“I’m curious about something,” he finally said after the break of silence.
“What’s that?”
“What will it take for you to stop pretending that you long for control?”
I’d thought him incapable of surprising me, but I was wrong. As I’d been about almost everything about him. “What would it take?” I had no real answer to his question.
“Yes,” he answered as he rubbed his hand up and down my back. I’d never really anticipated he was the kind of man who’d be comfortable with initiating rules.
Or in requiring my full obedience.
Then again, I’d enjoyed the bad boy aspects of his personality much more than anything else. Maybe the fantasies I’d indulged in mentally and through use of a passion pink vibrator had prepared me for this moment.
“I don’t have the answer.”
“You just did.”
“How so?”
“For all your pretense of complete domination inside and outside the courtroom, you’re hungering for a man to tame you. With me, you’re allowed to be exactly what you want and for once experience everything you need.”
“What’s that?”
He leaned in, pressing his lips against my cheek. The softness of his lips and the heat of his breath created another wave of electricity. His whisper pushed me closer to the freeing moment he was talking about. “To be completely and utterly free to let go.”
I shuddered as he nipped my earlobe, clenching my fists around his shirt and pulling him even closer. The space between us was nonexistent, the lingering effects of the kiss from before causing me to crave even more.
“Are you afraid of me?” he added.
“Should I be?”
“Yes. You should. But only in the way of realizing every moment of passion you’ve had up until now meant absolutely nothing.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m going to show you what true passion means, sweaty and completely out of your control.” He took a step away, holding out his hand. “Now you’re ready.”
“For what?” I gazed down at his outstretched hand, the shallow breaths I was taking providing very little oxygen.
“For the adventure.”
Still hesitating, when I finally placed my palm into his, an audible shudder captured his attention. His hand was warm, his possessive hold creating an ignition of fire.
With a wink and a mischievous grin, he pulled me closer to the bar. “Hey, Mark. Can I borrow a bottle of whiskey?”
“Sure thing, Axe.” Mark grinned as he yanked one from under the bar, handing it to him.
“Put it on my tab.”
Mark’s gaze shifted in my direction, his grin turning sly and he nodded.
“Is that even legal? Taking alcohol from a bar?” I yelled over the loud music, the crowd wilder than before. I’d never seen anything like it.
“Does it seem like I give a damn about rules, Palomino Girl? How quickly you forget who I am.”
His prowess and bravado had returned, exactly the way I remembered him. A man full of life and desire, eager to meet the world head on.
What in God’s name had he endured on that mountain?
