The possibility depressed her.
Kata dashed to the elevator and raced in, pounding the button to go up to her suite. At the door, she wrestled out her little plastic key and slid it in. Ben stood there in a towel, staring at her as if Medusa had just walked in.
“Where the hell have you been?”
“Drinking a lot and not remembering much.”
He grunted, then held his head with a wince. “I hear that. I woke up on the f**king bathroom floor. What happened last night?”
“You mean after you got me half-naked with Hunter, then passed out?” She arched a playful brow at him.
“Fuck! I did?” He sighed. “I’m sorry, Kata. I ruined everything.”
Surprisingly, he really hadn’t. She smiled. “You had good intentions.”
He sauntered closer, a lock of his wavy brown hair brushing across his forehead. “We might have time for a quickie now. What do you say, babe? I’ll make it up to you.”
No. Her reaction was immediate and confusing. Normally, she enjoyed quickies with Ben. He was at his best when he only had a few minutes and poured everything into making it good. But she pictured Hunter’s face hovering over hers during the darkest part of the night, focused and intent, as he held her wrists above her head and drove hard inside her. She shivered.
Kata shook her head. “We’re going to be late if we don’t get out of here. I need a shower, and I still haven’t packed up.”
Ben sighed and backed away. “You’re right. Damn it. I’ll finish getting ready and arrange for a cab.”
“I’ll be ready in fifteen,” she promised, as she grabbed a pair of denim capri pants, a T-shirt, and fresh undergarments from her suitcase, then darted for the bathroom and shut the door behind her.
“Chloe, Hallie, and Mari already left for the airport. Your sister called, looking for you. You were supposed to ride with them?” Ben called through the bathroom door.
Kata winced. “Sorry. I... overslept.”
“With who? ’Cause looking at you, I have no doubt you didn’t give yourself that whisker burn on your neck.”
Turning, she peered in the mirror and pressed her lips together to stifle a shriek. Ben had looked at her as if Medusa had come through the door, because she had. Her hair was a rumpled mess, her mascara smudged, her lips incredibly swollen. Kata stripped off her clothes as if they were on fire and bit back a gasp at all the marks on her body. Whisker burns, love bites, faint bruises in the shape of Hunter’s fingers on her thighs, hips, and ass. What the hell had they done last night? And God, she was still wet just thinking about him.
“Kata . . . Who? Were you with Hunter?”
No way in hell was she answering that now. She stuck her head in the shower and flipped it on, the sound of the water running drowning out Ben’s inquiries.
Twelve minutes later, she stepped out of the bathroom with wet hair, a freshly scrubbed face, clean clothes, and sunglasses to find Ben, fully dressed, setting down the hotel room’s phone.
“Hunter is looking for you. He’s pissed that you left him.”
Against her better judgment, excitement cramped in her belly, made her ridiculously giddy. Gathering the contents of her suitcase, Kata checked herself. Yeah, they had great sex, but no way in hell was she volunteering to be with a man like that. Too bad everything about Hunter flipped her switch. It was insane but . . . she missed him already.
Speculation flitted across Ben’s face. “You f**ked him. And you liked it. Gotta say, I didn’t picture you going for his tie-’em-down-fuck-’em-hard sort of thing.”
“Tie ’em down?” Her heart stuttered just asking the question.
“Yeah.” Ben crossed his arms over his chest and stared like he was looking forward to imparting news that would totally shake her. “Hunter’s a well-versed Dominant. That means he’s into BDSM. From what I understand, when he takes a submissive, he insists on taking complete control.”
Kata sucked in a breath. She’d been around enough to hear bits and pieces about people into bondage, mind games, and pain. She was no expert, but everything she’d heard scared the shit out of her.
Puzzle pieces snapped into place—Hunter’s behavior. And, God, her reaction. Did he think that he could make her some submissive plaything, willing to bend backward and inside out just to earn his approval and a smile? Likely so, because she’d stupidly given him every indication that she ate that shit up. Kata shuddered.
Ben watched her carefully. She smoothed out her expression. He was the last person with whom Kata wanted to discuss her feelings for Hunter.
“We’d better get out of here.” Before Hunter came pounding on the door, looking for her. And he would, Kata suddenly had no doubt.
With a practiced shrug, she closed up her suitcase, grabbed her purse, then reached out for Ben’s hand. “C’mon. We have a plane to catch.”