State of Play: Book Two; The Candidate

by Lee Taylor

  Chapter 5

  Gia sucked in a deep breath, shocked at the rampant sensations flooding her. Dammit, she should be infuriated that Logan thought he could capture her like some willing slave girl in a powerful man’s harem and cart her off to his lair. All the while proclaiming that he was her master. And more than that demeaning claim, to assert that she wanted and needed his mastery. The problem was that the fiery mass of electric sparks flooding her body, from her engorged nipples to her throbbing clit, confirmed the obnoxious man might just be right. While the concept of mastery was anathema to her, her wanton body was clearly more than amenable to being swept up by this overbearing man, who not only thought he could control her public life but, even more challenging, her private, erotic life.

  Struggling against him, she was determined to free herself from his rigid hold and establish some sense of equality in their erotic encounter. If she could just get free for a moment and, more challengingly, not give in to his certain-to-be erotic overtures, she might be able to create a sexual standoff of sorts. One in which she had as much to say about the itinerary as he did. His harsh chuckle at her fledging attempts to loosen his hold underscored the futility of her quest. Instead of releasing her, he tightened his grasp. His amused assertion as he strode toward the bedroom underscored that he was taking control of her in every way possible.

  “Ah, Gia. Foolish, naughty little girl that you are. You have spent a lifetime intimidating men with your haughty, diminishing antics. From colleagues like Ben who honor and adore you to disgraceful sycophants like Aiden Maxwell who despised you but were too terrified of your power to confront you. For God’s sake, even your formidable father bowed to you when you threw a temper tantrum and insisted that you were done with him forever because he dared to stand up to you.”

  Kicking open the bedroom door, he stopped in front of the full-length mirror and stood her in front of him. Grasping her upper arms in his big hands, he met her gaze in the reflection. Gia didn’t have to see the dark intent in his eyes or the sinister curl of his lips to know that he was angry with her. His scathing assertions said it all. “You truly think that I will let you browbeat Ben if he confesses he’s impressed with my strategy? That unless they swallow your Kool Aid, I’ll allow you to threaten important men who are not only willing to support you but contribute large sums of money to your campaign? That unless they agree that it’s your way or the highway, they can shove their contributions up their respective asses? Or that I’ll allow you to stomp across the HT&M like a wayward child if she doesn’t get her way?”

  When she lifted her chin, preparing to take him on, he shook his head. “Uh-uh, princess, I’m not done. I’ll handle all of those unacceptable actions in the appropriate arena, the campaign. I’ll give you rope to assert your views, and when they make sense and conform to the framework I’m constructing, we’ll incorporate them. However, when you go too far, as you are wont to do, and assume the role of manager, not candidate, I’ll yank your chain . . . hard.”

  At her infuriated gasp and attempt to jerk free of his tight hold, he narrowed his gaze. “But that, my unruly woman, is in our professional, public arena. Now I intend to make it clear what the rules are in our private arena, specifically on our erotic stage. Number one: I’m the boss. You know by now I’m a dominant lover. I always have been, and whether you admit it or not, you are turned on by my dominance. Although I’m not surprised that you’re challenged by it. Until now, as in all the important arenas in your life, you’ve been in charge. It’s how you managed to survive in the crazy, conflicted environment you grew up in.”

  Wrapping her tighter in his arms, his voice was soft, seductive. “But you’re not there anymore. Your life is no longer at the mercy of powerful reprobates like your father or weak, debilitating men like your former fiancé. Or, for that matter, any of the unlikely, short-term yes-men who thought they could make it to first base with the inimitable Gia Tremaine. No, sweetheart, your erotic landscape has changed dramatically. And need I say for the better?”

  Forcing her to hold his narrowed gaze in the mirror, he smiled, then tightened his grip. “Your problem, Gia, is that now you’re with a powerful man who ‘gets’ you. One who can see beneath the haughty, dismissive shale you’ve encased yourself in. A man who isn’t put off or deterred by your bad temper. In truth, I get off on your brattiness . . . It makes it all the more erotic when I break through that herculean, contemptuous wall of yours and bend you to my will.”

