Hidden Pleasures #5: Teased by Kitty Hunter Page A

all sounded like being chained to a desk for a hundred hours a week until age forty and a partnership. She'd have a beautiful house to show for it, stuffed to the brim with crap, but devoid of life. Multiple “smart” devices attached to her person and the inability to ever fully relax.
    Hard work didn’t scare her, but not having a life did. God, she sounded like a spoiled party-girl in her own head.
    A low knock sounded at the door.
    “Come in,” she leaned closer to the mirror and applied mascara to each eye. Such a pain in the ass to put the stuff on. But with orange eyelashes to match her red hair, without the coloring she looked like a freak with no lashes at all. Just...blank there.
    “Hey sweets.” Gavin skirted around her to reach the far side of the countertop, kissing her ear as he brushed by. With his blondish brown hair newly cut to a shorter length more suited to the owner of one of the state's largest landscaping companies, he managed to be even more gorgeous than the night she'd first met him. The new style exposed his raw, masculine beauty to her eye instead of letting his hair fall forward to cover his cheekbones and eyes.
    “Morning sexy. I really love the hair cut.” She tossed the mascara tube back into her cosmetics bag and rooted for the small silver pot of lip gloss. “Damn it, I can't find anything in this bag. I should get some extra stuff next time I get paid and leave it here.”
    Gavin wrapped his long, muscular arms around her waist and hugged her, nuzzling her throat. Normally, she'd melt right in to him, but she was too annoyed to pay attention. “Let me buy you some stuff to leave here. I can have my assistant get it for you today while you're at work.”
    “Gavin, I don't want your assistant doing that. It's weird. And I can get my own. I just have to wait for pay day. You don't have to buy me things all the time.” Aggravated with him now, she ignored the tiny bites he peppered across her neck and dumped the bag out on the counter. Last week, he’d insisted on getting her a second mp3 player because she’d left hers at her apartment. One mention of not having it, and he’d grabbed one as they walked through the store and bought it. “I don't know why we keep having this conversation.”
    He tipped her chin up and gave her a sharp look. “Because I’m your lover and your Dom. It’s in my nature to want to take care of you.” Releasing her face, he stepped away. The cool ambient air swirled around her. He crossed to the door and leaned on the frame. “It's not a big deal. Not a lot of money. Just let me buy it for you.”
    “No. I said no, and I mean no.” She scooped her lip gloss up and swirled her fingertip through the light pink material. He needed to forgive himself for losing control when he bound her to the bed and stop trying to make up for it. One instance of letting anger and despair drive him into fucking her, spanking her until she bruised, and Gavin didn’t trust himself around her anymore. He carried a deep well of guilt he never stopped trying to assuage. As Luis had pointed out, she carried fault too for not using her safe word. No point in going down that road again though unless she wanted an argument with Gavin right before work. “I buy my own stuff.”
    From the corner of her eye, she saw him cross his arms, the large muscles in his biceps bunching up under his T-shirt. He was going to be out working today with one of the grounds’ crews instead of at the office. Normally, he'd be in a better mood than this.
    “Fine.” He straightened. “See you here tonight for dinner?”
    “Um...yeah. I think so. I'll call you and let you know if there's a change in plans.” Finished with her makeup, she turned and smiled at him. She forgave him, even if he didn’t forgive himself. Waiting out someone else’s issues was a pain in the ass. “Can I have a kiss?”
    His mouth softened, but lines remained between his eyebrows. Gavin didn't get annoyed