Read Online Tamed by Stacey Kennedy - Free Book Online Page B

bones the next time I see you.”
    He winked. “I eagerly await either possibility.”

Chapter Six
    By Tuesday morning, Kenzie wished it was the weekend all over again. She sighed at herself in the bathroom mirror above the white vanity, desperate for a do-over in which she received the BDSM she needed. Porter’s touch was confusing, at best. She kept thinking she should be annoyed that he’d cleverly punished her, leaving her more aroused than she was before she’d entered Club Sin. Somehow, all she could think of was how different she felt around him. How easy it was for him to make her mind shut off in the moments she was with him, simply falling into his glorious touches. How aroused she became in ways she hadn’t before.
    If she didn’t know better, she might think that Porter was stealing her heart. She wasn’t blind to how different she acted with Porter. How safe she felt. How much she reacted to his touch. But she couldn’t forget there was the underlying truth between them that this was only an agreement. None of his affections were real. He wasn’t with her because he wanted to be, but because he had an ulterior motive.
    She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, hating how easy it would be to fall into Porter, and even more so to trust him. His affection confused her, making her feel alive and protected. His Dominance put her in an extremely dangerous position.
    Her heart had been broken enough, and it couldn’t manage any more daggers. The wounds were deep and they still bled. Opening her eyes, she scrunched some gel into her curls, then, leaving thoughts of Porter behind, she strode out of the bathroom. She moved past Gran’s bedroom, which Kenzie had made into her reading room. Something she knew Gran would’ve liked. It didn’t have much, just an oversized chair, with pictures of Gran everywhere.
    The room was perfect, and it also held the only new furniture in Kenzie’s apartment. A lump began to form in her throat as she strode down the narrow hallway, entering the living room. From corner to corner, it was filled with Gran’s old knickknacks and antiques. Kenzie wondered often if the apartment needed a makeover, since the space didn’t reflect her personality, but so many of Gran’s touches remained.
    She moved past the dark leather chair in the corner of the room by the window with the plants on the windowsill, noting to herself to water them later. Her focus drifted to the yellow-and-white afghan that Gran made Kenzie when she was eleven years old, and her steps faltered as she remembered the day Gran gave her that blanket—a day when the second dagger had entered her heart.
    The wind flew through Kenzie’s hair as she rocked back and forth on the swing strung up to the big oak tree in her backyard. A year had passed since Joslyn’s death, a long year that seemed to have so many dark days.
    She leaned her head back, embracing the wind brushing over her face as the sun beamed down on her. So many days she and Joslyn would swing here, with Kenzie being pushed and Joslyn laughing behind her. Kenzie swore she could still hear that laughter.
    A loud bang echoed in the air and all the birds around the house scattered. Kenzie scanned the backyard, not seeing her mother anywhere. A sense of panic washed through her, but at least her mother was home.
    Kenzie never told Gran how many times Mom left her alone to go on drinking binges. Sometimes she’d come home and Kenzie would help her get into bed or place the bucket under her when she vomited into it, instead of on the floor. No one knew the life Kenzie now lived. She’d never told anyone about the downward spiral that her mother had gone on after Joslyn’s death.
    She dragged her feet along the grass until the swing came to a stop, then pushed off and headed toward the back door. Maybe Mom fell and hit her head, or maybe she was unconscious in the bathtub. A thousand things rushed through her mind as Kenzie entered the house, which was small,