“Lies.” Even as I said the word, my body betrayed me. Nipples pebbled to the point of pain against the thin fabric of my bra. Bra that matched the material of my shirt. See-through and thin.
Hazel eyes lowered, and he licked his lips. “Did you read the contract? Have an answer?”
“Yes.” The hand on my throat gave a gentle squeeze then followed the path down the center of my chest. He didn’t touch my breast that ached. Ignored them, continued down, only to stop at the edge of my skirt.
Right below my belly button that had a small diamond ring there.
“Sexy,” he mused, toying with the tiny diamond cluttered piece. I didn’t answer, couldn’t, just watched him through the mirror. “Any more piercings I should know about before you agree to my terms?”
“You don’t know my answer to make such a statement.” My hands came up to push his away, but failed. Instead, I ended up gripping his wrist and holding him there.
“We both know you’re going to agree. That no one can offer you what I can.” There was something in his expression that caused me to pause. The gleam in his eyes held a mixture of danger and palpable need that caused my throat to tighten, and I swallowed hard. Denial evaporated under his heated gaze. “Answer me, Beau. Where else? Or was that it?”
“Just the one on my nose,” I replied.
Hendrix looked up and tilted his head to the side. Searched my face while his fingers crept lower. “That wasn’t there on Monday?”
They slipped beneath the waistband, and I pushed back against him.
My hands once again gripped the sink’s edge. “I’d lost my nose rings and bought a new one after I left.”
“Hmmm...” What does ‘hmmm’ mean?
“Is that a problem?” It felt as if it were a hundred degrees in that room, beads of sweat rolling down my back.
“No.” Lower, his fingers traveled to just the edge of my panties. Left them there. “For some reason I like them.”
This must stop. We need to stop. “Hendrix, you need to—”
The bathroom room door banged open and a group of four women walked in. “Did you see that bitch coming onto...shit!
“Sorry.”
“Oh my GOD!”
“Seriously?” They all spoke at once, and I felt the heat rise to my face once more. We’d been busted and were going to get kicked out. Embarrassed.
“My apologies, ladies.” Smooth as ever, Hendrix slipped his hand from my skirt and grabbed mine in his. Held on tight while facing them. “But I’ve been tracking her down for a week and cornered her in here to beg. I miss my girlfriend. Need her to forgive my forgetting our anniversary.” Jerk even pulled off the contrite look with a pitiful shrug at the end.
Please, Lord, let the floor open wide and swallow me whole.
Four sets of eyes turned to look at me with expectations. Demanded in silence that I forgive my “other half” for being a forgetful idiot.
“All is forgiven, baby,” I whispered before rising to the tip of my toes and giving him a quick peck on the lips. Two could play this game. “Just never do it again. You made me feel unimportant.”
“Never again.” His eyes smoldered, heavy lidded, and I shivered. Maybe I shouldn’t have touched his lips with my own. Not when I was trying to get away. Had another date tomorrow with someone more at my speed. “Excuse us, but we have some making up to do.”
They swooned as he led me out, giggling about how cute we were.
The second the door was closed, I pulled my hand back and smacked his chest. “Are you insane?”
“Unstable,” he muttered more to himself than me. Head tilted to the side, he looked toward the direction of the dance floor. Seemed to be weighing some invisible option.
Snapping my fingers didn’t call his attention, and I huffed. “I’m out. Nice talking to you again, Mr. Parker.”
I made it four steps before I was tossed over his shoulder. “Not so fast.”
“Put me down, jerk!” Kicking my legs out, I tried to free myself and slide down his over six-foot frame to no avail. Instead, his hold tightened. “What is wrong with you?”
“Hush.” His hand came down at the crease where ass and thigh met. “Keep it down or we’ll be caught.”
“Good.” Hendrix marched down the hall where the bathrooms were located with me on his shoulder and through a door I hadn’t seen before. “Where do you think you’re taking me? This is kidnapping.”
“No. It’s not.” Another short hallway appeared and then two doors. He opened the one to the left. “This is us cementing our first argument with a true display of barbaric behavior. Now behave. We’ll be out of here in a minute and heading toward my apartment. We have a lot to talk about.”
That door was a back exit.
It all happened too fast.
I was stunned into silence.
XXX
“Quit looking at me like that, Beau.”
I arched a brow. “And how should I be looking at the man who kidnapped me from a bar just because I didn’t bow down to kiss his feet?”
“Has anyone ever told you that you have a slick mouth?” He looked over at me for a moment, smiling. Man was enjoying this way too much. “That someday it just might get you in trouble?”
“Never,” I deadpanned, and he chuckled, the action making him seem less formal.
“Find that hard to believe, nymph. You—”
“Why do you continue to call me that? My name’s Beau. Use it, please.” To deal with him, I had to continue to have my wits about me.
