by Mina Carter
Could she get away with hiring him for sex? God. When had she stooped so low?
“Well, I’ve been called both in my time. Not usually at the same time.” He strode toward her, and it was like Tom wasn’t even in the room. Drew stopped a pace away, close enough that she could practically feel the heat of his body, and spread his arms. “So, do I pass muster? Or would you like me to do a twirl as well?”
She bit down her tongue before she told him to turn so she could check out his butt. Not a good way to start any employee on the job. “You’ll do.” She tried and failed to stop staring him up and down. “So now what? You’re the expert here.” She lifted a brow and licked her lips. “School me.”
He shot a look at Tom. “She always like this?”
Tom didn’t say anything, just nodded, a look of affectionate resignation on his face. She resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him.
Drew folded his arms again, his feet a little more than shoulder width apart. It was the stance he seemed to use when he was thinking, but she was admiring the way the fabric pulled against the heavy muscles of his arms and shoulders. He had to work out with trucks as weights or something.
“Okay. Tom will go through all my recommendations for the building here and bring them up the spec. He’ll also be looking into hiring some guys with more of the experience we need. Meanwhile I’ll be checking out your routine and your place.” He gave her a hard look. “You will be making changes if I see fit. After that, we’ll start with the self-defense lessons.”
“You mean I can’t defend myself with my sharp wit?”
He gave her a look she was becoming familiar with. As though he couldn’t work out whether to laugh or simply throttle her.
“Well,” said Tom brightly. “I have my orders, so I’ll leave you two to get on. Good to have you aboard, Dav.”
She watched Tom head for the door and almost begged him to stay. What if her hormones got the best of her with Drew at arm’s length? She couldn’t be responsible for her actions if she was left alone with him.
“Did you want to...?” Go to bed? No! No bed. This was going to be a long day. “Go over anything or go home? Not my home. There’s, like, no reason for that.”
Wow. Talk about making an ass of herself. Who knew she’d lose brain cells over a hot body. Dios mio. If her father were alive, he’d slap her upside the head and tell her to get her shit together.
He smiled, a slow expression like the sun breaking over the horizon. The effect was devastating. “Oh no, sweetheart. You don’t get off that lightly. When I said I was about to become your shadow, I meant it. Explain it to your friends and family however you want, but where you go, I go.”
“I don’t think that’s really necessary. I mean I had a short shopping trip planned, and they close the place down for me. One of the perks of being friends with the owner.” She glanced around the room, anywhere but at him or she’d say some new nonsense. “Feel free to take the day off. I don’t need your help where I’m going.”
He sighed. “Okay, I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this.”
Reaching inside his jacket, he withdrew a handgun she hadn’t seen before. It wasn’t the one he’d used earlier, and she knew without asking that this one didn’t have rubber bullets. Cocking it, he handed it to her. A smile started to spread over her face. Perhaps he was going to be sensible about this.
Then he pulled the muzzle around and placed it against the middle of his chest. His gaze caught hers, as sharp as a scalpel.
“All you have to do is take the safety off and shoot. If I disarm you before you do, I do what I want to you.”
What the hell was a safety? And where was it located? She tried to ignore her excitement over his words, but her brain stopped when he said he’d do anything he wanted to her. She was an intelligent, well-educated woman. She’d figure this out even if it killed her.
She eyed him while feeling the gun for something, anything, that screamed safety. Why didn’t anyone think to put a label on the damn safety so it could be easily found?
“This isn’t really fair. I don’t know anything about guns,” she muttered, frustrated. The stupid thing was bumpy, and she saw nothing special to it.
“It’s the button on the side,” he offered with a wink. But before she could even think, let alone touch anything that looked like a button, he moved.
Her arm was knocked to the side, the gun removed from her hand with the precision of a surgeon on speed. She gasped as she was propelled backward, half-staggering, half-falling, until her ass met the edge of her desk. Then her back hit it, and he was over her.
