“Please! Do you have to talk like that?”
Rafe lifted an eyebrow, smirked briefly, and then continued in a businesslike tone. “I’ve promised never to hurt you, and I won’t, but I’ve discovered in the last few years that I like…more. Seeing you strapped down to my bed thrills me; taking complete control of your body until you’re begging me for release sets me on fire. I will take you higher than you’ve ever been — and in order for me to do that, you’ll have to relinquish your control to me.”
“And if I don’t?” she asked, slightly out of breath.
A smile spread across his face as he firmly held her gaze. His lifestyle excited her. She wanted him to own her — pleasure her — make her scream. She’d also rather suffer the tortures of hell than admit to it.
“Then I’ll still take control — I’ll still find great pleasure…but you won’t.”
As Ari’s eyes widened, Rafe wondered how much she would fight him. He enjoyed the fight, loved the chance to battle her. What he didn’t like was withholding pleasure from her. Not many of his mistresses had fought him — and the few who had, had done so only once. When they defied him, he easily walked away.
Ari was a first for him in many respects. He didn’t want to leave her unsatisfied. He loved the way her face glowed as she cried out his name, and the way her body pulsed around his throbbing manhood. Her response to him was so spontaneous and real that it sent him into an unknown, unmapped, mind-bending realm of desire.
He wanted her to fight him — he just didn’t want to withhold anything from her. But they’d discuss that more when the time presented itself.
“I won’t throw everything at you at once, Ari. I’m not the monster you think I am. I’ve been open and honest about what I expect. I’m not asking you to do anything you will later feel shame over. If you can’t live with this, then we really have nothing else to discuss.”
Challenging him — he wanted that, but having a complete lack of respect for him? That he wouldn’t tolerate. He knew they were compatible, as they’d already had better sex than he could remember ever having before. She just had to get over her preconceived notions of right and wrong.
Sex was about pleasure, not love. The sooner she accepted that fact, the better off the two of them would be.
“I’m not making promises, but I’ll give it a try, Rafe.” At least she was no longer fighting his orders on how to address him. He loved the sound of his first name on her lips.
“Fine. We have gone over employment, which will get straightened out next week, and my expectations for you sexually. Of course, as soon as we return, you will move into the condo I have waiting for you.”
“Why can’t I just stay at my mother’s? She needs someone to take care of her until she’s healed fully. I can still be at your beck and call, and meet you at the condo.”
“No. This isn’t up for discussion. I’ll have a care provider for your mother, and if anything happens to her, I won’t keep you away — but I want you in that condo. Family…complicates things, and I don’t want her with you when I speak to you on the phone. I also want you available to me even if it’s at three in the morning. You will stay where I want you.”
Rafe waited as she considered his words. He knew she was trying to decide what to say next, but his temper began fraying at her slow response. He’d been very generous in his compromises. She needed to accept some things without questions or objections; it would be a good test of what was to come.
“Fine, but if it ever gets to the point that I can’t take it, then I walk. Also, I want there to be a time frame for my prison sentence with you — I’d say three months is sufficient.”
They were now in the air, but the seat belt signs weren’t off yet. Rafe didn’t care. She had a way of pushing him further than she should be allowed to. He swiftly unbuckled and stood before her, delighting in the quick intake of her breath and the way her pulse quickened as he grabbed her wrist.
“If you want this to feel like a prison, I can make it that way, Ari. I have no problem with chaining you to my bed…” At her gasp, he paused while his fingers caressed the smooth skin of her inner arm. Then, kneeling before her, he leaned in, bringing his mouth to her ear.
“Don’t pretend you aren’t getting wet right this minute. I already know your body, know what makes you hot and moist. I can make you orgasm with the barest of touches. You can cry wolf all night long — and I am one — but the reality is that if you were so averse to being in my presence, you would have stepped straight out that door. You may not like that I make your body sing, and you may even despise the power I hold over you — but you don’t hate the act of sex with me.”
In between his words, Rafe’s tongue traced the edge of her ear; his hand moved up her arm to her shoulder and then began a downward motion. As soon as he finished speaking, he bit down on the lobe of her ear and his hand squeezed the soft swell of her breast, her nipple hardening in his palm.
She wanted him — but she hated herself for it, and she spoke with contempt both for herself and for him.
“Fine. You’ve easily proved that you make me want you. None of that matters, though. This is business — that’s all. When it comes to an end, I’ll walk away without ever looking back,” she almost panted out, her back arching.
Rafe laughed as he moved his lips across her cheek, then traced her jaw before moving to her mouth. She had the most delectable pink lips — he could play with them all day. He sucked her bottom lip into his mouth, then ran his tongue along the smooth surface before she opened up to him.
Her legs spread apart as he slid to the edge of the chair, Rafe’s frustration mounting when he couldn’t press against her. He tried telling himself that wasn’t what this was about, but in devouring her mouth he was quickly becoming lost in her essence.
Steadily pursuing a single goal, his hand moved to her leg and slipped under her skirt, his fingers gliding along her smooth thighs as he reached inexorably for her heat. Her small wisp of lace didn’t stop him as he reached inside her panties and touched her hot core.
Ari groaned into his mouth and twisted in her chair, trying desperately to get closer to him. Rafe slid two fingers inside her heat and began pumping his fingers while his thumb moved in a circular motion over her swollen pink bud.