“But what had you expected of me? Why do I have to be offered up like a…a vestal sacrifice just so you could get what you want?”
“Not what I want,” Jeffrey bit out, his eyes hardening, “but what’s best for the family. If we can get back on track, then Dad can come home, piece his life back together. The takeover of the company broke him, Ava. You know that. And it’s the only thing that can bring him back.”
With that, he’d shaken his head exasperatedly at her, and then swiveled around to leave the room.
“I’m sorry, Jeff,” she said quietly, and he turned around with a look that cut through her heart.
“That’s just not good enough,” was his soft reply, and then he was gone.
****
Ava couldn’t help staring at the face on the cover page. He was the sexiest—and most dangerous—man she’d ever met. And they’d danced, flirted…his eyes had blazed with a dark heat she’d been powerless to ignore. No man had ever looked at her like that. It had thrilled yet frightened her—terrified her to know that she had felt the very same. She’d been open to anything he had in mind.
And she wondered…if she hadn’t been so rash and quick to damn him, could she have used his obvious attraction to her to her advantage? He’d desired her; she could feel it coming across in waves. If she’d had any kind of sense, she could have used it as leverage of some sort.
Ava couldn’t help but laugh at herself. What did she know about leverage or manipulation? What did she know about men at all, for that matter? She was only twenty-five, not exactly innocent, but far from experienced when it came to the opposite sex. She didn’t even have a boyfriend. Not recently, anyway. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d been on a real date.
Ava had given up caring years ago about what others thought or said about her. She was satisfied with her looks; she loved her full figure, and made sure she stayed fit and healthy without sacrifice. She loved herself just as she was, down to every last curve, and she wasn’t willing to change for anyone.
She thought about being in Jonas’s arms and shivered at just how weightless she had felt in his strong embrace, as if he could carry her to the heavens and back without breaking a sweat. He was powerful, confident and had a possession in the way he gripped her waist and guided her around the dance floor that left her breathless, anxious to go wherever he dared take her. If she were honest with herself she’d have to admit that if he weren’t the one responsible for her family’s loss she would want to see him again. In fact, she’d be counting the days until she could once again feel the scalding heat of his touch and be captivated by the intense hunger that flickered in the blue depths of his eyes.
Well, that could never happen again. Now that she knew who he was, she would never allow herself to feel anything but hatred for the man. She turned from the window, started by the sudden ringing of the phone. It was Heather, her secretary.
“There’s a Carly Johnson here to see you. Should I let her in?”
The name didn’t sound familiar, and Ava frowned. “Just what does she want?”
“She says she’s here on a private matter.” Heather paused, then added, “She’s Jonas Marks’s personal assistant.”
Ava felt her pulse quicken, her blood pressure rising, and struggled to calm the unsteady beat in her chest. What the hell could Jonas’s assistant want with her?
“Send her in, Heather. Thank you.”
Ava was seated behind her desk when the woman came into her office. She was lovely, slim and efficient-looking. She had a small smile on her face as she held a folder in her hand. Ava took note of the wedding finger on her left hand and wondered why she would be conscious of a detail like that. Jonas Marks had a very pretty, attractive-looking female personal assistant—who was married. For some reason, that seemed like an interesting point to ponder.
“Thank you for agreeing to meet me, Miss Peters.” Carly smiled as she took a seat across from Ava.
“What can I do for you?”
“I’m here to make an offer…and to discuss terms.”
“An offer? I have no interest in any offer from Jonas Marks.”
Carly’s eyes fell to the magazine placed on the desk in front of her, her smile curving when she saw the face on the cover. And then she looked up shrewdly at Ava, who had followed her gaze and whose cheeks were suddenly flushed in a crimson red.
“For some reason, Miss Peters, I think you do…”
****
“Hello, Ava.”
He was standing there, at the table in the very prestigious restaurant, a slant in his smile. Ava took one look at him and felt an unfamiliar pang. He looked no less handsome than that first night they’d met. If anything, he seemed all the more lethal now that there weren’t so many distractions around them, just the few other patrons in the quaint restaurant.
“Jonas.” She nodded slightly in return, clutching her small purse in front of her.
“You look ravishing,” he said deeply, his eyes never leaving hers for a moment.
She was suddenly aware that she was trembling. Why did she feel so many mixed emotions when he looked at her that way? She wanted…needed, to resist him. She wasn’t even supposed to be here. She couldn’t let her ridiculous attraction to him get in the way of what she was meant to do.
“Thank you.” She quickly accepted the seat pulled out by the hovering waiter. She remembered her vow back at the office when she’d agreed to meet him. Her plan was to come, listen to what he had to say, and then leave. There was no harm, she’d decided, in hearing him out.
Some minutes later, their orders made, his piercing, darkly gleaming eyes speared Ava once more.
“I wasn’t quite sure, until I saw you walk in just now, that you’d even show up. I must confess, I’m very pleased you did.”