  When she shook her head in violent disagreement, struggling to be free, he laughed. “Shall we test my egregious claims that you get off on my dominance? Let’s, princess. Let’s show both you and me how much you like what I do to you.”

  Reaching for a heavy lock of hair, he wrapped it around his fist and pulled her head back, baring her throat. Leaning over, he licked the sensitive flesh beneath her ear, then sucked her earlobe into his mouth and bit down. At her surprised cry and irrepressible shudder, he upped the ante. Reaching for her swelling breast, he pinched her nipple, lightly twisting it until she cried out, begging him to stop.

  “You’re hurting me, Logan. I want you to stop. Now!”

  “Oh, sweetheart, if you truly did want me to stop, you know that I would. But stopping is the farthest thing from your wants. Uh-uh. If you were honest, you would be begging me to strip off your clothes and lay you out on the floor and fuck the hell out of you.” At her heated groan, Logan continued. “But I’m not going to do that, Gia, because I want you to admit to me and especially to you what you really want me to do. So tell me, what do you want? On second thought, don’t bother. If anyone knows what you want—and may I add, what you need—it’s me.” At her soft moan, he murmured, “How about this: for the rest of the night I will decide what you do and, more important, what I do to you. For example, I want you to take off this gorgeous outfit I bought for you and show me your beautiful body.” At her hesitation, he said, “Now, Gia. Take it off.”

  Wanting to assert herself but meeting his intense gaze, Gia found herself reaching for the zipper on the back of the outfit and sliding it down. Holding the silky garment protectively against her body, at his commanding nod, she released it, letting it slide to the floor. Dressed only in the outrageously provocative bra and matching throng, she tried to ignore the lust gleaming in his obsidian eyes.

  He met her gaze, then flicked his fingers. “Off, sweetheart. I want to see all of you. Beautifully naked. Bared for my eyes only.”

  Unfastening the catch on her lacy bra, she unhooked it and let it join her outfit on the floor. Stunned that her nipples were already peaking into tight nubs at his blatant perusal, she instinctively tried to cover them. His order was immediate. “Absolutely not. You know better than that, Gia. Never try to hide your beautiful breasts, your incredibly responsive nipples from me. Christ, princess, just by my leering at them, those sensitive nubs are tightening, begging for my lips and teeth. That’s what you want, isn’t it?” At her shaky moan, he nodded in agreement. “Soon, love. Soon I will do all those outrageous things to your beautiful body that you are aching for me to do. But first, off with the thong. I want to see if your lovely pussy lips are as swollen and damp as I’m sure they are.” Ignoring her gasp, he murmured, “Off, now.”

  When she slid the miniscule strip over her curvy hips and stepped out of it, he laughed when she waved it across his face, preparing to toss it to the floor. He caught it and held it to his nose, then sucked in an audible breath. “Ah yes, just as I thought. Your succulent pussy is already crying out for my fingers and tongue.”

  He stepped back and nodded for her to look at the mirror. “Look at yourself, Gia. Yes, like that, truly see what I see.” At her widened gaze, he flicked his fingers in a commanding circle. “Now, sweetheart, turn around so that we both can feast on that glorious ass of yours.” His groan was heartfelt when she turned and showed him her curvy hips and ass. Longing for him to hold her, she was startled when he turned her around and grasped her chin, forcing
her to meet his heated gaze. “And now, darling, I’m going to show you what a truly dominant man does to the gorgeous woman he’s falling in love with.”

  Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a long tie. Before she could stop him, he’d wrapped it across her eyes, securely blindfolding her. At her outraged cry, he picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder as he murmured, “I need to warn you, sweetheart. Tonight you are going to be completely at my mercy.” He tossed her onto the bed, then crawled up beside her. Before she could shake him off, he’d captured her hands, then slipped on the cuffs attached to the restraints on his four-poster bed. At her outraged cry, he chuckled. “Yeah, honey, I’ve been saving these. I didn’t want to scare you. But now I want to teach you how erotic it is to have no choice but to completely submit to your demanding lover.”

