I hadn’t expected to begin seducing her over my breakfast plate, but damn if the idea hadn’t taken on immense appeal the instant her gaze clashed with mine.
I’d told myself to show her some gentleness today, exercise some patience. I’m generally in short supply where those two things are concerned, but with her, at least for today, I wanted to try.
Fuck. So much for that.
Making her strip in front of me was a cheap shot, one beneath even a bastard like me.
I’d like to tell myself it was contempt for Daniel Hathaway behind my demand. After all, he’s the reason she’s here with me in the first place. He’s the reason I’m going to have Melanie Laurent on my canvas and in my bed before these next weeks are over.
But when I told her to undress for me, I wasn’t thinking about Daniel Hathaway or debts to be settled—new or old. I wasn’t even thinking about my painting. I wasn’t thinking about anything except the proud, smart, incredibly attractive woman seated alone with me in the room.
A woman who seems determined to challenge and push back at me with every turn.
She made it clear she wants to draw a hard line between her real life and our arrangement. I get that. Hell, I respect her for it and wholeheartedly agree. I’m not going to let her get inside my head or my personal life any more than she wants me in hers.
None of that changes the fact that when she’s with me, she’s at my mercy.
I thought taking her clothes off would unravel some of the fight in her. Instead, I’m the one who’s nearly undone. I’ve seen hundreds of beautiful, naked women, both professionally in my studio and laid out before me for my pleasure. But none of them ever affected me as powerfully as her.
My heart hasn’t stopped banging in my chest since the moment she reached for the knot on her innocent-looking wrap dress. Like a teenage boy who’d just discovered his father’s porno stash, my body’s reaction to Melanie undressing was swift and uncontrollable. Blood that surged to my cock in a hot torrent has left me with a massive hard-on that has yet to subside.
As I step out of the room now, the image of her confidently complying to my heavy-handed command runs on repeat in my head.
Her high, firm breasts studded with tight pink nipples. Long, lean legs crowned with a modestly trimmed thatch of light curls covering her sex. Miles of milky skin I’m certain will feel as soft as velvet under my hands, my lips, my tongue.
And a scar hinting at something more than just a badly healed physical wound.
I’d been struck mute and stupid with lust as she took off her dress and underwear. I told her I’d been picturing her unclothed since that first night. That much was true, but I’d been wrong to think I was prepared to see her in the flesh.
She is exquisite. Sexy as fucking hell.
She’s broken in places, too. That scar is only trace evidence of bigger things she doesn’t want me to see. I’d be lying to myself if I said it didn’t intrigue me as much as her outward beauty and sharp intellect.
She should have snapped up my offer to end this game before it begins. The fact that she stood firm didn’t surprise me. She’s too loyal, too strong. She may even be a little desperate, though whether it’s for the money to spare Daniel or herself, I’m not sure. Regardless, she wouldn’t have come here in the first place if she wasn’t fully prepared to adhere to the terms of our contract.
Evidently, retreating is no more in her nature than it is in mine.
God help her for that, because now that I’ve seen her it’s too late for either one of us to turn back. She only thinks she can’t stand me now; when this is over, I’m certain she’s going to hate me. And rightfully so.
A low curse grinds past my clenched teeth as I close the French doors behind me.
One of my household staff notices me and approaches from another area of the penthouse. “Is everything all right with your breakfast, Mr. Rush?”
Her cheerful smile dims when she sees my thunderous expression. I don’t have the patience to smooth my scowl, particularly not when I’m still sporting an erection along with my surly attitude.
“No one goes in this room without first getting my permission, Carolina.”
“Of course, sir. I’ll convey your instructions to the rest of the staff at once.”
I nod curtly, dismissing her to carry out my order. Threatening to allow any of my employees to barge in on Melanie while she was undressed had been another cheap shot. It was also a bluff. I would never do that to her, but I need her to understand she’s in my world now.
I need her to understand that I’m the one in control, no matter how thin that control is already proving to be.
Retrieving my phone from the pocket of my jeans, I start tapping out a text to my personal assistant to arrange for my driver and a private charter service to East Hampton airport. I’ve barely typed the first couple of words when a call from Nate interrupts.
He’s here at the house today, working on contracts in my office downstairs. For all he knows I’m still in a closed-door breakfast session with Melanie, so this can’t be good news. I abandon the text and answer my lawyer’s call.
“What’s going on, Nate?”
