“This is your only warning, Angel.Next time, I won’t be as lenient.”
“Yes, Master R.”The words slipped out on a shiver as her body pressed against his from knee to chest.Even as heat flooded her veins, she tilted her chin back defiantly against his grip.“But I refuse to be your sex toy.”
“I don’t recall labeling you as such.”He tilted his head as his eyes sharpened.“Are you claiming that you’ve never had sex just because you needed relief?”
“Of course not, but I refuse to be your relief for someone else’s effort.”Her fingers itched to trace his muscles, and she mentally slapped them back.
Bad hands.No touching the hot Dom.Not while he was being such an asshole, at least.
“Not to worry, little one.I’ll make sure you are as much in need before I fuck you.”His fingers tightened as she opened her mouth to protest.“Ah-uh, enough.”His breath caressed her lips as he continued, “Don’t underestimate the effect your gorgeous curves and unchecked submission have on me, subbie.One thing you can be assured of.When we do fuck, it’ll be becauseyouawakened the lust to be fed.”
“I thought you never got involved with employees,” she whispered, her traitorous heart doing somersaults as his grip gentled into a caress.
“Fucking you isn’t becoming involved, Angel.It’ll purely be a culmination of a scene we will both agree to.”His eyes narrowed.“Remember that, subbie, and don’t expect anything to come of it.Your goal is to help me find my other half, not to fall in love with me.”
Too late for that, you gorgeous idiot.She smiled sweetly as another thought followed.My goal now is to make you fall in love with me.
Wait!Her brain screeched to a halt like a cartoon character hitting a wall.Too late?The logical part of her mind started pulling out charts and graphs proving the impossibility of love at first sight.She’d literally spent years rolling her eyes at friends who claimed such nonsense existed.“You can’t fall in love that fast,” she’d lectured countless times.“It’s just hormones and fantasy.”
Yet here she was, her heart doing interpretive dance moves whenever he looked at her, while her inner cynic sat in the corner having an existential crisis.The woman who’d preached the scientific impossibility of instant love was suddenly composing mental sonnets about his eyes.
Love at first sight, her heart sang gleefully.
I might have decided he was the man for me, but this is temporary insanity,her brain argued back.
“Thank you for the clarification, Master R,” she said, injecting enough sweetness into her voice to ease his concern.“I’m a big girl, and I can assure you I can decide on life goals very effectively myself.”She jabbed a finger against his chest, taking a strategic step back before her traitorous body could melt against him again.“You may dictate my work goals, but that’s it.”
“That’s a rather ambiguous response, subbie.”His frown returned, drawing those perfect brows together.“I’m warning you, Xia.There is no future for you with me, in any shape or form.You’re leaving for Hawaii in a week, and—”
“Two months,” she cut in as her lips twisted into a wry grin.Her heart fluttered at the possibility of more time near him, while her brain set up warning flares.
“I thought you were starting immediately.”
“No, I’m only leaving in two months.”
“Perfect.”The devilish smile that curved his lips should come with a warning label.“That’ll give you more time to help me find Mrs.Right.”
“W-What do you mean?”Her stomach performed an uncomfortable flip.Was he really going to make her play matchmaker for her own crush?Talk about cruel and unusual punishment.
“What are the chances I’ll find my perfect match on this one flight?Slim to none, so I’m extending your employment until you leave.That way there’s no rush, and we can do this properly.”
“You want me to wife whisper every weekend?”The universe clearly had a twisted sense of humor.Here she was, already struggling with unprecedented feelings for this man, and he insisted on her helping him find his perfect match—someone who definitely wasn’t her, according to his repeated warnings.
“And sometimes mid-week as well.”He tapped her under the chin, sending sparks of electricity through her traitor nervous system.“Don’t worry.You’ll be very well compensated.Since this is a much more demanding position, I’m doubling your salary.”
“Y-You’re what?”Great, now he was paying her double to torture herself.She couldn’t decide if this was the best or worst job offer ever.On one hand, more time with Rex.On the other hand, more time watching him scene and have sex with other women while treating her like some kind of professional matchmaker with benefits.
“You heard me.”He turned to smile at Little Red Riding Hood, who was still eye-fucking him from across the room, much to Xia’s irritation.“Now, the wolf is hungry.Let’s see what delicacies hide under that red cape, shall we?”
Delicacies, my ass.Xia barely restrained an eye roll.That woman wasn’t a delicacy—she was a shark in a push-up bra, circling Rex’s abs like they were a chum bucket.Xia’s knuckles turned white just thinking about her throwing herself at him.Possessive?Her?Please.She had zero claim on the man—he’d made that painfully clear when he’d hired her to evaluate possible Mrs.Olivers, notbeone.
The irony was so thick, she could’ve spread it on toast.Here she was, the expert in reading submissives, and the one person who couldn’t see the obvious was the six-foot-something, muscle-bound Dom who probably thought emotional intelligence was a type of protein shake.In business, Rex Oliver was a piranha—ruthless, sharp, and unstoppable.But in matters of the heart?He clearly was a confused penguin in a tuxedo, waddling in circles, trying to navigate using a broken GPS.
And somehow, she was the one stuck playing Cupid.Great.Just what she needed—more arrows in her life.Preferably, those she could fire back at him.
Xia trailed behind Rex like a reluctant wing woman/relationship saboteur, watching as Little Red practically vibrated with excitement at his approach.The woman’s smile was so bright, it probably violated several aviation safety regulations.
“Master R,” Petals purred, managing to make two syllables sound like a porn video intro.“I’ve been hoping you’d notice me.”