  Gia fought against him as he tightened the restraints ensuring that her hands and arms were high over her head. Before she could do more than kick at his too-adept hands, she realized that he’d secured her ankles in restraints, and she was spread-eagled on his big bed. Horrified at her vulnerable position, she tried to kick free but couldn’t because the restraints were too tight. “Damn you. You can’t do this to me. I won’t allow it.” At his sexy chuckle, she swore, “Goddamn you, Logan, damn you to hell! So help me . . . you fucking—” To her shock, she felt the strip of silk across her mouth turn her shrieking cries into inarticulate curses behind the binding tie. Frightened at the panic that flooded over her, she fought mightily against him. To her surprise, he lay beside her and held her tightly in his arms.

  Stroking her back, he held her, then murmured comfortingly, “Relax, princess. Don’t fight me. It will only make your bonds tighter.” At her frenzied, muffled cries, he was firm. “I said, don’t fight me. You know I won’t hurt you.”

  Terrified by the gag, certain she couldn’t breathe, she sucked in a tortured breath when he released the tie slightly. “Okay, sweetheart, if you think you can keep the expletives down to a modest dozen or so, we’ll forego the gag.”

  At her sobbing agreement, he held her, then lightly smacked her thigh. At her surprised yelp, he laughed. “I agree the gag is counterproductive. I look forward to all the sexy sounds that spring from that outrageous mouth of yours. You know the ones, baby. When you beg me not to stop. To take you harder, deeper, more intimately than ever before. Is that what you want, Gia? Now that I have you spread-eagled on my bed, where do you want me to begin tormenting you? Shall I start with your breasts? Your sensitive nipples? Or shall I spread your pussy lips and lick off all of those sweet-smelling, erotic juices? Or shall I put my fingers here in this forbidden place while you beg me not to stop?” At her cries and thrashing body as he moved from site to site, he held her tight and murmured, “Never fear, princess. There isn’t an erogenous zone on your gorgeous body that I’m not going to invade tonight—in the most wanton, egregious ways. And, darling, you’re going to be glad for these restraints. You’re going to be riding so high that having something to hold on to will be a comfort. And yes, baby. You were right about nixing the gag. How else can I hear your ecstatic shrieks imploring me not to stop? Begging me to take you to heights you never dreamed were possible.” At her sobbing pleas, he murmured, “Ah yes, my sexy captive. It’s high time we dispense with the foreplay and move on to the main event.”

  Chapter 6

  Logan held her next to him, reveling in the erotic night they had spent. Even now, hours later, his body was still humming from the sensual overload he’d experienced. He knew Gia had to be overcome by all the things he had done to her. God, how could she not be? He was awed, and he’d had eons more sexual experience than she’d had. Looking back on the fleeting night, he marveled at how fucking new, how untried it seemed—even to a practiced rogue like him. He shouldn’t have been surprised that she’d gotten to him at a level he hadn’t known was there. But then, he admitted, that was what Gia had done to him from the first time he met her.

  She’d been the aggressor, determined to capture the elusive tech giant not as a man or, God forbid, lover, but as a funder. Later she would tell him, with a saucy grin, she hadn’t wanted him. She’d wanted his money. She’d plotted her attack brilliantly, and he’d succumbed as she was confident he would. The problem was that she didn’t capture the potential funder she was seeking. He was too smart and experienced not to see that her candidate was a profligate loser. What Gia had done was more surprising and considerably more significant. She’d captured him. The man.

  Gazing down at the woman lying next to him, Logan reveled in her astonishing beauty. She was so different from the women he customarily bedded. At least since he’d become a sought-after, extremely wealthy entrepreneur. Looking back on the women he’d previously chosen, he was embarrassed. Why the hell had he bought into that tried-and-true shibboleth that a woman couldn’t be too thin or too rich? Or too blonde? And, at least according to Gia’s taunts, women whose stick-straight hair confirmed their determination to have hair as disciplined as they were.

