Kitabı oku: «The Dare Collection June 2019», sayfa 10

A touch of apprehension whispered over his features. ‘And now you’ve done that? Now you’ve satisfied yourself that I’m a complete bastard, are you going to draw a line under it?’

I laughed. ‘You’d love that, wouldn’t you?’

His face tightened. ‘Remember what I said, Neve. I don’t like surprises. And I especially don’t like the wool being pulled over my eyes.’

‘You should’ve considered that before you dismissed me out of hand two years ago.’

‘How long will it take you to get this out of your system?’

I laughed again. ‘I wasn’t aware I was on a deadline. There is one on how much time I want to spend in your company though, so if you don’t mind I’d like you to leave now.’

He didn’t budge. ‘Whatever you have up your sleeve, bear in mind what adverse impact it could have on our new partnership.’

‘Absolutely none. I want this project with Sam and Tyler to work. My feelings towards you won’t impact that.’

Something gleamed in his eyes. ‘I’m glad to hear it. But you’re wrong on one score. I’m equally invested in this. Perhaps more than you know. So I’m going to be keeping an eye on you.’

Absurdly, I grew hot despite being raw inside from his admission that he’d unapologetically screwed me over. I had a feeling that wound would take time to stop stinging.

Thanks to him, almost overnight my business had dried up, word of mouth already a serious threat to my business. Within weeks the bank had been threatening to pull its funding.

It’d taken the best part of a year of back-breaking hard work, total rebranding and an aggressive marketing plan to ensure that I didn’t go under.

I’d emerged from that ordeal better and stronger but the lesson had been hard and a part of me remained battered and bruised by the experience. And no part of me was ready to let Damian off the hook.

I’m equally invested in this. Perhaps more than you know.

His words ricocheted in my head. I eyed him. ‘Why? This is just a small cog in your family business. Besides, you don’t strike me as someone who’s into fantasies. Nightmares maybe?’

The corner of his mouth kicked up, and that small action fired heat straight to my clit. ‘This is as good a swan song as any. As for my fantasies, they’re many and varied. Maybe when that homicidal look is no longer in your eyes, I might be inclined to show you one of them.’

My ache in my midriff felt at odds with the heaviness in my breasts and the softening in my pelvis. How could I despise him and want to fuck him blind at the same time? ‘That’s assuming you’re still sane by the time I’m done with you.’

His gaze fired up, dropping to my mouth. ‘You do realise the more you hint at your nebulous plans for me, the more I’m inclined to let you go through with whatever it is you have up your sleeve?’

My smile came easier this time and I realised, with a little shock, that I was enjoying tussling with him. Perhaps a little too much.

‘You do realise that was my intention?’ I murmured, keeping my voice low and husky. His gaze flicked to mine, stayed and held.

‘It’s the first time a business partner has threatened to keep me in line. Normally it’s the other way round.’

‘Maybe more of us should do that.’ Still keeping my voice low, I took a single step towards him.

His eyes dropped to my breasts. His lips moved in the tiniest pout, as if savouring my taste, before his scrutiny moved lower to caress my hips and legs before slowly trailing back up again.

By the time our gazes reconnected, I was left in no doubt that he wanted me. Badly.

‘It’s never happened before because my partnerships start with a baseline of trust. Perhaps we should aim for that between us?’

‘I don’t trust easily, Mr Mortimer.’

His nostrils flared as his fingers trailed down my arm. Tingles shot from the point of contact to my needy pussy.

‘What’s it going to take for you to call me Damian?’

You and your rock-hard cock, driving deep into my pussy.

For a moment I thought I’d said the words out loud. I gasped softly as his fingers closed on my elbow.

‘Damian. There, does that work for you?’

The blaze in his eyes grew dangerous and potent. ‘I’d love to say once more, with feeling, preferably as a prelude to sealing our deal the way I’m sorely tempted to, but for now I’ll take it.’

I didn’t need to ask how he would seal the deal. His eyes spelled it out explicitly. And, worse, I wanted to let him. Badly.

I remained still as the sexual cyclone churned and heated up the air around us, making my fingers itch to reacquaint themselves with his hard body, experience that glorious mouth and the magic of his hands.

Unable to help myself, I let my gaze fly up to land on his mouth. Would he taste just as spectacular as he had two years ago?

Two years ago...when he’d stabbed me in the back after sleeping with me.

My insides froze.

Damian made a frustrated sound under his breath. ‘There’s that look again. Tell me how to fix it and I promise to give it my best shot.’ The demand was low and deep. Almost as if he meant it. Almost as if my distrust aggravated him.

I attempted to step away, but he kept hold of me. His thumb slowly caressed my pulse, spiking arousal higher, hardening my nipples into needy points.

‘Give me a starting point, Neve. We can work our way towards whatever goal you want.’

‘Really? Whatever I want?’

He gave a solemn nod. ‘Within reason, of course...but I’d prefer we don’t have bad blood between us.’

