Emery shoved away from the door and stalked over to her. She leaned back instinctively as he invaded her space. He caught the nape of her neck with one hand, squeezing slightly, the pressure a command the stay still. He tugged her hair and she tilted her chin back, exposing her throat. The first caress of his lips under her jaw was more an echo of a kiss given centuries ago. Her skin tingled and whispered with the faint sensation. Every single cell of her being focused on the contact, the brush of lips, a graze of teeth on her throat, the hot tip of his tongue tasting her.
The climax in her womb began to build—slow, faint at first, brought on by the feathering kisses and slight sting of her scalp where he fisted her hair. His other palm touched her knee, tracing patterns with warm fingertips before it slid along the outside of her thigh, pushing her glittering dress up until she was bare to her hip. She wanted his lips on her mouth, to feel the emotions he let pour from his mouth to hers each time they came together. But he didn’t kiss her.
He pressed her down until she lay on her back on the desk, then he pushed her dress up to her waist and grabbed her hips. The sudden jerk that dragged her bottom to the end of the desk stole the breath from her body. Animal ferocity filled his every touch as he lifted her legs, curling her calves around his slim, powerful hips. The muscles of his ass were tight and she pressed against him, urging him closer. She shuddered with longing when he unbuckled his belt and undid the first button. His eyes lifted to hers, holding her captive as he unzipped his pants and freed himself.
There were a thousand things she should have said at that moment, when she saw the flicker of angry shadows in his eyes, but he didn’t give her a chance to think. His hands went to his neck, loosening the burnished gold tie he wore. Working one finger in the knot, he slid it loose and reached for her hands. Using the tie, he bound her wrists together and pulled them above her head. He made some movement with his hand above her head, and although she couldn’t see what he was doing, she guessed he’d done something to the desk’s edge because her wrists were pulled tight and the tie was secured to something she couldn’t see.
The cold glint in his eyes had her heart skipping wildly. What had changed since they’d arrived at the party? This was not the Emery she’d come to know; this was the Emery she’d first met that night in the club, the one full of fire and anger and defensiveness. All of his barriers were back, his fortress sealed against her once more. The progress she’d made in getting inside his walls had been unraveled.
“Don’t move,” he growled.
She was helpless…Her knees clamped together.
“Keep your legs open.”
With a deep breath she forced herself to calm down and she let her knees fall apart, but she couldn’t stop them from trembling. He leaned over and placed a fingertip on her lips. Then he trailed it down to the rising and falling of her breasts. She watched that finger as he gave the dress a gentle tug and freed her breasts one at a time. Her breath quickened and her nipples pearled. Emery circled one peak, eyes dark as though fascinated by the sight of her aroused body. His brow furrowed slightly as he concentrated on her other breast, cupping it, kneading it until both breasts were swollen and heavy. She arched her back, pressing herself into his touch.
Sophie wanted to ignore the warning her heart gave her in that moment, when their eyes met again and she saw the darkness gathering in him like some violent storm on the horizon. But the ability to think rationally evaporated as Emery bent his head and took one of her nipples in his mouth. She moaned as he sucked hard on the sensitive tip, laving the tip with his tongue before biting it.
“Ooh!” She couldn’t contain the sound of pleasure/pain as it rippled through her. He moved to the other nipple and bit down on it while he slid his hand down between her thighs. One of his fingers dipped into her hot channel and her hips shot up, trying to push him deeper. His finger retreated instantly and she whimpered at the loss.
“Are you innocent, Sophie?” His question forced her eyes open.
“What?” she asked, confusion mingling with pleasure as he bent to her breast again, but he blew a soft breath against it rather than putting his mouth on her skin.
“Was everything about you a lie?” he murmured against her breast before he kissed his way up to her neck.
“A lie?” She could barely string two words together because he’d slid his fingers between her folds again and she clenched around him.
He shifted between her thighs, positioning the head of his cock at her entrance. The first few inches of him sank in easily but as he pressed deeper her body stretched, trying to accommodate him. They rocked together, the tie tightening around her wrists as she jerked when he thrust hard. A few seconds later he was fully inside her and his face loomed over hers.