There was no denying the fact that around him, I lost common sense.
No advertising the blast of ardor he evoked in me.
It’d be so easy to say yes. To take his offer and let him lead me down a path that would only end in pain. My pain.
For a second, he was caught off guard by my question. Stiffened in his seat, fingers tightening on the steering wheel.
“To be honest...” Hazel eyes met mine, and I nodded for him to carry on. “Not a single clue.”
“I’ll call bull to that.” Was my turn to snort. “We both know the definition...what it means.”
“Then why ask a stupid question?” Again, with that impersonal and sterile act from his office. One minute the man was pleasant, and the next cold—detached.
“Drop me off at the next light,” I seethed. This yo-yoing back and forth was giving me a headache. Enough. An Uber could pick me up from the Walgreens a block down. Plus, if I’m not wrong, Zoe lives four blocks from the street we were on. I could crash for the night with her.
“No.” His jaw ticked, and he pressed down harder on the gas, pushing me back in my seat. Drove one block before we hit another red light. “We are almost to my part-time home and we’ll—”
“No,” I parroted which deepened his scowl. “Sorry, but you don’t get to choose here. Drop me off, or I’ll...” My hand reached out to unbuckle my seat belt, but before I could, he accelerated once more and turned down a block and into an underground parking garage.
Sped through it like an angered demon until he found his spot near the elevator’s entrance and pulled in. Didn’t even talk to me as he got out and slammed the door behind him. Was at my side before I could even attempt to leave.
“Get out.”
“With pleasure.” Unbuckling my seat belt, I made sure my wristlet was in my possession and got out. Just like last time, I walked away and left him standing there while I made my way toward the open elevator. Pressed the highlighted button for the lobby.
The plan was simple: have a car service pick me up from the front. Certainly, he wouldn’t create a scene there. You underestimate him.
The door started to slide, was nearly closed, when his arm shot out and stopped it.
He looked positively murderous. An angry beast.
My thighs automatically clenched, and I hated him all the more.
No matter what I did, I couldn’t get away from him.
His mere presence overwhelmed the space.
Hendrix entered, eyes on me while he swiped a keycard over the reader above the floor’s numbers. A chime was heard after in acceptance of his card and the doors closed.
“Funny thing about buildings you design and construct...” pushing the plastic in his pocket, he crossed the small square space and stopped in front of me. Right against me.
His chest forcing mine back against the cool wall behind me.
“What?” Oh, God, help me please. Between his scent, piercing stare, and hard body, I was ready to commit a sin. I forgot for a moment how much he truly pissed me off.
“There’s nowhere you could hide from me.”
Bringing a hand between us, I tried to push him back. “Let me save both of us some time here, Mr. Parker. The answer to your contract is no.” Jerk just smiled at me, biting his lip to fight back a chuckle. I glared and carried on. One of us had to be responsible here. “We’re not a good match, Hendrix. Please understand this. I-I have another date in—”
He slammed his mouth down on mine, body pinning me in place. Forceful in the way he kissed, his tongue drove inside and massaged my own. Tasted every inch before biting down hard on my bottom lip.
“Not another word on that idiotic thought.” His groan settled deep in my womb; my panties were ruined.
“You...I...Oh, God,” I whimpered then. His fingers released my hair from its high ponytail and wrapped the long strands around his fist. The hands once pushing him away now buried themselves into the thick hair at his nape. Pulled on the short strands, eliciting another pussy-clenching grunt.
Man possessed, he held my head to his liking while kissing me. Brutal, my lips felt swollen from his attack, and yet I didn’t care. I kissed him back just as hard. Our teeth clashed, my hips gyrating against his length.
Hard. Pulsing. I wanted more.
“Let me have you, nymph.” Trailing kisses down my neck, he paused at my pulse point and nipped the sensitive skin there. “Fuck propriety or the rules. Let me take you upstairs and eat that pretty pink pussy before I fuck a permanent dent of you into my mattress.” It stung, but I couldn’t resonate with the pain when his right hand skimmed lower and grasped my thigh just beneath the skirts edge. His touch was electric; caused every nerve ending in my body to bow under his fingertips.
“I’m not sure if this is a good idea,” I moaned out, arching into his touch. That was my last attempt at stopping the madness we were together. I’d lost all fight, and he knew that.
The dangerous gleam in his hazel eyes was back.
His lips took mine once more in a hard kiss before pulling back. Breathing labored, he laid his forehead on mine. “This is what we are going to do, Miss Carter. Are you listening?” All I could do was nod. “Good girl.” Another kiss, this time a soft peck. “I’m going to reanimate this elevator and take us up to the penthouse floor. All the way up, you will remain quiet. Not a word. If you can do that for me, I’ll reward you once inside. Agreed?”