Prelude to a Fantasy: Prequel to Harmless Book 8 by Melissa Schroeder Page B

over well. It wasn’t
something you said to your best friend about his little sister.
    “Uh, no.”
    “Great. I’ll get a flight. I don’t want to
have the jet come all the way back here for me. Go to bed.”
    Conner clicked the phone off before Zeke
could respond. Of course he did. He always did. Conner was a man
who had little time for small talk and when he was done with his
conversation, he was gone.
    “So, we get to stay for a few more
days?”
    He looked at Maura. Her gaze was hopeful and
her face flushed with excitement.
    “Yeah. Conner’s gonna try and get here by
tomorrow.”
    She smiled at him, and those damn green eyes
sparkled behind her glasses. “Sounds like an excellent plan to
me.
    Ah, shit, he was in trouble.
    * * * *
    Maura couldn’t keep from tapping her foot in
the elevator. All the energy from Rough ‘n Ready seemed to have
followed her back to the hotel. She had never felt so alive. It
just proved to her more that she needed to look into learning more
about the life.
    She had never been to a BDSM club before.
She knew that her brother Conner was a member of one in Miami or
had been. Lately, all he seemed to do was work, but when they first
opened the company, he was. And, she didn’t see what was wrong with
her belonging to one. She had the money and she wanted to explore
her sexual identity.
    “Forget it.”
    She looked at Zeke. God, was there ever a
man who turned her to jelly like him? She didn’t think so. He was
sex on a stick. Her best friend Jillian could use him as a hero in
one of her erotic novels. Tall enough that she could look up at him
when she was wearing heels—thank God for that—and so damned sexy
she had trouble remembering her name when he looked directly at
her.
    He had always been an odd companion for her
brother—or so she had thought at first. Dreads, tattoos, an Irish
accent, and the most scrumptious eyes made him impossible to
ignore. She didn’t know men could have such long eyelashes. When he
would look at her it was like the world faded away.
    She sighed. It was a shame he wasn’t into
BDSM. He had unequivocally refused to discuss it. She knew from
what her brother had said Zeke wasn’t into to the life. It was just
her luck she was half way in love with him.
    “Maura.”
    God, the way he said her name always made
her melt. That and made her panties so damned wet.
    She shook her head to clear it. “What?”
    “I said forget it. You are not going back to
the club.”
    She shrugged allowing him to think that was
what she was thinking. “I wasn’t planning on doing it tonight.”
    “Or any other night. We can’t spook that
woman. Your brother has been looking for her for too long.”
    That much was true. Her brother had taken
the disappearance of Marjorie Rizzoli personally, although he
hadn't been the person in charge of the protection duty.
    "It wouldn't hurt to go back."
    He ignored her long enough to have the door
ding open. He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the elevator.
She was getting damned sick of him pulling her along like she was a
naughty toddler. But it was hard to be too angry when her skin came
alive every time he touched her.
    "I’m not about to have you go there again on
my watch."
    "You don't have to go with me."
    "There is no bloody way I would let you go
back there on your own."
    "I am over the age of twenty-one."
    He said nothing as he marched her down the
hall to their suite.
    "Zeke, I'm not doing this to be a pain in
the ass."
    Silence. He opened the door and practically
thrust her into the room.
    His frown irritated her. She opened her
mouth to say something but he growled.
    "What was that?" she asked.
    "I am not about to let you go back there on
your own."
    She crossed her arms beneath her breasts. "I
believe I’m over the age of consent. I think I should be able to go
where I want."
    Okay, so that made her sound like a spoiled
brat, but she didn't care. She did a little bit, especially with
Zeke. She'd been half in