Jeanine, the best executive assistant on the continent, entered the outer office. She’d been with Sterling Worldwide for almost thirty years, and with him for the past seven. With her polite smile and firm voice, she protected him against the world. “Morning, Mr. Sterling.”
“Jeanine.”
She angled her head toward Hope. “Everything all right, sir?”
“Unscheduled meeting with the Prestige Group.”
“I see.”
“My mother arranged it.”
Jeanine scowled with understanding. Like a she-dragon, Jeanine would have protected him from his own mother. “Anything you need, Mr. Sterling?” She was asking if he wanted her to call security or to show the woman out. “Coffee?”
Her combination of savviness and loyalty made her indispensable.
“Just one cup, please. Ms. Malloy won’t be staying.”
He captured Hope’s shoulders and pulled her into his office so he could close the door. He held on to her for a whole lot longer than was necessary but not as long as he wanted to. How would she react if he eased his first finger up the delicate column of her throat?
Would she surrender? Fight the inevitable?
Forcing himself to resist the driving impulse, he dropped his hands and curled them into fists at his sides.
“Proclivities,” she prompted.
The word echoed in his head. “She’ll wear a collar—my collar…” And because he could no longer resist, he traced an index finger across the hollow of her throat. Her pulse fluttered, and her breaths momentarily ceased. “My woman will know that she belongs to me and she will behave as such.”
Hope’s gaze remained locked on his. When she spoke, her voice wobbled. “And this…collar. She’ll have to wear it all the time?”
“That’s what twenty-four seven means.” A devilish grin tugged at his lips. He kept his fingertip pressed to her warm skin. “It will be subtle, however. Nothing gaudy. Unless people knew, I doubt they’d think she was wearing anything other than a striking piece of jewelry. But her play collar, the one she wears in private with me or at a lifestyle event, may be different.”
“Like at a BDSM club or something?” She nodded, as if she were on ground she understood.
Not that he’d let her stay there long. “I enjoy showing off my sub. There’s a certain restaurant in New Orleans, Vieille Rivière, that she will go to. And she’ll join me when I visit people in similar social circles.” Including other Titans. But there was a limit to how much he should tell her. “There are certain things I would want her to go along with. Bondage. Sensory deprivation.”
“You mean like blindfolds and handcuffs?” There was no hesitation in her words, so he ascertained she’d made sense of what he’d said and decided that fell under the category of typical bedroom shenanigans.
“Among others, yes. I use blindfolds on occasion. I like gags so that my woman must beg with her eyes. Her tears are like dripping nectar from the gods.”
Wide-eyed, uncertain, she sucked in a deep, disbelieving breath.
“Clamps,” he added, skimming the column of her throat.
“I…”
“On her nipples, among other places. And I will want to her to wait for me at the end of a long day, on her knees, head tipped back, her beautiful mouth held open by a dental dam.”
“You mean…she’d have to do this herself?”
“Prepare for my homecoming?” He imagined Hope parting her lips, sliding in the dam and positioning it, pictured her naked in front of the door, hungry for his touch. “Yes.”
She retreated a step. “Mr. Sterling, I—”
“My wife will focus on me and my pleasure.”
“That sounds rather old-fashioned.”
“Does it? What you’re not aware of is what I’m willing to do in return.”
“In return?”
“I wouldn’t expect a woman to give me everything she has to offer without me giving equal parts of myself. Her wants and desires will be my highest priority. I will give her the heavens if she wants them, the stars, the moon.” He paused. “Then I’ll take her to the depths of hell as she uncovers what sets her depraved soul free.”
She shuddered.
“Can you find me all that in a candidate, Ms. Malloy?”
“You’re rather particular.”
“Indeed. I require a woman of impeccable breeding who presents her ass for my punishment when she displeases me.”
The air conditioner kicked on. The whispering cool air did nothing to dissipate the heat between them.
He slid his hand around to the back of her neck, then feathered his fingers into her hair. “I want to kiss you, Ms. Malloy.”
“Uhm…”
“Ask me to.”
She scowled.
“I won’t have you pretending that you’re not curious. When you’re at home this evening, by yourself with a glass of wine, horny and considering masturbating—”
“That’s not me.” She shook her head so fast it was obviously a desperate lie.
“No? Ms. Malloy, the room is swimming with your pheromones. Deny it.” She sagged a little against his hand, and he tightened his grip on her hair, as much to offer support as to imprison her. Then he continued as if she hadn’t interrupted. “You’ll remember this moment, fantasize about being mine.”
“No…”
“Invite me to kiss you or tell me to release you. The power is yours. Yield to temptation or leave this room wondering if it’s as good as you imagine it will be.”
“Mr. Sterling, this can’t be happening.”
Despite her protest, she didn’t try to escape. “I agree. This is the first time I’ve had three women”—four if he counted Celeste—“attempt to force me down the aisle.” He paused. “And it’s the first time I’ve had this kind of sexual longing for an adversary. Ask me to kiss you,” he repeated instead of arguing. “Be sure to say please.”
“Ah…”
He loosened his grip, and she leaned toward him, keeping herself hostage. Rafe didn’t smile with triumph.
“Kiss me.”
“There’s nothing I’d enjoy more.” That wasn’t the entire truth. There were a hundred things he’d like to do to her, but he made no move
Her internal standoff lasted longer than he thought it would. Excellent. She had a stubborn streak.
Hope glanced away and sighed. Then she looked at him with clear, confident eyes. “Please kiss me.”
