At His Mercy by Tawny Taylor Page A

got plenty of time. The office is five minutes fro m here. You don’t have to clock- in until nine.”
    “But I can’t go to work in yesterday’s clothes, and I need a shower.” She scrambled around the room, trying to find her discarded garments. She found them draped over a chair back. Her shoes. Where were her shoes?
    “Not a problem.” Naked, he caught her by the arms, completely halting her progress. “I had a few things delivered for today. I hope you like them.”
    “What kind of things?”
    “Shower first. Then I’ll show you.” He physically turned her toward the bathroom door and gave her backside a love tap, sending her from the room with a stinging bottom and big smile.
    She hesitated just inside the bathroom door, turning to say over her shoulder, “You know, I feel bad that you’re the one doing all the giving and I’m the one doing all the receiving.”
    He caught her hand in his, turned it over and pressed a sweet kiss to her palm. “That’s just it. You’ve been doing the giving for so long you don’t know how to receive.” They shared a sweet moment of watery glances and understanding half-smiles. “Now get going. I’m going to feel like shit if you’re late for work. Then again, making you late could be fun… ”
    “You’re devious.” She shooed him a way, before swinging the door closed. She cranked on the water and, curious, tiptoed to the door and inched it open. She caught him leaving the room, a glorious sight, nude male perfection.
    It was still hard to believe they were doing this—acting like they were a thing, lovers. Just a few days ago, she’d thought he was out of her life forever. What had she done to deserve such a wonderful man?
    When she finally left the steamy heat of the bathroom some twenty minutes later, she found the bed had been made. And there was a pyramid of white boxes in its center . A huge red bow perched atop the stack . She unwrapped all the boxes. Beautiful designer clothes, shoes, jewelry. Inside la y a card in a white envelope.
    To Elena ,
    Thank you for being who you are.
    Kyler
    Oh God. Could a man be any sweeter? Any more generous?
    Somehow, she wanted to give back to Kyler, show him how much she appreciated the sacrifice he’d made to let her keep her job.
    But how? What could a girl who had nothing give to a man with everything? Christmas was coming . Maybe by then she’d know what that gift should be.
    * * * * *
    Kyler forced himself to wait until the end of the day before driving over to TK Technologies. He had his reasons for waiting , the main one being if he did find out the driver of what was once his leased Lincoln was Matt Becker, he wanted to follow him , see if he’d head back to Stacy’s house.
    He couldn’t imagine why Becker would pay Stacy a personal visit. She was a Domme . He was a manipulating ass, not a submissive. A blackmailing, manipulating ass.
    Maybe he was ready for another promotion, already. Stacy was the CFO’s secretary, most definitely in a position t o help him if he was after a bigger fish . Shit, that had to be it. Stacy’s calls, her nervous act when he’d gone to her house, she was looking for his help but was afraid to ask. She was in over her head.
    Becker was at it again. But t his time, he’d catch the asshole in the act.
    He had his chance a few nights later.
    Because Kyler had been in Stacy’s home plenty of times, he knew her patio door didn’t lock properly . He’d told her to get it fixed more than once, but she’d shrugged him off, joking that he was more worried about her safety than she was. Besides, it locked fine , at least at first glance . Anyone who th ought to break in would think so . But if they jiggled the door a certain way, the lock disengaged. How likely was it that a guy would stand around playing with a door, hoping it would magically come unlocked?
    This was why he’d known she wouldn’t fix it.
    Sure enough, a little jiggle and the lock flipped up. He was in, and no