Kiru Taye

EXCERPT

At Scar’s door, she placed her hand against the palm pad, intending to inject a spell to bypass the scanner when the indicator flashed green, and the door popped open.

Heart-racing, she jerked back and glanced around.

What just happened?

Did the reader recognise her palm-print, or did her spell work quicker than usual?

Pulling the phone from her pocket, she delved into the camera network. None of the security guards seemed perturbed. No one had turned up to apprehend her.

She was in the clear.

She grinned as she scrubbed a hand over her face. She’d gotten better at the decoding spells.

Left hand shoving the door, she stepped through the gap. She leaned against it until it shut with a click.

Unlike the lit foyer, the office was in darkness, the grey dawn blocked out by floor-to-ceiling blinds.

She wasn’t one of those gifted with clear sight in the dark, so it took a few seconds to verify the space was vacant except for the furniture.

A closed silver laptop sat on the large glass and steel desk by the window.

Great. A personal computer would provide data she wouldn’t access on the company network.

Leaning over the desk, she lifted the laptop lid and turned it on. Light emanated from the screen. At the prompt, she tried to log in using Scar’s birthday, company, and family name variations. None of the passwords worked.

Swish.

Pacca straightened at the warning sound but didn’t move out of the way in time. The sting of leather across her ass cheeks made her jump and yelp. “Ouch!”

“Naughty cat.”

She recognised Scar’s deep voice before noticing the stark-naked man standing a metre away.

Shit. How did he get in here? She should have detected his presence and movements. She hadn’t seen him in the past fortnight and now wasn’t a good time to reacquaint herself with the conundrum that was Scar.

He appeared taller and darker in the shadows, menacing, considering he had no clothes on. His locs loose around his shoulders, making him appear wild. A glowing leather lash in his right hand retracted to the size of a ballpoint pen, and he tossed it aside.

What the Hell? He’d just whipped her. Who did that?

And why was he naked?

As if on cue, her gaze settled on the thick semi protruding between his bare thighs. The more she stared, the more it swelled. He made no effort to cover up.

Goddess help her. Her core contracted, and cream slicked her panties.

“What are you doing here?” his question caught her off guard and reminded her of her predicament.

Her cheeks heated, and her pulse-rate spiked.

What was the matter with her?

This daunting and dangerous man had caught her red-handed in his office, and she was busy ogling his impressive junk.

 “I ...” She swallowed to clear her throat. “I noticed an anomaly on the system and came up here to check your laptop to make sure you weren’t experiencing the same problems.”

“Liar,” he said. “It’s dark, and you’re in my office, trying to hack my laptop.”

“No.” She was in trouble if she couldn’t explain this. Hands clammy, her legs shook, and her gaze bounced around. “I was in a hurry to fix the problem. I didn’t think about turning on the lights.”

 He shook his head as if he didn’t believe her. “Do you know I torture and execute spies? It will be a shame to have to kill you, Wildcat.”

Cold sweat broke out on her skin. “I’m telling the truth.”

“I don’t believe you.” He strode towards her.