The air was knocked out of her. “I guess you win. You proved your point,” she mumbled. His body was rock hard, and she had to curl her nails into her palms to keep from digging them into his shoulders. “You...uh...you can get off me now.”
He grinned, and the look in his eyes stole her breath. Darkness ate the bright blue all up until she couldn’t breathe.
“Oh no, sweetheart,” he said softly. “That wasn’t the deal. The deal was if you couldn’t shoot me, I’d get to do whatever I want to you.”
He captured her left wrist while she was still processing his words, the right a second behind it. She was forced to stretch as he pulled both arms above her head, parting her thighs with a hard knee between them. Her eyes widened; that was no gun.
“Whatever. I. Want,” he breathed, dropping his head so the words were whispered along her neck. Holding her wrists with one hand, he used his free one to sweep up the outside of her thigh, pulling her knee up against his hip.
“And how are you going to stop me?”
Stop him? The only thing she could think of to do was encourage him. “It’s...um...unethical?”
He barked a laugh. “Fuck ethics.”
Good to know. “You work for me?”
“We’ve been through this, sweetheart.” His lips grazed her throat. “I’m not helping you. I don’t work for you. I’m doing this as a favor for a mate.”
She choked back a whimper. “You...I...what was the question?”
“I don’t know. What question do you want to ask?” He pulled her knee higher and ground against her. Fuck. That was...oh my.
“Are you single?” Wait. No, that wasn’t the right question. “I mean, have you done this before?”
He nipped her earlobe, the sharp pleasure-pain rolling through her. “Fucked a hot chick on a desk? Hell yeah. Not one quite as hot as you though.”
Christ. He had a mouth on him. Fire shot from her nipples down to her clit. She was growing slicker by the second, and all he’d done was say a few things to her. “I meant…” She moaned, “…played bodyguard.”
“I don’t play at anything.” He moved down, dropping a kiss on the sweet spot below her ear that made her knees weak. “I’m not a bodyguard. Make no mistake. I can protect you, but don’t think I’m anything as tame as a bodyguard.”
His mouth reached her jaw, and she thought her ovaries were going to explode. Turning her head, she tried to reach his lips. He had to kiss her. Or…she didn’t know what. She craved it more than her next breath. Followed closely by him being inside her. Suddenly, wearing that skirt suit today was the best decision she’d made all week.
He pulled away, just up and stood, offering her a hand to help her up.
“Thus endeth the lesson. See how little control you had?”
Oh, that fucking bastard! Leaving her sexually frustrated was his lesson? She might not be out in the dating world, but two could play that game.
She glared at his way-too-handsome face. “I’m pretty sure you know you caught me off guard. I’m very much in control of everything in my life.”
He shook his head. “Except the shit you can’t control. Like being physically overpowered. And your reaction every time I touched you. You want my advice? Get laid.”
Chapter Three
They do say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. And true to form, the last few days had turne
d out to be the longest of Drew’s life.
Amanda had turned out to be a whirlwind of energy. Although he accompanied her everywhere—even sleeping in her apartment on the couch despite her arguments—he was rarely alone with her. Meetings, conference calls, shopping trips, fund-raisers, you name it...they were there. He dealt with the curiosity by simply ignoring it. He wasn’t there to be part of her social life, but to protect her.
But God help him, lingerie shopping?
“Stop frowning. You’re going to scare my friend. I did tell you she shuts down the store for me, so there was no need for you to come with me.”
“Where you go, I go. That’s the deal.” He folded his arms across his chest and kept his eyes above neck level.
Lingerie shopping, for fucks sake. It wasn’t enough that he had the worst case of blue fucking balls since that little scene in her office, but now she was parading about in lingerie as well.
She shrugged. “I didn’t need you to come into the fitting room area, you know. You could’ve waited outside. So if this bothers you…” She bent to grab a purple chemise from a rack. While wearing tiny panties. “This is your own fault.” She rose slowly and grinned. “You know what they say. If you can’t stand the heat...”
He clenched his jaw tight. Little witch knew what she was doing to him.