Again his words were grave, containing a wealth of unspoken meaning.

But there was no way I was going anywhere near his questionable olive branch. There was one burning question I still needed an answer to, though. One he hadn’t yet answered to my satisfaction.

‘Would knowing who I was, knowing who you were screwing over, have made a blind bit of difference?’

He held my gaze for an uncomfortably long time. My breath froze in my lungs; I was suddenly unsure whether I wanted the truth or evasion of some sort. The truth, my brain and heart demanded. No matter how much it hurt to hear it, I wanted the truth from Damian. Always.

‘No,’ he said after nerve-stretching silence. ‘It wouldn’t have. You weren’t ready for a deal that big.’

I flinched. That stung just as badly now as it had two years ago. As had his addendum to Malcolm Cahill.

‘Was that why you told him not to speak to me? I asked for a face-to-face meeting to plead my case. You advised him to tell me no. Why?’

He shrugged. ‘I didn’t want things to drag on unnecessarily. I wanted to be done with it. With Boston.’

My breath caught. ‘So it was personal.’

He turned abruptly, stalked to the window and looked out onto a glittering, electrified Manhattan. After an age, he faced me.

‘You’re a stunning, sexy woman.’ His lips firmed as if he didn’t want to admit the words. ‘But I didn’t intend to fuck anyone that night. Hell, I almost didn’t come to Boston at all. I could’ve phoned in everything I wanted to say to Cahill. But I needed to get out of New York. I needed to focus on something else besides the fact that I’d hit another bloody wall with Gideon.’

It didn’t appease me to know why there had been raging demons in his eyes that night. ‘So you redirected your shit my way?’ I probed.

Again he stared at me as if he was making up his mind about something. ‘Only a handful of people know the full details about why I left England. Without boring you with the nitty-gritty of it, I’ll tell you that your little...performance at the bar hit the wrong notes...right after you hit all the right ones.’

I frowned. ‘I’m confused.’

He exhaled harshly. ‘I saw you when you arrived at the hotel. Even before I knew your name I was fucking hooked. Call me crass if you will, but I watched you crossing the lobby and wondered what you’d taste like. Wondered how loud you’d scream when I made you come. I was dying to be inside you long before I sat down at the bar. Which was an inconvenient novelty considering I hadn’t fucked anyone for a while and wasn’t planning to.’ That last part was delivered with a heavy dose of bitter bewilderment that doused my arousal.

‘Why not?’

‘Because the last woman I met at a bar before you left an unpalatable taste in my mouth.’

Curiosity bit at me. Hard. But the stiff lines on his face told me he wouldn’t elaborate. Even the little he’d told me seemed to torture him. ‘So I made you hard crossing the lobby and you decided to punish me for buying you a drink?’

His hand scraped over his jaw to grip his nape. ‘When you put it like that I sound like a bloody asshole.’

‘Your words, not mine.’

Harsh lines etched deeper between his brows and bracketed his mouth. ‘I didn’t take kindly to you being that irresistible. To knocking my damn socks off with that defiance and sexiness. I don’t think I take kindly to it now, to be fucking honest,’ he admitted raggedly. ‘I should stay away from you, focus on...straightening a few dented parts of my life. But instead here I am, being driven bloody insane by this...need,’ he continued, his gaze raking feverishly over me once more. ‘But the bottom line is if we were in the situation now like we were two years ago, I’d take the same stance with you and with Cahill. So my question to you is, what are we going to do about it?’

Pain and hurt warred with sharp questions.

Who? Why? When?

But Damian wanting me, perhaps even despite himself, surged power through me, heady and triumphant, temporarily shoving away the ache of his admission that he’d screw me over again. All he’d done really was show me that I couldn’t trust him with what was precious to me—my business. My legacy. The reminder that this was just sex settled, thankfully, deeper inside me.

I closed the gap between us. Head tilted, I looked into his face. Past the shadows cast by demons to the sizzling-hot arousal and undeniable need.

His and mine.

What his actions had cost me burned just as bright, perhaps even more considering there wasn’t any remorse on his part.

But he’d just handed me the two things I craved more than anything else in this world. The two things I needed to see my way clear of this cloud of lust and bitterness to my end goal.

Power and control.

And fuck if I wasn’t going to grasp them with both hands.

CHAPTER SIX
Neve

I SLICKED MY tongue over my lower lip, revelled in his thick, muted groan. ‘What would you like me to do about it, Damian?’

His gaze devoured my mouth with naked hunger. It was more than animalistic need. It was consuming in a way that mildly terrified me. ‘You don’t need me to draw you a bloody map, Neve,’ he said gruffly before closing the space between us to drag me against his body. The heavy column of his cock branded my belly. ‘You know what I want.’

My pussy clenched, reminding me how desperate it was to be filled. I placed a hand on his chest, registered solid muscle and a strong heartbeat beneath his shirt.

‘Do I? Our wires crossed badly somewhere along the line two years ago.’

