His dick stirred. For ten years, he’d ached for her. Now, she was free, and he planned to claim her. By fair means or foul.
Glorie chuckled. “It will be entertaining and a pleasure to see the mighty Hunter Finnegan fall on his hands and knees for a woman.”
“I won’t be the one on my hands and knees.” But he had fallen. Ten long, hellish years ago.
Chapter Two
Hunter looked up as Rylee stormed his office, a red cyclone bent on destruction. “What the hell are you playing at, Hunter Finnegan?” She gripped her briefcase, planted herself in front of him, and glared.
He rocked back on his heels, not from the force of her anger but her beauty. Rylee Kincaid, with her shiny blue-black hair, fair skin, and rosy lips, was a coolly attractive woman. When kissed, passion lit the fire in her eyes, plumped her lips, and her body became soft and responsive. Sexy Rylee was totally irresistible. But seeing her with cheeks ablaze with twin flags of temper, violet-blue eyes sparking with fury, she went from attractive to irresistible to magnificent.
His blood began a slow boil. He planned to do whatever it took to reclaim her. This time for keeps.
He leaned forward, invading her personal space. “No game, Ms. Kincaid. I made a more than fair offer for your company.” He indicated a sitting area on the far side of his office. “Would you like coffee?” He hid a grin when she sidestepped to avoid his touch.
She tipped her chin in defiance. “This isn’t a social call, Mr. Finnegan.”
Hunter held her gaze. “No, it’s not. You made your feelings toward me perfectly clear six months ago. However, I prefer to be comfortable during negotiations.”
He gripped her elbow, steered her to a chair, standing so close, she had no choice but to sit. Taking a seat on the couch across from her gave him a full view of her furious glory.
Her fingers plucked at her skirt then smoothed the fabric over her knees. She lifted her head, her posture prim and proper. “I’m not here to negotiate. I want the original terms offered by F.A. Investments.” She yanked a thick stack of papers from her briefcase and tossed them onto the glass table between them. There was no order, no neat stack, just a jumble of paper that slid dangerously close to the edge.
He fought to keep his lips from twitching. His bait and switch had worked far better than he’d anticipated. He waved one hand at the papers. “What’s all that?”
Rylee stabbed the pile with one long, red-tipped finger while biting off each word. “This. Is. Bullshit.” She narrowed her eyes and dared him to correct her. He didn’t say anything, just watched her, which fueled her fury. How could he be so calm while her world crashed down around her? He was playing cat and mouse with her, and she wasn’t going to allow him to turn this into a pissing contest.
Hunter eased back, stretched his arms out along the back of the couch. “Not enough money? It was a fair offer.” He frowned. “Considering the shape your business is in, more than fair.”
The man’s cool indifference fanned the flames of her fury. She resisted the childish urge to toss the contracts around the room. She wanted to yell and rant at the smug bastard. And smug played across his features, like a satisfied cat who’d trapped a mouse. His golden cat-like eyes gleamed with anticipation. She’d told him she never wanted to see him again, and here she was, right where he wanted her. “Why are you doing this? Did I bruise your ego? Are you doing this so I’ll agree to go out with you?”
“Would you go out with me, Rylee?” His voice was low and soft.
Tugging her lower lip into her mouth, she sat back and studied the man she’d slept with in college who’d gone on to become a billionaire. “If I say yes, will you forget about buying my company and invest as originally planned?”
Hunter sighed and shook his head. “No. After analyzing your finances, Interior Dreams needs far more than an investor can, in good consciousness, invest. Selling the business and implementing major changes is the only way to save your company. You’ve been plodding along without growing for too many years. I’m sorry to say, Interior Dreams needs a complete overhaul.”
Too angry to sit, she jumped up to pace. “And that means getting rid of me? I won’t do it. I won’t do that to my people.” Hands on hips, she glared at the man from her past bent on destroying her future.
“That’s where negotiating comes into play, Ms. Kincaid. I believe I can turn your company around.”