“You lied to me,” he whispered against her lips. The guarded expression on his face was gone. He was open to her, like a book open at the center page, revealing everything. Rage, hurt, desire, all because of something she’d done.
Her heart stuttered to a stop. He knew. Fenn was alive and Emery knew she’d kept it from him.
With aching slowness he kissed her, and she may as well have been outside the garden of Gethsemane after having kissed his cheek in betrayal. It went soul deep—the numbing, destructive feeling of her own powerlessness to explain why she’d kept Fenn’s existence from him. But Emery didn’t let her think long about it. He withdrew from her body only to plunge back in. They shared a moan of dark pleasure, but his trembling shoulders gave away his own lack of control. The dom inside him was demanding vengeance and she would pay for the hurt she’d caused him.
“Is that all I’m good for? A fuck and a newsworthy story?” He slammed into her and she bit her lip at the exquisite sensation of him punishing her with pleasure. It was wicked, it was the worst thing she could do in that moment—enjoy herself while she knew he suffered, and he was forcing her to feel this way on purpose.
“Emery…please, let me explain—” her words ended on a gasp as he pinched one of her nipples hard.
“You. Betrayed. Me,” he hissed, each word punctuated with a thrust.
She raised her head, glaring at him. “No!” Whatever he thought, she’d explain, make him understand.
“You paid Cody off when you found out Fenn was alive. You didn’t tell me because you wanted the story.” His brows lowered, his lips parted on a snarl as he started fucking her hard and fast. He filled her and a rush of ecstasy stole her breath as she desperately fought to raise her hips to take him deeper inside her.
He was making love to her differently. There had always been a gentleness, at least in his eyes, or lips when he’d made love to her before. This was purely animal, purely about domination and control. Pleasurable yes, but it was only physical. The intimacy they’d struggled to establish with each other over the past several days was destroyed. The devastation of this realization hit her hard and she fought to push him away. He was removing emotion from his passion and it didn’t feel the same; there was a hollowness to his actions that rocked her to the core.
“Emery, stop!” she hissed, jerking her wrists, trying to free herself. He was off her in an instant, pulling out of her body, his face dark as a summer storm. They were both still, panting, frustrated. Finally he shoved a hand in his pants pocket and got out a handkerchief. He wiped himself clean and tossed the white piece of cloth into the garbage can by the desk as he fixed his pants. He wouldn’t look at her, and she couldn’t look away from him. Like watching a train wreck, she was seeing the man she loved spiral away from her, in a crash of black smoke and death.
In that instant she had the strange sensation of being completely and utterly alone. He’d become nothing more than a trick of light, a play of smoke and mirrors, and she realized she’d been chasing a dream that was never going to be within reach. The flesh and blood man she’d come to love with every part of her soul was more shadow and illusion. Was she the same for him? Had they believed they could come together and make sense of the world they lived in? In truth were they merely dark silhouettes of ships passing through heavy fog in the night? Every kiss, every touch that had been shared between them would soon be blackened by betrayal.
He reached for her wrists and in one swift tug his tie slid off her skin. He held the tie for a long second, staring at the expensive gold fabric before he dropped it in the trashcan, too. When he turned away from her, the world came crashing down. His shoulders slumped, his head bowed.
“I gave you everything, Sophie. Everything that I had, everything that I am.” He moved to the wall, resting one palm flat on it as he leaned against it. “Get the hell out of this house, leave town tonight. Hans will mail you your things first thing tomorrow. Don’t ever set foot on my island again. Do you understand?” Her banishment was done with the barely controlled fury of a wronged king. He spun around and walked back over to where she still sat on the edge of the desk.
Sophie had no breath to utter a sound. When she didn’t respond he gripped her throat, not squeezing, but the gesture was clear. She was at his mercy and he was tired of playing the game he thought she was playing. But there was no game, and she’d have to leave him forever.