“The fitting room area has three different exits. The only way to properly protect you is to be in here.” He swept a glance over her figure and managed to keep the heat out of his gaze. God, she was fucking gorgeous: not stick thin like some, but with the sort of ample curves he itched to get his hands on.
“Don’t play games with me, Amy.” He dropped his voice so only the two of them could hear. “I’m not a nice man. Not a good one. And you won’t like how I want to play.”
“Know me that well, huh?” She moved on to another rack, one sporting corsets in every color. She eyed a blue one but at the last second went for a black with red that had belts and chains on it. “I guess Mr. Know-It-All couldn’t ever be surprised by a boring CEO, now could he?”
He managed to hold his retort in as she swept out of the main area triumphantly. Fuck. She was putting that corset on. His head thunked back against the wall as he tried to get his raging libido under control.
No. No fucking way. He couldn’t stand here and watch her parade around in that and not lose it. Pushing off from the wall, he followed her into the changing area, every movement that of a predator.
Once past the curtain, he paused, listening out for which cubicle she was in. The muttering clued him in, and he grinned, catching less than complimentary things about himself.
Steps silent on the plush carpeting, he approached. As she’d said, her friend had shut the store, so it was just the two of them. Perfect for what he had in mind. He paused just outside her cubicle, the thin gap between the curtains allowing him to see that she’d almost got the corset on.
Excellent.
He slipped through the curtain, grabbing and turning her before she could register his presence. She started to scream, but he silenced her by crashing his lips down over hers. They hit the back wall as he parted her lips, driving into her soft sweetness with a hard tongue. His hands captured hers, and he broke the kiss just as quickly as he’d started it to haul her hands above her head. A quick movement and he had them secured on the clothes hook with the belt that had been around her waist.
“Now.” He settled against her, pressing her curvy body into the wall with the hardness of his. “Do we need to have this conversation about control again?”
She swiped her tongue over her bottom lip and blinked, then narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re really good at getting a woman turned on only to leave her frustrated, aren’t you?” She glanced up to where he held her hands tied. “You shouldn’t tie someone up unless you’re going to make it worth their while. Besides, you don’t know me well enough to know what I like. But this? This should be foreplay.”
Oh crap, she was into this shit. Drew’s brain short-circuited at the challenge and heat in her eyes as she glared up at him. Operating on pure instinct, he slid a big hand around her neck, cupping her nape.
“Foreplay, huh?” He teased her lips with the words. “How worth your while should I make this?”
“Make me scream.”
***
He pulled back to look into her eyes, watching her for so long Amy thought she’d pushed too hard, too fast. Having him around the last couple of days had been an exercise in frustration. That hot, hard body so close, yet so far away.
God, he had to follow through on this. Or she’d combust. Literally.
“Okay.” The word was so soft in that damn sexy, clipped English accent of his that she almost didn’t hear it. A thrill rolled through her, and she closed her eyes, waiting for another of those deliciously hard kisses. But he didn’t kiss her.
Instead he used his thumb to tilt her head up and kissed down her throat. Not gentle, soft kisses, but the hard, almost-punishing kisses she’d been craving. She bit back a whimper. How did he do that? Know where and precisely how to touch her?
He blazed a trail down her throat and down her cleavage where it was pushed up and together by the corset. She held her breath, expecting him to undo the thing, but he didn’t. His big hands encircled her waist, fingertips sliding up and down the bones of the corset.
“You look fucking fantastic,” he rumbled, his voice deep and rough. “Hot as hell.”
He didn’t let go of her waist, but dropped to his knees. She sucked a breath in when his hands slid down, tangling in the sides of the itty-bitty panties she had on. Then, with a savage yank, he tore them off.
Oh, god. The fantasies of Drew doing this same exact thing to her she’d been living with were coming true. Only her fantasies usually involved being tied to a bed, blindfolded, and spanked. But beggars couldn’t be choosy. She tried to inhale into her air-deprived lungs.