Whirling around, she studied Hunter, sensing a trap. “You’re willing to negotiate?” Hope snuck through the cloud of despair.
He sat forward. “But of course.” His grin revealed perfect white teeth. Instead of reassuring her or relaxing her, her guard rose. The man was a shark circling its prey.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I won’t step down, and I won’t let that woman march in like a destroying angel and fire my employees.” I won’t let you or any other man take my choices away from me ever again.
Hunter stood and strode toward Rylee, his gaze trapping and holding hers. “Here’s the deal, Ms. Kincaid. I want something. You want something.” He stepped closer. “There are things I have to tell you, things about our past, reasons why I couldn’t see you again. You chose not to hear me out six months ago—”
“Fine. I’m listening. Say what you have to say.”
He held up a hand. “You want to change the terms of the contract I’ve offered, and I’m willing to listen to your thoughts and concerns. In return, you’ll agree to hear me out.”
“I’m listening,” she repeated, tapping her foot impatiently. If he wanted to hash over the past, well, fine. She’d listen, then he’d better be prepared to do more than listen to her objections to his takeover.
He shook his head. “I’m proposing a working vacation, Ms. Kincaid. We leave Thursday and return on Sunday.”
Rylee’s jaw dropped. “You want me to go away with you?” She stepped back. The idea had appeal, which scared her. He was even better looking now, and she found him wildly attractive. And pulse-racing desirable. Was he still a take-charge lover in the bedroom? Her body quivered as she recalled that wondrous weekend of sex. The thought of a repeat performance lit a fire deep in her center.
His shoulder lifted and fell. “I prefer to combine work and play.”
“And if I refuse?” She pressed her fist into her belly to calm the wild flutters.
He cocked a hip against the back of the chair she’d vacated. “I leave Thursday and won’t be back until Sunday. Monday, I fly to New York and, from there, to London. The offer on the table stands as is, unless you accompany me this weekend to work out a new offer.”
Rylee stared out the window. What a beautiful view he must have when the weather was clear. The city spread out below, obscured by the fog, like her mind when she stared into his eyes. Go away with him? Not a chance in hell. Too dangerous. Yet her body hummed with renewed energy.
No way did she still want this man. The dampness between her legs proved her a liar. Arms crossed, she paced. “What about now? This afternoon? Or tomorrow? I can be available anytime.”
“Not possible. My schedule is full. I’m a busy man, Ms. Kincaid.”
Fury burned off the soft mist coating her mind. Spinning around, she marched back to Hunter and planted her fists on her hips. “This is blackmail.”
“Call it what you like.” He turned and gathered the pile of papers on the table. “You have the means to save your company and the jobs of your employees right here. You want better terms? Then join me this weekend. It’s your choice.”
Rylee swallowed her scream of frustration. Her voice rose. “No, Mr. Finnegan, it’s not, and you know it. If it was only me, I’d tell you to go to hell, but I have twenty employees. You’ve got me neatly caged in.”
She hugged herself. How had she gotten into this mess? If only Jerry hadn’t died. He’d been the driving force behind the scenes of their business. Reeling in new clients had been his strength, keeping them happy hers. “Where are we going, if I agree?”
Hunter strode to his desk and returned, handing her a card.
Rylee studied the card, appreciating the thick creamy-yellow parchment paper and the old-world look and feel of the lettering. A banner style logo stretched across the top. In the center, an embossed metallic blue castle gleamed, with the words The Kingdom of Dom done in a fancy, swirly script beneath.
You are hereby invited to Pleasure Manor for a weekend of pure pleasure.
“Pleasure Manor? Kingdom of Dom?” Her voice rose to a squeak.
A weekend of pure pleasure. God, a weekend with Hunter. Deep in her center, need throbbed.
She lifted her head, trying desperately not to think of sex with Hunter. “You’ve got to be joking,” she said to the man standing so close she breathed in his scent. A wave of warmth rolled off his broad shoulders, a blanket of sensuality that made her long to melt against him and feel his arms around her.
