If I’d been thinking rationally—if myKteerhadn’t been urging me tofuck taste claim—I would have said I was hoping for a moan, or a spike in her arousal.
Instead, my pretty little female stiffened in my arms.
That response—and the sharp, acrid scent of her fear—finally allowed me to gain control of my primal urges. MyKteerhowled mutely in frustration as I forced myself to pull away, to straighten.
I stood there, holding her small frame between my palms, my thumbs against her nipples, and stared down at her. Her expression was carefully neutral, but I couldsmellher uncertainty, and the pulse at the base of her neck fluttered wildly.
There was arousal there, yeah, but also fear.
And that, more than anything, allowed me to drop my hands from her.
Stevie smiled—flirtatious, sassy—but it didn’t reach her eyes. Here was a female used to hiding her true feelings,and I was a little amused that she couldn’t hide them from me.
“What’s wrong?” Her hand slid from my shoulder to rest against my chest, matching the other. I wondered if she could feel my heart beating beneath her palms. If myKteerwere an organ, she’d be able to feel its silent howling in frustration at my control. “Don’t you want this?”
This. She meantDon’t you want me, and I had to force myself from curling my lip in disgust at the thought of Stevie referring to herself in such a way.
“Doesn’t matter whatIwant, sweetheart.” My voice was gruff as my hands dropped to my side. “Your scent is telling meyoudon’t want this. When I fuck a woman, she’s not going to be scared of me.”
Her eyes had widened slightly at my crudeness, and she opened her mouth to lie. “I’m not scared?—”
“I’m not going to fuck you, Stevie. I want Hendricks’ money, not his whore.”
It had been deliberate, using the same offensive term that asshole had used. He’d sent her towhorefor him, thinking that would be enough to cover his debt?
But instead of dropping her eyes in shame, my intriguing little human’s nostrils had flared, and she swayed toward me, lips parted, gaze intense.
Huh.
I thought of the way she’d responded when I told her she’d been a good girl and filed that away as well.
Because I gotta be honest; I was beginning to think that spending a night with Stevie Smith in my bed might just be worth fifty thousand dollars. But only if she wanted it.
You idiot. Youneedthat money, remember?
Fuck me, yeah. There was a reason—besides principle—that I’d been hounding Hendricks to pay his debt since he lost at poker; the construction was almost done on the community center, and I still didn’t have enough for the endowment.
Stevie might be tempting as sin, but I wasn’t going to give up my dream for her.
Taking a deep breath, I forced myKteerto shut up.
Had Hendricks sent Stevie because he’dknownI’d be tempted? Who was she to him? His girlfriend? Did she work for him? Surely she wasn’t his wife; she looked half his age, and the thought of a male puttinganyfemale in this position made myKteerthreaten to?—
Control.
Right.
I exhaled and lifted my hand to her chin, gripping her. My fingers spread over her cheeks, my thumb—the one that had just caressed her pert little nipple—rested on her lower lip.
Without thinking, I murmured, “You’re too smart to be any male’s whore, pretty little human.”
She blinked blue eyes—three shades darker than her hair—and I read surprise there. Even with my thumb in the way, she managed to say, “That might be the nicest thing any guy has ever said to me.”
Slowly, I allowed my thumb to drag back and forth across her lower lip, the lip which I’d so recently been tasting. My cock strained against my jeans at the memory, and I couldn’t help the way I growled, “You’re just proving my point, sweetheart.”
Stevie continued to stare up at me, and dammit if I didn’t read something—what was that?Hope?—in her gaze. I remembered the bruises on her arm. I remembered how Hendricks had hurt her to get her to come here, even before she’d known what he was forcing her to do.
And I remembered the way she’d stiffened at my touch.
