Haunted by Ella Ardent Page A

was. “Do you think she was naughty?” she asked and he smiled.
    “I suppose she was. She certainly was disciplined repeatedly.” His hand slid over the book cover like a caress and Caitlyn wished he would touch her like that, right here and now.
    The vibrator thrummed against her aching clitoris, and made her want to rub herself on the seat.
    Or on Zach.
    He spoke quietly. “I suppose that’s only reasonable for a woman who enjoyed being enslaved and used for her master’s sexual pleasure.”
    Caitlyn could only nod agreement. Her heart was pounding so hard that she couldn’t think straight. She didn’t need to think, though. She just needed to do what she was told.
    Zach glanced up and handed her the book. “Would you read it to me?” There was an edge to his voice, a hardness that told her it wasn’t optional.
    Caitlyn caught her breath. “Would it be naughty to decline?”
    “Yes,” Zach said crisply. “But more naughty to read it aloud. Nice women don’t know about books like this.”
    His gaze held hers and Caitlyn didn’t think she could have been hotter. The carriage rocked over the road, and she wondered whether the driver would be able to hear her reading.
    “But I do,” Caitlyn whispered.
    “Naughty Caitlyn,” Zach said silkily and she thought she might come on the spot.
    Caitlyn took the book, her heart pounding. It was particularly exciting to be dressed as primly as she was—in corset and petticoats, with gloves and a bonnet—yet be holding this BDSM classic. The thought of reading it aloud made her mouth go dry, never mind to Zach. If she read a word wrong, would she be spanked?
    Would he punish her in the night for her taste in reading?
    There was a bookmark in it and the book fell open to that page.
    It was the part where O is branded with her master’s mark. Caitlyn eyed the words and felt a little dizzy at the idea of being marked by Zach as his possession.
    Was this his plan for her? Was that why he’d given her this passage to read?
    She couldn’t decide whether to be thrilled or terrified, but she was certainly wet. She saw his hand disappear into the pocket of his jacket and sure enough, the vibrator moved a little more demandingly against her.
    She bit her lip so she wouldn’t moan aloud, then started to read.
    “I can’t hear you,” Zach said, and Caitlyn raised her voice.
    Again he urged her to read more loudly and she knew it was no accident that that driver slowed the horses. She could practically feel him listening. When she got out of the carriage, he’d know what she’d been reading. Caitlyn felt herself blush, but Zach only smiled.
    It was the smile of a man who held her in complete thrall.
    As O was held in thrall.
    “Read the dialogue as if you’re acting it out,” he instructed and she shivered to her toes.
    Caitlyn locked her ankles together and obediently read aloud, enunciating clearly so Zach would be pleased. Maybe he’d fuck her right in the carriage, if she got it right. Her puss was buzzing like a bee and she was keenly aware of him so close beside her. He looked out the window, as if disinterested, though she could tell by the line of his trousers that he was very interested.
    When the rain started to drum on the roof of the carriage, she thought she’d lose it completely.
    “What about you, Zach?” she asked impulsively when she got to the end of the chapter. “What’s the naughtiest thing you’ve ever done?”
    Zach gave her an odd look. “I’m not naughty,” he said softly. “Though I have been bad.”
    “Really.” She dared to lean against his shoulder, acting as if they were friends not wild lovers. “Come on, tell me.”
    Zach’s eyes narrowed and he averted his gaze. “I betrayed my best friend, and sent him to his death.”
    Caitlyn felt her mouth open in surprise.
    She also felt the temperature between them change, and it wasn’t good.
    He looked back at her, his gaze hard. “He haunts me, because that’s what I