed to bust out of the tight strapping, but her limbs felt heavy, as if she’d been immobilized by a freeze-gun. Except she wasn’t cold. Heat spread from her chest into her breasts and downward, low into her belly. A squishy warmth moistened her cunt.

  She clenched her jaw along with her fists, hiding her body’s traitorous reaction.

  Yale closed the distance between them in several long, quick strides and grasped the slipping top loop just above her breasts, pulling her close to him. While he looked deeply into her eyes, he tucked the thin tail end of the whip through and around the thicker pieces with quick, blind precision.

  He wore cologne, which she’d never noticed before. The sterile smell of bleach and alcohol in the lab must’ve overpowered it. She breathed in the woodsy fragrance, noting a hint of cinnamon, wondering what this unsmiling, sexy-smelling male planned to do next.

  Apprehension sizzled the length of her nerve endings, along with something else, something raw and new, exciting, and unfathomable. She didn’t want to move. Well, she couldn’t move confined as she was, and that was okay. Arousing, in fact. The challenge of confronting a predator when the odds were stacked against her set her pulse racing. The fact that she didn’t necessarily want to win, but simply come to a draw, made her wonder if she’d lost her mind.

  “Do you know why you followed me here?” He spoke slowly, softly, as if he shared a dark secret.

  “Curiosity,” she said honestly.

  A sinful smile tilted his lips. If she wasn’t so nervous, she might have appreciated the striking transformation to his face.

  “You want me to bind you to me,” he said smoothly.

  “No, I thought --”

  “Yes.” He dragged the heel of the whip handle along her jaw. “Get down on your knees.”

  Her knees wobbled. “Whatever games you play in here, I’m not interested.”

  A devilish light shimmered in his eyes. “Aren’t you?”

  He dropped the whip handle along with the extra fall of the whip over her shoulder and then bent down, drawing the handle between her legs. Just as she thought she should be kneeing him in the chin, he pulled the remaining braid up with a quick jerk, creasing it into her thong right between her pussy lips.

  The sharp tug stole her breath away.

  “I think you fantasize about being tied up.” He brushed his lips along her c
heekbone as he spoke. “By me.”

  She couldn’t speak. How did he perceive things about her that no one else did?

  This was crazy. Why was he doing this to her?

  Yale trailed moist kisses along her temple. “Relinquish yourself to me, Vonna,” he said, blowing softly into her ear. “Let me rule your body, satisfy your need for my mastery.”

  Is that what she wanted? To give up control?

  He left her breathless. Confused. Despite that, her body burned for his touch.

  He jiggled the whip handle, the motion traveling down the length so the fall rubbed back and forth over her clit.

  Vonna tightened her thighs, giving her pussy a secret little squeeze, relishing the slick dampness licking her thong. Embarrassment singed her neck. Was this really how she wanted to climax, trussed up and taunted? Caution lights flashed. Fear thickened in her throat.

  Her subconscious screamed, Do it! Let him carry out his will.

  He dragged his mouth over her lips. The whip tightened, lifting her up onto her toes.

  She gasped at the fire between her legs, and the graze of the braided leather beside her thong in the crack of her butt. Her pulse picked up. The urge to wriggle against her bonds refused suppression. She tried to be discreet, but each little shimmy spread pleasure through her limbs, making it hard to stand still. She fidgeted against the bindings, grinding down on the pressure between her legs.

  “You want the burn,” he whispered against her lips. “As much as I want to give it to you.” One large hand gripped a butt cheek, drawing her tight against his body. The hard bulge beneath his loincloth rubbed between her hipbone and the whip running up her belly.

  Instinct almost drove her to press back, but willpower won. No, no, no. Falling under his spell was dangerous, perhaps life threatening.

  Oh, but she wanted it. Wanted him. Wanted to take whatever he had to give.