‘In the aftermath, maybe. But not with this.’ He lowered his head until our lips brushed. It was like being caught in an inferno. ‘Never with this.’

My resistance was swept beneath the fiery lust that blazed through me. ‘You want to kiss me.’

He pinned me closer until my pelvis was flushed with his. Until the outline of his thick, hard cock was imprinted between my legs. ‘Fuck yes. I want to kiss you and more besides. You know how long it took to get a good night’s sleep without jerking off to the memory of you sucking me off?’

My breath rushed out, along with a cheeky, unfettered little moan as he rocked his hips against me. The friction released liquid heat, slicking my pussy.

I’d never thought I’d enjoy giving a blowjob until I met Damian. Taking him in my mouth, hearing his hiss and grunts of pleasure had triggered mine in a way I’d never imagined. I wanted the experience again.

But on my terms.

‘How long?’ I stoked the fires of his memory, shamelessly eager for the validation that our night together had impacted on him too.

‘Too damn long. And it wasn’t just the memory of you giving me head either. It was those insane sounds you made when I spread you wide and rammed inside your pussy that drove me nuts for weeks. It was learning how every inch of your body responds to being fucked. How you felt when you came on my cock.’

I shuddered through the explicit memories.

He’d taken his sweet time, driving into me over and over until I hadn’t been able to think or see straight. Until I hadn’t been sure whether to beg him to stop or plead for more.

Another groan vibrated inside me, but I forcibly snapped it off when I realised what he was doing. He was wrestling control from me. With each roll of his hips, each heated word that made me dig my fingers into his shoulders, I was seconds away from begging him to actively and enthusiastically refresh my memory.

With superhuman effort, I smothered my need, placed my hands over the fingers digging in my hip bones, melting me from the inside out. ‘You’ve told me what you want. Now let me tell you what I want.’

His gaze hazed for the moment, going blurry as if he’d retreated inward, and then he gave an abrupt nod.

‘You turn me on. But I won’t be as easy this time around.’

Abruptly, he released me and placed a few feet between us. I struggled to keep the bereft hollow in my stomach from showing on my face.

‘I didn’t think you were easy the first time around,’ he said in clipped tones. ‘The torment of being under your spell is still seared in my brain.’

I almost laughed but I throttled it back because I realised that laughter was directed at myself. At my unstoppable craving for a man I should’ve left alone. At thinking I was in control when I’d been his sexual slave. ‘I might take you to places you don’t like.’

Again the corner of his mouth kicked up but the action was a lot less mirthful this time. His fingers traced my collarbone slowly, leaving a trail of fire that nearly made me moan again. ‘I’m a big boy. If words fail me I’ll find another way to communicate. I guarantee you.’

His response triggered a need to test his boundaries. Test my boundaries. So much it terrified me.

I whirled away and headed for the bar. I didn’t really want to drink but I craved respite from the rampant arousal surging through me.

His gaze followed me, heavy and wanting, as I plucked a fresh glass off the tray.

‘I’m getting that drink now. Do you want one?’

A hard mask descended over his face as he strolled towards me. ‘I get my own drinks, thanks.’ The words were sharp and chilled with an underlying note I couldn’t decode.

It reminded me of that night we’d met. His refusal of my drink and the water I’d seen him stick to since. It was either a peculiar ritual exclusive to him or...

My brain threw up blanks. I searched his face but his expression remained closed. He watched closely as I fixed myself a dirty martini and added the three olives I preferred.

He didn’t move from his spot on the carpet. His fists were curled tight and a quiet fury vibrated from him.

Instinctively, I knew his reaction wasn’t aimed at me. ‘Is everything okay?’

He took a visibly relaxing breath although his harsh expression remained. ‘I’m fine,’ he said abruptly.

‘Hmm.’

He watched me for a handful of seconds before perching on the opposite stool. Even with the counter between us, the force of his charisma and sheer gorgeousness hit me square in the chest.

It grew worse when his elbows landed on the hard wooden surface, his bare forearms drawing my gaze to the wispy hairs that covered his golden skin.

It was hard to swallow, just thinking about his hard, packed body. Only the sound of his voice drew my attention back to his insanely gorgeous face.

I grimaced inwardly. This was going to be much harder than I’d thought. Relief spiked through me when my phone buzzed. I pounced on my clutch, fished out my phone and read the message.

‘It’s Tyler. They’ve arrived in Westport and are already setting up.’ I sent a quick reply and placed my phone on the counter.

His lips twisted. ‘Now that we’ve established where we both stand from two years ago, are you going to clue me in on whatever you have planned?’

I didn’t even bother to deny the allegation. ‘No.’

‘Getting back to business for a minute, I’m prepared, if the trial period is successful, to throw the PR and marketing skills of The Mortimer Group behind this project. For free.’

My hackles rose. ‘I don’t need your charity, especially if you think it’ll grant you special privileges of the sexual kind.’