Kinky Business

By Sarah Alice Wild

Washed-up gymnast, Katerina Dombrowski, spends her nights dodging recriminations from her Russian immigrant mother and her days swimming laps as therapy for a ruined knee. When she meets commanding, reclusive hunk Nikolas Gallo and takes a secretary's position in the exclusive Club Sebastian, her constrained world explodes. Katerina plunges into a domain with restraints of a different kind. Filing and phone duties are not the only business at Club Sebastian, where kinky sex and secret identities are the norm. Nikolas strips away Katerina's clothes, her doubts and her shame and gives her the confidence to demand a full relationship with him... or nothing. But can Nikolas see that his fear of betrayal is all that's stopping them from loving each other the other twenty-three hours of the day?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Torrid Books
• Release date: Sep 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781611607697

Book preview

Chapter 1

Blood-warm water clung to Katerina’s nose and mouth as she rotated her head just enough to clear the surface, exhaling the last burning drop of air with a soft huff. She relaxed her abdominals, sucking in another huge lungful of chlorinated air. Her flattened hand pierced the water in front of her head. Her body followed the arc of her hand, rolling face-down in the water. Drawing her hand back along the line of her body, fingers welded into a paddle-shape; repeating with the other side. Breathing every three strokes, her body sliced through the water, muscles burning from lap after lap of freestyle swimming. As if she could make her knee better, make everything right again by swimming enough laps.

A pool of chlorinated water collected in one side of her goggles. Katerina’s eye stung, but still she swam. A thousand meters, forty laps. Two thousand meters, three thousand, three thousand seven hundred and fifty. Her body burned with the effort, arms locked during the pull-stroke, quivering in the recovery phase. Another swimmer passing close-by in her lane, splashed water into her face as she dragged in a breath. She inhaled pool water and fought the urge to cough as she glided to the end of the lane.

She clung to the tiled edge of the pool, bobbing in the choppy water. The sun shone weakly through a sheer layer of cloud, sending occasional dancing glints across the pool. A light breeze raised the hairs on her arm, cooling in the water and leaving a sheet of goose-pimples on her skin. It was the middle of the day. There were only two other people in the lap pool, leaving several empty lanes. Why did he have to crowd her lane? Couldn’t he tell she didn’t want a man—any man—in her personal space after what Joe had said to her over the phone that morning? Katerina considered moving. It would be easy enough to duck under the bobbing floats and continue swimming in the next lane.

The other swimmer powered toward Katerina, diverting at the last second to touch the wall beside her and push off once more, glancing at her without expression.

How dare he ignore her. He was the one crowding her personal space!

He wore a black swimming cap, similar to her own, black goggles and a tiny, tiny pair of black swimming trunks. The skin under his arm paled from olive to a much lighter hue over ridged muscles, and swarthy black underarm hair. He was gone with a flash of pale feet and a parting splash in her face.

Fuck him. She was here first, and she only had ten laps to go to make four kays. Katerina usually swam all four thousand laps in freestyle, but perhaps it was time for some breaststroke to cool down, and if he got kicked as they passed each other...well it happened sometimes.

She pushed off the wall and struck out with both hands, gliding under the surface of the water with her hands pointed over her head for several meters. She floated toward the surface, still in the glide. Her speed dropped infinitesimally. She undulated her body and flipped her hands, drawing them out, around and back down her body; straining her shoulder muscles to their limit as she drew her knees towards her chest and kicked out with both legs in a strong frog-kick.

Pain exploded through her right knee. Katerina gasped and gulped in some water. She clutched her burning knee in both hands, rolling on her back to put her face clear of the water, breathing slowly and evenly through the pain in her leg and discomfort of chlorinated water dripping into her lungs. Her chest heaved and rasped. She was in danger of going under. If only she could let go of her knee and use her hands to pull herself along the lane floats.

Strong hands gripped her sides, boosting her head above the wavelets. A spicy masculine scent washed over her, driving away the pervasive stink of chlorine. Startled, she opened her eyes, sending the captive pool of water into her left eye. Squinting through the layer of water and plastic, she saw her lane-mate, calmly treading water. He switched his grip, cradling her against his broad chest and casually flung an arm over the lane floats. Katerina’s hand shook a little as she forced a hand off her knee and dragged her goggles down until they hung round her neck. She was inches from a chiselled male jaw, which sported a generous dusting of day-old beard growth, framing ruddy lips currently quirked up at the corners in amusement. Fierce brown eyes—no amusement there—glared at her. Katerina ducked her head to escape the burning gaze, and then wished she hadn’t. She was pressed hard against bulging pectoral muscles, with whorls of fine, straight chest hair spiralling into flat, ruddy nipples, which were standing to attention in the cold water. His heart thudded double-time against her rib cage. Katerina’s mouth flooded with saliva. Heat washed over her, through her body and pooled low in her belly. The pain receded. He adjusted position and Katerina felt the waistband of those tiny trunks move against her hip. She glanced upwards and saw with surprise that his eyes were darker than she’d thought; the same polished mahogany color of the chin-up-bar in her bedroom. She met his gaze for only a second but in that short time, awareness smacked her in the gut; stronger than the sensation of meeting a gorgeous, buff, half-naked guy, familiar from gymnastics training. Or was it merely that? Katerina studied the dark stubble on his chin. From this angle, the thick column of his neck, soft olive skin over steely muscle, rose up to that uncompromising jaw.

Are you okay? His words rumbled through her chest, and she felt, as much as heard what he said. A trace of lilting accent only increased his appeal.

I’m. Fine. Katerina struggled to fill her lungs with enough air to speak.

Relax, he added.

How on earth was she going to relax with six foot of Greek god holding her? If she straightened out, she’d be pressed against his... That thought sent Katerina rigid again. She started to talk and went into a coughing fit. Pulling her hands away from her knee to grab the floats, her hand brushed against his trunks.

Can you float?

She’d better be able to, or die of embarrassment in the middle of the pool. Katerina nodded. Who was he? And where was the life-guard, anyway? She peered around. The red-clad lifeguard sauntered toward them from the lifeguard station at the other end of the pool. Less time must have passed than she thought. Gingerly, she relaxed her legs and floated in the water. No longer touching him, but still surrounded by his delicious scent.

Relax and I will tow you to the shallow end.

Katerina nodded again. The heat that had started in her middle, spread out as he shifted his grip once more. The ripples of water touching her face were freezing. She must be bright red. Her Greek god curled his bicep across the top of her chest and pulled her back against him.

What happened? her rescuer said conversationally, towing her through the water as if he rescued damsels in distress every day of the week.

Everything happened. First, the fall during her floor routine, tearing her anterior cruciate ligament, then surgery leaving ugly scars down her right leg, then the end of her career, then the end of her relationship. Like dominoes falling, Joe had waited until she was at rock-bottom to admit that he didn’t think she was ‘the one’ for him.

My knee, Katerina said when they reached the shallow end.

Can you walk?

Katrina flexed her knee a fraction, nothing but a dull ache. She rotated her ankle and pain shafted up her leg. Nothing she hadn’t felt a