And it was gone, replaced with what she was coming to think of as his “male model” smile. “Nothing at all. I wish her the best. So, we shall start your training today.”
“What? You said we would wait until Monday.”
“I said you had until Monday to say yes. You said yes yesterday. There’s no need to wait. I came to collect you.”
“Collect me? Am I going somewhere?”
“Oh, I’ve already moved you into my place.”
“You did what?” The question came out in a slightly panicked screech.
He sighed a little, his eyes hooded as though he expected a fight and wasn’t particularly looking forward to it. “I had a team go through your place, pack up your things, and move them to my club in Chelsea. The rest of the house is being moved to storage, and I already found you an estate agent.”
She shook her head. He was upending her life and he’d managed to do it all in a manner of hours. “You can’t just move me. And I already have an estate agent.”
“No, you had a front for the Ukrainian mob.”
“I did?”
“Yes, darling. You really need to let the tech boys do their job. I have them run searches on everyone in my life. By the way, your florist is dealing prescription drugs out of the back of her store. You buy a bouquet from her every Monday. Scotland Yard is raiding her tomorrow. The good news is, we have a very nice one in Kensington station. I’ll take you there on the way back home.”
He was missing the point. They hadn’t made this deal. “You can’t just walk in and move me.”
“I did. Actually it was rather difficult to figure which clothes were yours and which were your mum’s.”
“I already packed up Mum’s things.”
“Oh, well. Not a problem then. I was going to buy you new ones anyway. I’m going to kiss you now, Penelope.”
“What?”
“You seem to have an enormously hard time understanding me today. We’re going to have to work on our communication skills.” He moved right between her legs, spreading her knees and making a place for himself there. One minute she was utterly gobsmacked by the chaos he’d brought into her life in a couple of hours’ time, and the next, she couldn’t manage to breathe. He invaded her space, looming over her. Despite the fact that she was sitting on the counter, he still looked down at her. His hands slid her skirt up, making her gasp a little. “You said yes. That means you’re mine, Penelope. You’re my partner and my submissive. I take care of what’s mine.”
She swallowed, forcing herself to look into those stormy eyes of his. He was so close she could smell the scent of his aftershave, feel the heat his big body gave off. “For the mission.”
“I don’t know about that,” he returned, his voice deepening. “If this goes well, I get to go back out in the field. It’s always good to have a cover. Men are less threatening when they have a woman with them. If you like fieldwork, there’s no reason you can’t come with me. Especially if you’re properly trained. Tell me how much your siblings know.”
She shook her head before finally realizing what he was asking. His fingers worked their way into her hair, smoothing it back, forcing her to keep eye contact with him. “Oh, about work, you mean. Everyone in my family thinks I work for Reeding Corporation in their publishing arm. They think I translate books.”
Reeding Corporation was one of several companies that fronted for SIS. When she’d hired on, she’d signed documentation that stated she would never expose who she truly worked for.
“Excellent. If they research me they’ll discover I’m an executive at Reeding. We’ve been having an affair for the last three months. You were worried about your position at the company and the fact that I’m your superior, but I transferred to another department and now we’re free to be open about our relationship.”
“I don’t know that they’ll believe we’re lovers.”
“Of course, they will. I’m very persuasive, love. Now, I’m going to kiss you and I’m going to put my hand in your knickers. You are wearing knickers, aren’t you?”
“Of course.”
He shuddered. “Not anymore. Knickers are strictly forbidden. I told you I would likely get into your knickers, but what I really meant was I can’t tolerate them and you’re not to wear them at all anymore. I’ve done you the enormous service of making it easy on you and tossing the ones you had in the house out.”
His right hand brushed against her breast. The nipple responded by peaking immediately, as if it were a magnet drawn to Damon’s skin.
“You can’t toss my knickers out, Damon. And you can’t put your hand there. We’re in the ladies’ room for heaven’s sake.”
“Here’s the first rule, love. Don’t tell me what I can’t do.” His mouth closed over hers, heat flashing through her system.
His mouth was sweet on hers, not an outright assault at first. This was persuasion. Seduction. His lips teased at hers, playing and coaxing.
And his hand made its way down, skimming across her waist to her thigh.
“Let me in, Penelope.” He whispered the words against her mouth.
Drugged. This was what it felt like to be drugged. She’d been tipsy before, but no wine had ever made her feel as out of control as Damon’s kiss.
Out of control and yet oddly safe. Safe enough to take a chance.
On his next pass, she opened for him, allowing him in, and the kiss morphed in a heartbeat from sweet to overpowering.
She could practically feel the change in him. He surged in, a marauder gaining territory. His tongue commanded hers, sliding over and around, his left hand tangling in her hair and getting her at the angle he wanted. Captured. She felt the moment he turned from seduction to Dominance, and now she understood completely why they capitalized the word. Damon didn’t merely kiss her. She’d been kissed before, casual brushes of lips to hers, fumblings that ended in embarrassment, long attempts at bringing up desire.
This wasn’t a kiss. This was possession.
He’d said she belonged to him for the course of the mission, and now she understood what he meant. He meant to invade every inch of her life, putting his stamp on her. If she proceeded, he would take over. He would run her life and she would be forced to fight him for every inch of freedom she might have.