“Your assistant was very…convincing,” Ava growled, taking a sip of her wine as she fought to ignore the butterflies that fluttered in her belly. She quelled herself to lift her eyes to hold his gaze again. “I’m here only because I was told that you had an interest in returning my family’s company back to my father.”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t make the offer if I didn’t mean it, Ava. I don’t make empty promises.”
“But why would you do that? Why would you even want to?”
She couldn’t keep the confusion from her tone, and saw him smile.
“Why? Do you really need to ask?” His smile widened as her discomfort increased, her neck flushing. His eyes scanned her swiftly, and it was like a laser passing over her skin.
“Because I want you,” he said simply, shrugging. “From the first moment I set eyes on you, I knew that I wanted you.”
Ava felt a wave of heat roll up her spine at his words of desire, and she looked away nervously. “And what does that have anything to do with my father’s company? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Don’t worry about that. It makes perfect sense to me.”
His fingers were drumming lightly on the tablecloth, and Ava felt her eyes unable to shift from his intense gaze. Every word seemed to scald into her senses like hot wax.
“So you’re trying to buy me, is that it? My body in exchange for the company.” Ava struggled to hide the turmoil that twisted in her belly, but she nearly spat out her disgust. “How dare you think I can be bought?”
“I don’t want to buy anything,” he replied, his eyes narrowing. “It’s about give and take.”
He took a sip of his wine, his eyes never leaving hers and she shivered. It was clear that Jonas Marks was manipulative and calculating—even in matters that had nothing to do with business. Here he was, casually asking her to give him her body in exchange for returning her father’s company.
“Oh, I do understand. Perfectly,” she replied at last. “You think that because you have money and power, you can buy anything you want…including me. You know I’m desperate, and you know that I’d do anything to return to my father what is rightfully his.”
&
nbsp; There was a devious glint in his eye that took her breath away and she growled at how her body was betraying her.
“Ava, this has absolutely nothing to do with buying anything, but yes, it does have a lot to do with desperation. We both are very desperate…for each other. If I remember correctly, it wasn’t long ago that you were melting in my arms.” His lips tilted slightly into a teasing smile.
“Tell yourself whatever makes you feel better,” she murmured. She raised her glass of wine to her lips, noting the slight tremble in her fingers. Damn it! How could she let him get to her this way? She could keep fighting him, pretending that she felt nothing but disgust for the man, but she knew in her heart she was no match for the hunger that she felt. The desire that she knew was evident by the way she smiled, unable to take her eyes from his chiseled, handsome face. Perhaps it was time she stopped thinking she could beat him at a game of seduction that she knew she was desperately losing.
“It was a mistake to come here,” she mumbled, setting down the glass and reaching for her purse.
“Your father hasn’t been well, has he?” Jonas asked in an unhurried tone, making her pause. His eyes were downcast, his expression veiled by his dark, enviously thick lashes. “From what I hear, he’s taken an extended holiday somewhere in Rio de Janeiro. He took the loss of the company very hard, I must imagine. And then there’s your brother, well meaning but still very misguided. Trying to find ways to set things right but lacking the capital to do so.”
“Now look—”
“Ava,” he replied, his voice chilling unexpectedly as he flashed his deep blue eyes to meet hers. “With just one word, you can fix everything. You could be the family heroine, doing what needs to be done to set things right. This might be the only chance for your family to get back on top. And all this in exchange for simply giving into your own wants…and desires.”
“You act surprised that I would find offense with being treated like a whore,” she snapped, her voice cracking.
Jonas smiled slightly, relaxing back in his chair. “One week, Ava. That’s all that I ask. I will be leaving for London in two days on a weeklong business trip. I want you with me. Pleasing me in every way that I know that you can. Giving yourself to me again and again, with the same passion and desire that ignited between us that first moment we came face to face. I know you felt it, though you deny it now, I know the truth. You want me just as much as I want you.”
Ava wished for the strength to deny this man, but she felt nothing but weakness in his presence. She wanted him more than she had ever wanted anyone. Her mind raced as she struggled to make sense of everything, but all she thought about was the longing she felt when he looked at her with such raw intensity, as if she were the only woman on earth.
The waiter reappeared with their first course, interrupting the tension that lay between them. Just thinking about his proposition: one week alone with him far away from here, expected to satisfy his every desire. And in return, the company would be her family’s once again. Her father could finally come home. Her brother Jeffrey would have the weight lifted off his shoulders that had turned him into such a mass of worry the past few months.
Jonas Marks was presenting her an offer that was almost too good to be true.
An offer that she simply couldn’t…wouldn’t refuse.
****
Ava still had that funny feeling that everything happening was actually happening to someone else. It was two days later and she was on her way to London with Jonas. He had a private jet and they had left the city quickly just two hours before. It was happening; she was taking the biggest, wildest step she’d ever taken in her life.
Once she’d agreed to accept his offer, everything happened in a blur. She’d barely had the time or even the presence of mind to pack. In any case, Jonas had already made it clear that she wouldn’t need that many clothes anyway.
He was seated across from her on the jet, sifting through papers. Next to him was his trusted assistant, Carly. Their quiet discussion seemed to pass by Ava in a fog as she found herself lost in her own private thoughts.