She wasn’t a small woman. Three-inch heels brought her height to a good five-ten, which made her feel equal to most men. But not Hunter. The man had to be at least six-four. She felt tiny and fragile standing near him.
His gaze bore into hers. “No joke. It’s a BDSM event, and if you attend, you’ll be my submissive. Read the rest.”
Rylee took a deep breath.
Event starts Thursday afternoon and ends Sunday.
Theme: Fairy Tales, The Stories Your Mother Never Read You.
Your Character: Snow.
Your Partner: The Huntsman.
Costumes will be provided.
Formal Ball Saturday evening.
Oh, my god! A weekend of wild sex with her golden dream god of a lover. Rylee’s knees shook. As much as she’d loved and adored her husband, sex between them had never come close to the explosive passion she’d shared with Hunter that wondrous weekend in college.
He’d bound her wrists, spanked her, turned her ass red, and heated her desire to the point she’d begged him to fuck her. He’d forced her to come over and over. She’d never experienced such mind-numbing orgasms before or since. Just thinking about that weekend awakened the desire slumbering deep inside. Her panties were uncomfortably wet at the thought of repeating the experience.
“I can’t do this,” she whispered. She couldn’t risk his breaking her heart. “You said we were going negotiate the sale of my company, not spend the weekend having…”
“Sex?” Hunter tipped up her chin, forcing her to meet his cat-like gaze. “No reason we can’t mix pleasure and business, Rylee.”
“I’m not trading sex for my company.”
“No, you’re not. The offer I’ve made stands as it is. However, I’m a man who works hard and plays equally hard. This event has been on my calendar for months, and the woman who was to be my partner had to cancel. I’ll repeat what I said earlier. You need something from me, and I want something from you. As I recall, you were a good sub ten years ago, which makes you a perfect for this.”
“You can’t expect me to agree? I’m not into this. What we did was a long time ago.” But not so long ago she’d forgotten even one moment.
He drew in a deep breath. “You’re aroused, Rylee. I can smell it, and I see the excitement in your eyes. The weekend we had together meant something to you, as it did to me.”
Her gaze latched onto his full, delicious mouth. “Yet you blew me off and made it clear you wouldn’t have anything to do with me ever again.” She tried to hide the hurt, but it was there, as was a small quiver in her voice.
“There were reasons.”
She mentally shook her head free of lustful desires. “Name them.”
“This weekend. I came to you six months ago with the intention of explaining what happened, but you chose to send me away. Now, you can wait. My terms.”
Ooh. She longed to tell him where to take his terms. She sent him a look of utter disgust. “I could forget everything and walk out of here.” Walk away from the man who had her pulse pounding and a terrible ache gathering between her legs. She picked up her briefcase.
Hunter snagged her arm. “What’s your favorite fairytale?”
“What?” The change in topic threw her. His hand, a warm band trapping her, sent shivers of desire swirling through her.
“Mine is Snow White. Pretty girl, beautiful woman. Puts others before her. Protects the dwarves, takes care of them. Not an ounce of self-pity in her. Reminds me of you.”
“Me?” Rylee drew herself up. Her brain couldn’t keep up with him. “You think I’m going to break into a song here? Let’s not forget she was so trusting she got herself poisoned.”
He chuckled low in his throat. “Ah, but her heart was pure, and her prince saved her.”
Rylee swallowed hard. His laugh hummed through her bloodstream and settled like a smug grin deep in her center. Damn, how was it she wanted this man again and so desperately. She had to steel herself against his charm and sex appeal.
“You’re not my prince,” she said, fighting the urge to beg him to save her business. F.A. Investments had been her knight in shining armor, her prince galloping in on his white horse to save her and her kingdom. Instead, he was the ruthless king on the throne out for revenge because she’d dared to tell him no.
“You got that right. I prefer to be the honorable huntsman who couldn’t kill the young princess.” He released her arm, his body smoothly closing the distance between them. “And now the man has returned to claim the woman the girl became.”
Fighting the urge to run, she tipped her head back and lost herself in the richness of his gaze. “What the hell do you want, Hunter?”
