Masters at Arms - By Kallypso Masters Page 0,69

a music degree at Columbia. Thank God she’d found a safe way to get to New York without having to pull another runaway stunt.

He drew his brows together. Why hadn’t she replied to his last two letters and numerous e-mails? That wasn’t like her. If they didn’t both keep such crazy hours, he’d have called to check up on her. Adam decided if he didn’t hear something this week, he’d make sure she was all right. He worried about her singing late at night at that club in Manhattan. Although she said she’d taken martial-arts classes after her encounter with Dickwad and friends in the Chicago bus station, she was still a tiny little thing.

The voice of the woman in the great room called to him like a siren’s song. The quivering lilt reminded him so much of Karla’s voice on her MP3, but then the woman auditioning belted out the chorus in a well-trained adult’s voice. She stirred something in Adam. He picked up the remote and muted the stereo.

“I walk alone. Every step I take, I walk alone.”

Damn. Adam stood up, drawn toward the open doorway where he could hear her better. His hand drew instinctively to the scar on his neck. What the fuck? He forced his hand back down to his side.

The hallway to the great room wasn’t that long and before he knew he’d even moved, he found himself standing at the side of the stage. The woman’s thick, black curls hung in disarray over her shoulders and back. She looked as if she’d just tumbled out of bed. His cock throbbed at the thought of holding her beneath him by fists full of her gorgeous hair as he buried himself deep inside her.

Jesus. What’s gotten into you, old man? She’s a little young for you, isn’t she? Okay, a lot young.

Still, unable to take his eyes off her, he circled around behind the table where Damián sat. He hadn’t had a gut-wrenching response to a woman, well, since Joni. Sure, he’d participated with Grant in demonstrations for various scenes and techniques and occasionally took a submissive under his wing until she hooked up with her own Dom. But that was merely physical. No emotional attachments. Exactly as he planned to keep it. No one would ever stir his interest in being a committed Dom the way Joni had.

“Go back to sleep forever.”

He stopped and stood in front of her, about ten feet away from the stage. Eyes closed, tears spilling down her cheeks. His chest tightened. He fought the urge to go up on the stage to pull her into his arms to comfort her.

Little girl lost.

A distant memory sent his hand to massage that spot on his neck again.

“No one can help you.”

Tall, probably five-ten. She looked a little gaunt. Dark half-moon circles curved below her eyes. They didn’t look like make-up, although it was hard to tell with a Goth. Her breasts filled out the dress nicely, her curves exposed. Lovely breasts he wanted to press his lips against. Her hips flared beautifully under the loose dress, as well. At least she wasn’t gaunt all over.

If they hired her, she’d definitely need to wear something a little more provocative than this Maid Marian costume.

He tried not to think about removing the dress to expose her body to his gaze. But his mind had other ideas. He imagined taking her nipple between his teeth and tugging at it. With her gaze cast downward, much of her face hidden by her hair, he found himself wanting to push the curls away from her face so he could look into her eyes.

When the song ended, she drew several deep breaths, her breasts rising and falling gently.

“Well done, Miss Paxton,” Damián said.

No. Couldn’t be. No fucking way!

As if in slow motion, Adam watched her brush away the tears and raise her gaze to Damián’s. She smiled. Just as he remembered, except that her blue eyes didn’t sparkle anymore. Then her gaze shifted as she noticed Adam for the first time. Her smile faded. What little color she had in her face drained away.

“Adam?”

When she swayed on her feet, he rushed to the stage and caught her in his arms before she collapsed. His heart pounded. Had she been sick? Was that why she’d lost so much weight? Adam felt a vise of a different kind around his heart as he lifted her and carried her to the loveseat near the windows. He laid her down, propping