Should she tell him this was a first for her? And ruin the possibility of whatever he had in mind? Hell no. He didn’t need to know she wasn’t an adventurous woman. She never shared wanting a man to do certain things to her in the bedroom. Most of her exes hadn’t been anything to write home about. They’d been bankers or financiers who were a lot more boring than even she was.
Her body wound tighter with every touch of his rough hands. “Drew...” She heard herself moan. “If you stop before I get to scream be prepared to die.”
“Scream or die. Got it.” He chuckled, the sound rumbling through her very center, and lifted one of her legs. She shifted, pulling on her wrists to keep her balance, but he had her. His free hand spread out over the side of her supporting leg as he lifted the other higher and looped it over his shoulder.
Fuck. She was in heaven. Every cell in her body sat up and took notice as he kissed his way up the inside of her thigh. She was wide open, her legs splayed showing everything she had, but she didn’t care. She needed him to make good on his promises. Now. Sooner. She jerked on the belt, but it didn’t budge. Damned if the whole tying bit didn’t have her soaking wet with arousal.
“Dying here,” she whimpered.
In contrast to his hard kisses earlier, his touch was feather light as he parted her. Cool air washed over her pussy, and her whimper became a moan—a moan that almost became a shriek at the first brush of his warm, wet tongue over her.
The first touch was breathtaking, but then he groaned and moved closer, sliding both big hands around her ass to hold her still. He didn’t lick; he feasted. Growls dropped from his lips, vibrating against her pussy lips and clit as he licked and sucked at the small bundle of nerves.
“Oh my god!” Her legs shook uncontrollably. Had he not held her up, she’d be dangling on weak knees. Her blood had gone from hot to boiling with the flick of his tongue.
He broke away for a second. “You guessed my other name then.”
She couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped, but the sound quickly turned to a low, liquid moan of pleasur
e when he licked her from slit right to clit. He teased her, flicking his tongue in rapid movements, then circling or moving down to drive it as deep into her pussy as he could get. She whimpered and writhed, not sure she could take anymore yet needing everything he had to give her.
His hands spread her wider, parting her ass cheeks as he held her up. God, how strong was he? All thoughts of anything were swept away as he moved to drive two fingers deep into her slick heat.
“Yesss! Wow,” she moaned. “You... I... You are really good with your mouth. Shit!” She couldn’t stop her hips from wiggling, looking for deeper penetration from his fingers. He was in full control. Dammit, it was sexy as hell.
He didn’t say anything, sensible man, just pulled her clit between his lips and suckled. Her head hit the wall with a thunk, her eyes rolling back as he curled his fingers back and pressed right on her G-spot. Fuck. He knew his way around a woman’s body.
She moaned and wriggled, but that didn’t stop him. He laved attention on her clit at the same time he stroked deep inside her. Before had been teasing, now he wasn’t playing games. The tension in her body wound higher and tighter. She bit her lip, fighting for breath. Crap, she didn’t know if she could take any more.
Tightness took hold of her belly and wound until all her muscles felt taut. Her breaths and heartbeats pounded loud in her ears. She was so close. She didn‘t even mind it had taken him no time to get her there. His laving and sucking of her clit continued.
She was mindless, her hips rocking against him as he took her to heaven, so she didn’t register his movement until she felt slick, wet pressure against her ass. The shiver of need that hit her was so complete she almost came there and then. Then he pressed his slick finger into her ass and sucked down on her clit, hard.
“Oh...my...God!” There was no stopping the scream that rolled out of her.
Pleasure pulsed through her in sizzling, electronic currents. She lost her breath and her thinking ability. The only thing she could do was ride the wave. Her pussy clenched around emptiness, and her ass squeezed tight on his driving finger. He didn’t stop licking her, rolling his tongue over her super-sensitive nub. With every lick, a shudder shot down her spine. It was really hard to tell her body what to do when all she wanted was to melt into him. Her legs couldn’t stop shaking. Hell, even her lungs needed help to get some air in. Now that was what she called an orgasm!