I can’t believe I’m doing this, she thought. But she was doing it. She was on her way to London with Jonas to be his sexual plaything for a week. By day he would do his business deals, and by night, she was to be willing and ready to fulfill his every desire.
In her slim briefcase, which lay on the seat beside her, was her copy of the business transfer agreement that would Jonas would sign by the end of their weeklong arrangement. With his signature, the company would be handed back to her father and her life could finally revert back to normal.
And yet, was that the only reason she was here?
She would be lying to herself if she even attempted to pretend that Jonas wasn’t an attractive man. She was instantly drawn to him when he had asked her to dance and before she discovered who he was, she had to admit, she had never felt such animal magnetism for anyone before. She looked surreptitiously at Jonas, dressed impeccably as always in his sharp-fitting, stylish suit, hair waving in sleek chestnut locks across his forehead. He was all business, not sparing her much attention beyond asking if she wanted more champagne, or another tasteful, perfectly prepared dish to be provided by the on-flight chef.
Funny how the moment she’d accepted his highly unconventional, fiendish proposition, he’d seemed to cool off into his untouchable persona. Almost as if, now that he knew the deal was on, he’d virtually lost interest. Like a lion that had forced his prey to surrender, no longer excited by the chase.
The very thought pricked her heart like a needle, but what had she expected? He’d made her an offer and she’d accepted it. This was merely business, just like all the other corporate schemes he negotiated every single day. She sighed, turning to look out of the window, her heart torn between heaviness and a strange, twisting excitement at what was to come. And then she felt it. It was a warm, tingling sensation, and it grew stronger by the second. She turned her gaze instinctively in Jonas’s direction, and had to suck in a breath.
He was looking at her. It was just a brief glance, but in that one look, she’d felt his anticipation, saw the blazing gleam that darkened his blue eyes almost to navy. It was a look of such unashamed desire, so dangerously honest, that she no longer had any doubt that he was still very much interested in all that he planned to claim.
And for the first time in her life, Ava understood the feeling of being vulnerable, her heart suddenly ripped open, the flame of his lust igniting her own passion. She finally knew what it meant to be desired so deeply, so thoroughly that she could taste his want on the tip of her tongue, could almost catch the intoxicating scent of it in the air as their eyes held for those brief, searing seconds.
In that one, long look, she had a glimpse of the hot, blinding flash of urgent need that reminded her exactly why she was here and what happening between them.
It took a while for Ava to remember that she’d stopped breathing, as she forced air back into her lungs, willing her heart to beat less thunderously as she grabbed the glass of champagne at her elbow and took a long, grateful gulp.
This was the start of what she knew would be unforgettable week with a man who would refuse her nothing, and who would take from her all that he wanted and needed. Her thoughts were no longer on all that she would gain at the end of the week, but on everything she stood to lose.
****
Keeping his hands off her had been a difficult challenge over the last few hours, but with Carly’s constant presence he had been forced to focus on business matters.
Having Ava sitting there directly across from him, her beautiful features creased slightly with a troubled expression that made him want to kiss the little frown away didn’t help the situation. Right there, within reach, and soon to be in his tight embrace, had been enough to keep him hard all through the long trip. Even in her stern-looking suit, her body was just as gorgeously inviting as ever, her delightful curves encased lovingly by the outfit’s well-fitte
d lines. Her legs were creamy, smooth, and she gave him a delicious glimpse of inner thigh whenever she crossed and uncrossed them.
It was hard enough keeping his mind on Carly’s words during the flight. He wished now that he had found a way to cancel this trip, or at least postpone it so that he could focus only on Ava. But he had important meetings in London, arrangements that had been made through powerful contacts more than a year ago. There was no way out of it, even for such a powerful man like himself.
No, it had been a now-or-never move, and he’d taken it. And now, he knew that it was only a matter of hours, give or take, and then the sexy, voluptuous Ava would be all his. He would focus on work when he needed to, but he’d make sure that when the time came, he’d make every moment with her count. He only hoped he’d have the strength to let her go once their agreement came to an end in just seven days.
****
They touched down late in the evening, and Ava felt the sense of ancient history all around her as they drove from the airport to the hotel, passing by monuments, castles and landmarks. The city was well lit, beautiful as always, and filled with a kaleidoscope of people that seemed to swarm the streets in droves. Ava was enchanted by the diversity and culture that moved all around her, caught up in the sights and sounds of one of the world’s most amazing cities, thinking about the kings and queens that once ruled this magnificent country.
And I’m here with a sexy, powerful billionaire who wants only me.
She dared to look at him as they sat in the spacious limousine that carried them to their destination. Every time she stole a glance at him, she wondered why he would be attracted to someone like her when he could have any woman in the world. She’d read a recent article in some tabloid magazine that spoke of his ex-girlfriend, a beautiful, young model and a woman that every media outlet had once pegged as his future wife only to discover they had broken up a few months later. Ava thought about her, and other women that he was used to being with. Model-types, a status symbol and trophy to a man like him.
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