He shifted his gaze to the side and nodded. “I don’t know what it is about you, though. You wipe it away. It isn’t that it’s not there. It’s almost like I get to release the need for all that.”
“For the power, stress, and, ultimately, the control?”
He nodded. “I don’t have to be on.” Slowly, his eyes moved to meet mine. “I should hate you. Ido, but I still trust you.”
I didn’t really know how to respond to that. He had truly placed his trust in me. I could see it in his eyes.
“What do you wish me to call you?” he whispered.
Standing, I rounded my desk to stand in front of him. His eyes stayed focused on mine, and I couldn’t help but straddle his lap and grind against him. Gavriel tipped his head back and moaned. I knew I was being cruel. With him wearing my cage, I was only making him hurt. There was a part of me that loved that about being in the one in ultimate control.
“My clients call me Lady E.” Recognition flashed in his eyes, and he opened his mouth to say something, but I placed a finger over his lips. “This is . . . more personal. Goddess will do. It gives you the ability to be discreet, if you wish.”
“Yes, Goddess.”
Smiling, I ran my finger down his neck. “I like that, Pretty Boy.” The arm of the chair creaked under the strain of his fingers squeezing them. “I require a list of your boundaries and your safeword on my desk by morning, when I get in. I’ll be here at nine to meet with the accountant.”
“Yes, Goddess.” His chest was rising and falling in deep, quick breaths as he struggled for control.
“As for me, you won’t touch me without permission, even if I mount you like this. Understood?” He nodded, keeping his hands off me even as I rubbed myself against him, feeling him harden against me. His phone rang, but I leaned forward close enough that our lips touched as I said, “Now seal it with a kiss, Pretty Boy.”
He leaned forward, pressing his lips to mine. Deepening it, I ran my fingers through his hair as I kissed him back. My entire body heated and begged for him to sheath himself within me and fuck me hard. He did things to me that I shouldn’t want from the man who’d killed my father, but my body wouldn’t listen, and while the rage fueled the intensity, it sat in the back seat to the sexual tension that came between us.
I pulled back and stood just as his phone started ringing again. I nodded at him, letting him know he could answer it.
He did. “Talk.” His eyes moved back and forth, seeing something other than the ground he was staring at. “I’ll be there in twenty.”
Clasping my hands behind my back, I dug my nails into my palm. I needed the pain to distract me from him. To stay in place and ensure that I held the boundaries between us.
“Goddess, may I be excused?”
What?
I blinked in confusion. The way he’d switched from Don heir to Pretty Boy had been instant, almost as if it were natural for him.
“Of course.”
He turned to leave but paused at the door and twisted toward me. “I want to hate the very essence of your being for the disrespect you have given me, for the complete disregard of my authority in the world.”
“It’s been earned.”
He looked away and nodded. “Joel.”
All the betrayals were rising in me at once. The hurt and loss, everything. “Go, my Pretty Boy. You have work to do.”
His throat bobbed as softness crossed his face. Gavriel then turned down the hall to the elevators, and when I heard one ding, I went and sat at my desk. The passion and need to take care of him was real. The swagger and consent talk—that had been business Elin at work.
My voice was a whisper as I felt tears fall down my face. “Dad, what’s wrong with me? Why does my body want him when my mind knows what he did to you in this very office?”
Chapter 15
Iadjustedmygreenlinen halter top and brought the girls a little more to the forefront as I stood before the entrance to The Paradise Club. Inside, the scent of sweet, rich perfumes mixed with the distinct echo of laughter and muffled music lent to what had been curated as a sanctuary of indulgence and pleasure—but not for me.
Tonight, I wasn't the confident and powerful businesswoman behind the scenes. No, tonight this woman was someone else entirely. Tonight, I was going to test the system. See exactly how this club behaved when the owner wasn’t announced and in attendance.
My usual simple makeup was gone, replaced by heavy and dramatic shades with dramatic contouring, dark contacts, a raven-colored wig, and skin-tight jeans with ballet flats.
Security, dressed in a sleek black suit, scanned me from head to toe before his gaze met mine. I could feel his scrutiny. He was sharp. Too sharp. And I couldn't afford to have him recognize me.