  Given his newly acquired wealth, instead of the prescribed feminine prototype society decreed he seek, Logan had been captured by the saucy, impudent political dynamo who was now lying beside him. It wasn’t only her lush, stunningly beautiful body, mass of midnight black curly hair, or her dancing emerald eyes that had arrested him. It wasn’t surprising that he’d been attracted to her. At least according to the accepted lore, Gia Tremaine had spent her relatively short life bamboozling every man who attempted to get near her. Even now, when Logan admitted that he was falling in love with her, he was surprised at how thoroughly she had undone him. Particularly how she’d upended every carefully wrought strategic plan he’d conceived. Which was no small feat given that the entrepreneurial sensation the world saw was but one facet of a profoundly complicated man.

  As a geeky, scarily smart teenager and then college dropout, Logan had gone on to a twelve-year, rule-bending career as a special operative in the most clandestine arm of the US Military Special Operations Forces. Given Logan’s understated brilliance and penchant for secrecy, it wasn’t surprising that he would find a home in the highly secretive Delta Force. It also wouldn’t surprise any of his Delta colleagues that if the United States government needed a genius iconoclast who was as genteel as he was dangerous to carry out a highly classified mission, they couldn’t find a better candidate than former Colonel Logan Fowler.

  Putting aside the dark side of his compartmentalized life, Logan focused on the luscious woman wrapped in his embrace. He should be embarrassed by the way he’d ravished her. He was anything but. Rather, he’d asserted that it was high time she experienced a consummate lover, one who was unashamedly dominant. He’d known intuitively that the brash woman who’d put the fear of God into the troupes of men who’d tried to scale her formidable ramparts was susceptible to his arrogance. An arrogance that asserted while she’d spent her young life bullying men who couldn’t stand up to her withering disdain, she’d met her match.

  He’d ignored her pleas that he untie her and remove the blindfold he’d secured over her eyes. Instead, he’d plunged the impudent hussy into the erotic uncertainty of his accomplished, daring lovemaking. He intuitively knew that her disdain for men had been a reasonable, even life-saving response to the incoherent world she grew up in. A dashingly handsome reprobate father who charmed every man and woman he met and a mousy, intimidated mother ensured that Gia would be the ball-busting dynamo she was—if she wanted to survive. That she had not only survived but learned well the lessons from her debilitating parents would have chastened a less arrogant lover than Logan. Instead, he’d determined that taking her as egregiously as he had was warranted. It was necessary to show her the orgasmic heights she was capable of if she gave in to his powerful conceit and let him do the outrageous things he did to her.

  Stroking her flushed cheek, he marveled at the memory of her initial attempts to push him away, insisting that he untie her, that she hated the blindfold, that she hate
d him. That he needed to stop or . . . The “or what” fate he’d reap if he refused to hear her heated, angry protests little by little evolved into a passionate response to his expert, body-invading assaults. While his intent had been to take her, meld her to his provocative taunting, teach her in no uncertain terms what it meant to be loved by a powerful man, he shouldn’t have been surprised when his body responded to her as passionately as she gave in to him. Dear God, how could he not?

  Her breasts alone could have driven him to distraction. Lusciously full, the stunning mounds were topped by astonishingly sensitive nipples. With his fingers, his lips, and then his expert tongue and teeth, he brought her to one and then another riveting climax. As excited as she was by his expert manipulation of her lush breasts, he wasn’t content to stop there. Making it clear that these first orgasms were but the beginning of his assault on her luscious body, he allowed her trembling frame to settle somewhat, then turned to the inviting space between her legs.

  “I’m going to free your legs, Gia, or how can I explore your succulent pussy the way that I intend to?” Her heated disavowal confirmed that while she was glad he’d released the bonds controlling her legs, she wasn’t ready to concede to his predatory intentions. He grinned when she quickly pressed her legs together, asserting her right to control his advances. Delighted by her resistance, he made quick work of her attempt to protect her naked pussy. Smacking her bare thigh sharply, he drawled, “Uh-uh, naughty girl. Remember the rules for tonight, sweetheart. Your body belongs to me. How can I plunder all of those hidden treasures buried inside these puffy intimate lips unless you spread your legs wide open for me?” When she shook her head fiercely and pressed her legs more tightly together, he admonished her. “Hmm, it’s clear that I’m going to have to resort to more stringent methods to teach my disobedient captive the limits of resistance I’ll allow.”