He could drown in her and be happy about it. He captured her chin to hold her steady. On her lips, he tasted the sweetness of her capitulation. “Open your mouth, sweet Hope.”
She did, and he entered her mouth, slower than he would ordinarily, softer than he would if she were his submissive.
Hope responded with hesitation, and he continued, driving deeper, seeking more. Within seconds, she yielded.
She moaned and raised onto her tiptoes to lean into him. A few seconds beyond that, she wrapped her arms around him. Hope, his adversary, had now become his willing captive.
He released her chin and moved his hand to the middle of her back, then lower to the base of her spine.
Rafe drank in the scent of her femininity. His cock surged, not from ordinary arousal, but from soul-deep recognition. Her eagerness sought the Dom in him. It took all his restraint not to press his palm against her buttocks.
Earlier he’d said she’d be thinking of him as she masturbated. The truth was, he wasn’t sure how he’d banish this memory of her—strength and suppleness in one heady package.
He plundered her mouth.
She offered more until she was panting and desperate, gripping him hard.
Instead of giving in to the driving need to rip off her clothes and fuck her, he distracted himself by tugging on her hair harder. As he’d requested, her eyes were open. So goddamn trusting. Did she have any idea how close he was to shredding the veneer of civilization that hung between them to claim her, mark her as his?
He ende
d the kiss while he still could. Her mouth was swollen, and he couldn’t stop staring at her lips.
Hope took tiny breaths that didn’t seem to steady her. She held on to him while she lowered her heels to the floor. Then, over a few heartbeats, she dropped her hands.
“Thank you, Rafe,” he prompted.
“Are you serious? I’m supposed to thank you?” She continued to look at him and undoubtedly saw his resolve.
Would she give him what he demanded? “Unless you want me to spank—”
“Spank?” Her chin was at a full tilt.
“Spank.” He repeated with emphasis. “Unless you want me to spank your pretty little ass so hard that you can’t sit down after you leave here.”
“That kind of behavior is unacceptable.”
“Under normal circumstances,” he agreed without hesitation. “Unless you ask me for it.” Part of him hoped she’d take him up on it. It would be a pleasure to prove she liked the feel of his hand on her bare skin. “I’ll go first.” He softened his tone, letting her glimpse his inner thoughts, a rare confession of his soul. “I enjoyed kissing you. Thank you.”
“I…” She smoothed the skirt that he wanted to rip off her body.
“Look at me.”
She followed his command. Then, with a soft and decidedly insubmissive tone, she said, “Thank you.”
“Ms. Malloy, as I said, it was my pleasure.”
Silence hung between them. Her inexperience thrilled him, and he wanted to give her another hundred firsts. Instead, he let her go. The real world—with its complex demands—was waiting. And if he wanted her at his feet, he had a lot of work to do.
“I’m not certain how much of what you said, and what we just did, is to get me to admit defeat, to quit…” She stiffened her spine.
“Maybe it started that way.” His father’s behavior had pissed Rafe off, and so had his mother’s ambush, even Hope herself. He’d wanted to shake her as badly as he’d been shaken. As he’d spoken to her, his desires had churned to the surface. Until now—until her—he had been willing to confine his kink to a club. “It didn’t end that way. That I promise you.”
“I will ask the candidates about their openness to your suggestions.”
Fuck. She wanted to retreat behind a facade of business, as if their kiss hadn’t changed something. “Requirements. Not suggestions. Requirements. Be clear about that. If I’m to be saddled with a woman that I don’t want until death do us part, there will be none of the hysteria that my family members seem to thrive on. My wife will know her place and her role, and she will meet my expectations. And to be clear, she will ask for my kiss. Like you did.” He opened the door.
Jeanine was walking toward his office with a cup of coffee, and he waved her off.
Then, voice so soft that only Hope could hear, he finished. “You have a fourteen-page interview form. I will have something similar for the women you bring to me. It will cover things such as anal play, being shared with others, edging, exhibitionism. Shall I send it to you first?”
“Please do. It will save some time in your selection process.” She started past him, and he snagged her elbow.
“And Ms. Malloy? She’ll fucking address me as Sir.” He was unaccountably furious at her rejection. At himself. “And if you come here ever again, so will you.”
Her hand trembled where she grasped her purse strap. She flicked a glance at his hand before yanking her elbow free and continuing.
She paused at Jeanine’s desk to say goodbye. Why did that matter so much to him?
He should have snagged the cup of coffee and returned to his office to call his father, but Rafe continued to watch Hope. Each damnable step made her hips sway, and his still-hard cock throbbed in response.
At the door leading to the hallway, Hope paused, her hand on the knob. She glanced over her shoulder and met his gaze without blinking. He might have unsettled her, even shocked her. But he hadn’t scared her.
Round one to the beautiful matchmaker.
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OTHER TITLES BY SIERRA CARTWRIGHT
Titans
Sexiest Billionaire
Billionaire’s Matchmaker
Billionaire’s Christmas
Bonds
Crave
Claim
Command
The Donovans
Bind
Brand
Boss
Mastered
With This Collar
On His Terms
Over The Line
In His Cuffs
For The Sub
In The Den
Master Class
Initiation
Enticement
Individual titles
Double Trouble
Shockwave
Bound and Determined
Three-Way Tie
Signed, Sealed, and Delivered
His to Claim
Hard Hand
Table of Contents
DEDICATION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
EPILOGUE
BILLIONAIRE’S MATCHMAKER PREVIEW
OTHER TITLES BY SIERRA CARTWRIGHT
Sexiest Billionaire (Titans) Page 10
