Owned (Office Intrigue Book 8) by Nicole Edwards (year 2 reading books TXT) 📗

as usual extremely arousing. Hence the reason I took advantage of the opportunity frequently throughout the day. And because I had an intensely high sex drive, they all reaped the rewards.

Rather than join the others or seek solitude in my office, I turned my attention to the windows, the inky-black sky beyond.

If Braelyn had known what was happening, would she have stopped to watch? Enjoyed the show? Or would she have been horrified by my actions?

I got the feeling it wouldn’t be too long before I got answers to those questions. After all, I was not known for my discretion.

*

Braelyn

After leaving my brother, I needed a moment to get my bearings.

Seeing him so beat up and clearly in pain was not something I handled well. Not that it happened all that much these days, but I recalled before. Yes. Before. Before Ransom had saved us both, escaping the violent hellhole my parents called home. Although the memories faded the older I got, there were still some that stood out.

Back then, Ransom had suffered at my mother’s and father’s hand in equal measure. To hear Ransom tell it, he’d never wanted to go into the family business, and he’d had no qualms telling them as much. For two people whose entire existence was rooted in the criminal underworld, they could not fathom a son of theirs not continuing their legacy, and from what I could tell, they had intended to beat that into him.

So, yes, seeing him in his current condition hit home on so many levels.

Taking a deep breath, I stood in the hall, ignoring the desire to go back and interrogate him about what was going on. I deserved answers. I deserved the opportunity to help him the same way he’d helped me all those years ago. We had to make a plan. How would we move forward? Where would we go? Our names had to be changed again, and we needed to disappear permanently before my parents and their goon found us again. Something told me I wouldn’t be as lucky next time Jimmy came for me.

My hands were shaking, my fear returning. A plan. We definitely needed a plan.

But I had to remind myself Ransom wasn’t up to it right now. He needed to rest, to heal. Only then would he be able to decide what was best for us.

Instead of bugging my brother, I headed back to Talon’s private suite, aiming for the attached office, figuring maybe he could answer a few questions for me since Ransom could not.

I didn’t find Talon in his office. In fact, I didn’t make it any farther than the door to his private suite. It was open and, well … let’s just say Talon was in a very compromising situation. One that I clearly wasn’t meant to see, nor was I meant to watch. It was obviously a private moment between him and his submissives, but I was so shocked by it I was unable to look away.

Captivated. That was what I was. Enthralled. Embarrassed that I was, but enthralled nonetheless.

Not so much by what was transpiring inside that room. More so by my reaction to it. I was appalled by the fact that here I was invading his privacy, and I didn’t want to look away. In fact, I wanted to watch this erotic encounter, and I wanted to feel that twisty feeling in my belly and the tightening between my legs that signified I was turned on by the actions taking place.

Yes.

Me.

Turned on by watching.

I found it intensely erotic to watch the dark-haired man kneeling before Talon, sucking his cock with such fervor. The look on the submissive’s face was one of pure elation, signifying he enjoyed what he was doing. And based on the way Talon was watching him do it … well, there was definitely a connection there.

Another part of me was disappointed with myself. In the fact that I’d gotten so caught up in my physical attraction to Talon that I hadn’t considered this thing with his submissives was really a thing. Serious. Intimate. Perhaps even loving. He’d been so blasé about what they did for him, it never even crossed my mind that they had an emotional connection.

Teach me to jump to conclusions.

I glanced down the narrow hallway that led back to the room where I’d left Ransom. I should probably return there, or maybe go in search of where the others were. Talon had said there were several more people on this flight, but I’d yet to see anyone except for Talon, his submissives, and my brother.

Before I could make up my mind on which direction to go, the door to Talon’s room swung open all the way, and then I was face to chest with the larger-than-life man.

“Miss Bishop.”

I swallowed and made an attempt to meet his gaze, praying he wouldn’t see the guilt in my eyes. I figured it was broadcast all over my face.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude.”

Talon glanced behind him, then back to me. “You didn’t. Did you get a chance to speak with your brother?”

“I did, yes. He’s not feeling well. The doctor was going to see him.”

Talon stepped into the hall, stopping directly in front of me. I was forced to tilt my head back to maintain eye contact. I noticed there wasn’t an ounce of guilt on his face, and I felt even worse. Why would he feel guilty? He was in his private bedroom with his submissives. They had every right to be … doing what they had been doing. I was the one in the wrong, the one who’d been intruding.

“What’s on your mind, Miss Bishop?”

“Nothing,” I said on instinct.

Once more, Talon pinned me with that knowing stare, the one that reflected his disapproval.

“I’m hungry,” I blurted.

At least it was the truth. Not the whole truth, but it was a start.

“Perhaps you’d like to get dressed prior to joining the others.”

Dressed?

“I’ve had some of your things put away,” Talon noted.

Things? What was