“You.” He rested his palm against the nape of her neck and drew her in for a kiss.
The moment his lips covered hers, her resistance melted away. How many times during the last six months had she replayed the events of that incredible weekend and imagined kissing him again?
She sighed when he embraced her, yanking her against the hard wall of his broad chest. His tongue eased into her mouth as though it belonged there. He drank and devoured, forcing her to grip his shoulders to keep from melting into a puddle of jelly.
Her tongue feathered over his as she succumbed to his demand. He drew her tongue into his mouth with one long, hard suck. She groaned and held on as he kissed her with such mind-numbing passion she feared she would go up in flames.
One hand followed the curve of her spine, dipped into the small of her back, and crested the swell of her buttocks. Her muscles clenched, her hips jerking forward as heat settled in a hard knot between her legs. She hadn’t felt this level of desperate need since…hell, since the last time Hunter had kissed her. His kiss whipped her needs into a frothing storm.
She tried to pull back, needed to breathe, and god, had to think rationally. She was a businesswoman. What the hell was she doing allowing him to kiss her? Her mind sought control, but her body pressed into his, begging and, dammit, needing so much more.
His fingers dug into her ass as she dragged her lips from his. “Hunter.”
“I know, baby.” His hand trailed over her ass then along her thigh as he lifted her leg, shoved his thigh between hers, and pressed upward. Hard. His hand curved up over her ass.
Rylee’s moan filled the room. Hunter muffled the sound with his mouth. His fingers dipped below the waist of her panties. She sucked in her breath, her body screaming for him to touch her, and take the pain of lust away. Her mind resisted, warned that she was playing with fire. Needs won over caution as she rode his thigh.
Wishing he’d thought ahead to lock his door, Hunter bit back a groan as her hot, wet heat seeped beneath the fabric of his slacks. His fingers tunneled through tight, black curls until he reached her damp mound. He glided his middle finger through swollen folds and swallowed her cries.
His other hand found its way down the back of her silky panties. He kneaded the soft, warm globes of her ass and rocked her hips, urging her to ride him harder, faster. The scent of her arousal, the taste of her sweet mouth, and the feel of her slick f
lesh sent desperate need coursing through his veins. His heart pounded in his ears, and his cock throbbed painfully as though every drop of blood in his body had settled between his legs.
His dick was rock-hard. He longed to free himself and drive deep into her hot, moist pussy. But he resisted. For now, he had to be satisfied with her frantic cries, her pumping hips, and the wet heat of her sex sliding over him. His finger teased her clit. A low growl escaped when that tiny nub swelled beneath his touch.
“Oh, god, we have to stop.” She moaned, her head falling back, exposing the tender whiteness of her throat.
Hunter sucked and nipped his way along her jawline to her ear. He swirled his tongue into and around, each curve, then drew her earlobe into his mouth. Her moan was almost too much. If he didn’t stop, he was going to lose control and explode.
“No. You’ll come for me, Rylee. Here and now.” He deepened his voice, knowing she wouldn’t be able to resist his command. She’d been this responsive to him once before. He hadn’t understood his dominant nature back then or how a Dom could easily control a sub with voice. Now that she was free, he wanted what he hadn’t dared keep for himself ten, long years ago.
“Now,” he commanded. “Come for me now, Rylee.”
Rylee had to stop, regain control, but the moment he used that deep, commanding voice, she was lost. His finger circled harder, faster, giving her no choice but to soar on the wings of pleasure he controlled. His tongue dipped in and out of her mouth, and every cry that escaped was muffled by his lips closing over hers.
She drew her head back, breaking the kiss. “I can’t. Not here. Not like this.”
“Yes, you can. You will.” His fingers dug into her ass, and his thigh shifted, applying more pressure. His finger on her clit circled hard and fast.
She dropped her head back as the tremors started deep in her center and rushed outward in all directions, growing in strength. Arching her back, she drew in a deep breath, then everything around her exploded into millions of tiny bright, flickering stars that floated around her and through her.
Snow & Her Huntsman Page 2
