Merciless Sinner (What Alex Wants #1) - E.M. Gayle Page 0,2

throat and then reluctantly began to read the note aloud.

Dear Harper,

Please accept this gift as a token of unspoken desire and intention for a very special Valentine’s Day. Your previous visit to the Glass Kat did not go unnoticed, nor did your obvious reactions. Your presence is requested at the private dining room of the Glass Kat Supper Club at precisely eight o’clock p.m. for a night of desires and needs fulfilled—one of which includes this gift. Rest assured your safety is of utmost importance so you will need to check in with the Concierge when you arrive. Give him your name and he will follow up with further instructions. On this night of lovers uniting, your every fantasy can and will come true if you so choose. I think you will. Don’t be late and be sure to bring your gift with you.

I flipped the card back over, looking for more.

There was no signature or even a hint of who the note had come from. I took a deep breath and raised my head to Zia’s gaze. The shocked look on my friend’s face quickly gave way to an enormous grin. “Holy shit, did you forget to tell me something about your trip to the Glass Kat last week? Like meeting a man?”

I shook my head. “No. I told you everything. I didn’t talk to anyone other than the dining manager who asked me to stay and help out with the dessert service.”

“Maybe this is him then.”

I shook my head again. “No way. Sooo gay.”

“There had to have been someone.”

“I don’t know. The party was packed wall to wall with all kinds of guests. There were any number of people who I’m sure could have seen me, but I didn’t talk to any of them. I kept my head down and got my job done.”

Zia looked at me, her disbelief written all over her face. I almost laughed, but curiosity got the best of me instead.

I reached for the fabric of the bow and tugged it loose. I then lifted the lid and set it aside. The flowers were hidden among layers and layers of tissue paper, all of which I peeled away. When the gift I searched for was finally exposed I gasped.

What the hell?

Zia looked over my shoulder. “Oh. My. God.”

Chapter Two

Harper

I stood there transfixed for several minutes just staring into the box. Zia chattered on, but I wasn’t listening. I needed a minute to let this sink in. Eventually I lifted the single rose from the box, although this wasn’t any ordinary flower like I’d ever seen before. This rose had been handcrafted in supple red leather and was attached to the end of what looked like a black riding crop.

Blood drained from my head straight to my feet. My head swam at the sight of a wicked toy eerily similar to the one used in the ceremony I’d witnessed while working at the Kat. The very scene that had brought old memories and needs rushing back to the surface and left me in a fog for two days.

It had been so long. Funny how something so brief could become so memorable. One night of experimentation while on spring break should not have had any kind of lasting effect. Especially after so much time.

Yet, there it was, in my memory like it was yesterday.

I had managed to score an invitation to Ronin Kavanagh’s, one of New York’s current “it” bachelors at the time, twenty-fifth birthday party. Well, I hadn’t exactly been invited. But when my college roommate broke up with her boyfriend two days before the party, I had suddenly become her plus one.

That fateful night had introduced me to a whole new world. Something I’d never even known existed. I mean sure, I peripherally knew people had kinky sex lives. But it’s a whole lot different to think you know about it than to actually experience it up close and personal.

No amount of ‘knowing’ can make up for that first moment when you give yourself to someone else in a way that defies everything you’ve ever been taught because it feels right down to your core.

I sighed, pushing the memories from my mind.

Revisiting the past did nothing but make me feel sad and it absolutely did nothing to explain why someone would send something like this to me. This was an intimate gift. For a lover. Not a stranger.

He’d been a stranger back then too…

I rolled my eyes. I really had to get this out