Davarox lunged, pinning her back to the couch as his arms came down on either side of her. “Don’t say that word,” he growled. His eyes dipped to her lips, then the rapid rise and fall of her chest so close to his. When he met her gaze again, there was no disguising the heat simmeringin the rich brown. “None of your work isstupid. It’s brilliant, and those jerks in city hall should bebeggingyou for help.”
Rosalind swallowed, still breathing heavily. “Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“So you really…”
“Had ulterior motives besides getting incredibly turned on by your passion? Yeah.”
The breath trembled from her lips. “Okay.”
“Good girl.” He leaned in, teasing his nose against hers. Savoring the flutter of her lashes as she closed her eyes. Breathing in her heat. “Bedchamber. Now.”
Rosalind blinked at him, tongue wetting her lips so close to his that he could have easily met it with his own. He wondered, for a moment, if she might go against his order. If she might tilt her chin just a little more, move her hands to his chest, drag him down to her kiss.
But she also craved the rush of relinquishing control, and it was an honor that she trusted him enough to shift to the side.
Davarox left his arm there, forcing her hip to brush against his hand before he removed it to let her pass. Maybe he dragged it a bit over her, letting his thumb tease under the hem of her top, across her stomach, until she had completely slipped past him.
He turned to watch the sway of her ass and the slow but determined steps she took toward his bedchamber.
“Sweater,” he ordered.
Without hesitation, Rosalind peeled the fabric away. Davswore under his breath, palming his hardness as he appreciated the slope of her spine and the little dimples at her lower back. The long waves of dark hair cascading down and begging to be wrapped around his fist.
She rolled her shoulders, the only sign of uncertainty as she reached the open doorway. He was behind her in an instant, slipping the sweater from her hand because he knew she didn’t want to just drop it on the floor.
“You okay?” he asked, tucking her hair behind her ear so he could press a kiss to her cheek.
Rosalind nodded as she observed the room, the bottles on the corner of the bed, then glanced up to him expectantly.
Fuck, that did something to his insides.
“Bed. Face down.”
Davarox watched her subtly try to read the labels on the bottles as she followed his order, finding his restraint flimsier than it had ever been before. But he took his time folding her top before setting it gently on the chair in the corner.
The floorboards gave him away as he strolled closer to the bed, rolling his sleeves up and watching her tense and shift her hips with anticipation. “Nervous?”
“A little,” came her muffled response. “Curious is a better word.”
Dav grinned, kneeling on the bed before dragging her hair off her back to reveal her beige chest band. His fingertips skipped over the fabric and danceddown her spine. Tracing patterns as he watched her skin pebble until he met the waist of her pants.
“You’re so beautiful, Rose,” he whispered, teasing under the fabric. “May I?”
“Yes.”
He moved slowly, deliberately, until he’d folded her pants alongside her top. The sight before him was almost enough to cave, but he had an objective tonight, and he wasn’t going to get distracted.
His hands dragged up her calves and the backs of her thighs until he could squeeze the flesh of her ass.
Okay, only a little bit distracted.
Davarox moved back to the bed, knees on either side of her thighs as he snagged one of the bottles. “You were right before.”
Rose let out a questioning hum.
“Laz told me quite a bit about the other night, even more than the conversations you had.”
