Everything That He Craves (#2) (An Alpha Billionaire BDSM Romance) Read Online Free Page A

eye contact with him.
    He stood up and crouched down in front of her.  “Look at me.”
    She raised her head, obeying the command, perhaps acting on autopilot.  Her eyes were glassy, but it was as though she was too stunned by her admission to even allow herself to cry.  She blinked and the tears receded. 
    He reached out as though he intended to take her hand in his, but then he seemed to think better of it.  Instead, he rested his hand about an inch from hers.  His eyes were compassionate and his voice was gentle.  “What happened?”
    “Nothing happened.”
    “Something must have happened,” he reasoned.  “What was it?”
    “I don’t remember.”
    “Try.”
    “I don’t remember,” she insisted.  “Anyway, we should get back to work.” 
    “We should take a break,” Hunter said, sounding remorseful and deeply concerned.
    “We’ll never get through the first draft if we keep taking breaks.  Let’s just keep going, okay?  What other notes do you have for me?”  She picked up one of Hunter’s notebooks, mostly just so she could stare at it instead of him. 
    She rifled through it and then stopped abruptly.
    “Callie?”
    She looked at him and saw the exact moment when understanding sunk in.  He stared at the pile of loose papers that were tucked away inside the notebook in horror.  He looked back up at her, his mouth agape as though he couldn’t think of anything to say.  And there was nothing to say.
    How does one even begin explain what Hunter had done?
    He tried to take the notebook from Callie before she could see anything more, but she held onto it.  Several papers fell out, landing on the couch and floor.  Hunter grabbed for them, but not before Callie picked them up.  All the color had drained out of his face.  He looked as white as a ghost.  He looked like he was about to be sick.
    As for Callie, well, her complexion was ashen.
    “I can explain,” Hunter said as she examined the papers more intently.
    “You’ve printed out my fan fiction,” she told him.  “But you’ve only printed out the sex scenes.”
    “It was for research!” he insisted.
    “And the notes you’ve scribbled in the corners?” she demanded, glaring at him accusingly.  “Were those for research, too?  You have notes about everything you think I’m into and all the things you want to do to me,” she gasped, wide-eyed.
    “I can explain!” Hunter said again, practically pleading.
    “Can you?”
    “Well...no,” he admitted.  “There’s probably no talking my way out of this, is there?  Look, I’m sorry okay?  I came across your fan fiction online and it turned me on.  You turned me on.  Long before I even met you, I had this...crush.”
    “More like an obsession, by the look of it,” Callie snapped.  “You even printed out screenshots of a blog interview I did!  What is this?!  What sort of well-adjusted man has a crush on some anonymous, faceless person online?  Oh, that’s right.  A well-adjusted man doesn’t do that!”
    “It’s messed up, I know.  I’m messed up.  You were this mystery at first, this...unknowable person hiding behind a pseudonym,” Hunter tried to explain. “It made me want to know you.”
    “So you tracked down my real identity and showed up at my workplace?” Callie demanded, jumping to her feet.  “That is so not okay.  What did you think was going to happen, Hunter?”
    “It’s not like that,” he protested.  “Well, maybe it is but...I don’t know.  I needed a ghostwriter, and I really did want you for your writing. And when I saw how beautiful you are, and I already knew we have the same kinks...  My imagination ran wild.  I’m sorry.”
    “Are you?”
    “Yes.  I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, taking a step closer.
    “Stay back!” Callie said shrilly.  “I know self-defence!”
    “I have no doubt that you do,” Hunter conceded, looking down at his thigh and grimacing.
    She crossed her arms, glowering at him