Chapter 24 Chapter twenty four
“No? Ms. Malloy, the room is swimming with your pheromones. Deny it.”
She sagged a little against his hand, and he tightened his grip on her hair, as much to offer support as to imprison her. Then he continued as if she hadn’t interrupted. “You’ll remember this moment, fantasize about being mine.”
“No…”
“Invite me to kiss you or tell me to release you. The power is yours. Yield to temptation or leave this room wondering if it’s as good as you imagine it will be.”
“Mr. Sterling, this can’t be happening.”
Despite her protest, she didn’t try to escape. “I agree. This is the first time I’ve had three women”—four if he counted Celeste—“attempt to force me down the aisle.” He paused. “And it’s the first time I’ve had this kind of sexual longing for an adversary. Ask me to kiss you,” he repeated instead of arguing. “Be sure to say please.”
“Ah…”
He loosened his grip, and she leaned toward him, keeping herself hostage. Rafe didn’t smile with triumph.
Her internal standoff lasted longer than he thought it would. Excellent.
She had a stubborn streak.
Hope glanced away and sighed. Then she looked at him with clear, confident eyes. “Please kiss me.”
He could drown in her and be happy about it. He captured her chin to hold her steady. On her lips, he tasted the sweetness of her capitulation. “Open your mouth, sweet Hope.”
She did, and he entered her mouth, slower than he would ordinarily, softer than he would if she were his submissive.
Hope responded with hesitation, and he continued, driving deeper, seeking more. Within seconds, she yielded.
She moaned and raised onto her tiptoes to lean into him. A few seconds beyond that, she wrapped her arms around him. Hope, his adversary, had now become his willing captive.
He released her chin and moved his hand to the middle of her back, then lower to the base of her spine.
Rafe drank in the scent of her femininity. His cock surged, not from ordinary arousal, but from soul-deep recognition. Her eagerness sought the Dom in him. It took all his restraint not to press his palm against her buttocks.
Earlier he’d said she’d be thinking of him as she masturbated. The truth was, he wasn’t sure how he’d banish this memory of her—strength and suppleness in one heady package.
He plundered her mouth.
She offered more until she was panting and desperate, gripping him hard.
Instead of giving in to the driving need to rip off her clothes and fuck her, he distracted himself by tugging on her hair harder. As he’d requested, her eyes were open. So goddamn trusting. Did she have any idea how close he was to shredding the veneer of civilization that hung between them to claim her, mark her as his?
He ended the kiss while he still could. Her mouth was swollen, and he couldn’t stop staring at her lips.
Hope took tiny breaths that didn’t seem to steady her. She held on to him while she lowered her heels to the floor. Then, over a few heartbeats, she dropped her hands.
“Thank you, Rafe,” he prompted.
“Are you serious? I’m supposed to thank you?” She continued to look at him and undoubtedly saw his resolve.
Would she give him what he demanded? “Unless you want me to spank—”
“Spank?” Her chin was at a full tilt.
“Spank.” He repeated with emphasis. “Unless you want me to spank your pretty little ass so hard that you can’t sit down after you leave here.”
“That kind of behavior is unacceptable.”
“Under normal circumstances,” he agreed without hesitation. “Unless you ask me for it.” Part of him hoped she’d take him up on it. It would be a pleasure to prove she liked the feel of his hand on her bare skin. “I’ll go first.” He softened his tone, letting her glimpse his inner thoughts, a rare confession of his soul. “I enjoyed kissing you. Thank you.”
“I…” She smoothed the skirt that he wanted to rip off her body. “Look at me.”
She followed his command. Then, with a soft and decidedly insubmissive tone, she said, “Thank you.”
“Ms. Malloy, as I said, it was my pleasure.”
Silence hung between them. Her inexperience thrilled him, and he wanted to give her another hundred firsts. Instead, he let her go. The real world—with its complex demands—was waiting. And if he wanted her at his feet, he had a lot of work to do.
“I’m not certain how much of what you said, and what we just did, is to get me to admit defeat, to quit…” She stiffened her spine.
“Maybe it started that way.” His father’s behavior had pissed Rafe off, and so had his mother’s ambush, even Hope herself. He’d wanted to shake her as badly as he’d been shaken. As he’d spoken to her, his desires had churned to the surface. Until now—until her—he had been willing to confine his kink to a club. “It didn’t end that way. That I promise you.”
“I will ask the candidates about their openness to your suggestions.”
Fuck. She wanted to retreat behind a facade of business, as if their kiss hadn’t changed something. “Requirements. No suggestions. Requirements. Be clear about that. If I’m to be saddled with a woman that I don’t want until death do us part, there will be none of the hysteria that my family members seem to thrive on. My wife will know her place and her role, and she will meet my expectations. And to be clear, she will ask for my kiss. Like you did.” He opened the door.
Jeanine was walking toward his office with a cup of coffee, and he waved her off.
Then, voice so soft that only Hope could hear, he finished. “You have a fourteen-page interview form. I will have something similar for the women you bring to me. It will cover things such as anal play, being shared with others, edging, exhibitionism. Shall I send it to you first?”
“Please do. It will save some time in your selection process.” She started past him, and he snagged her elbow.
“And Ms. Malloy? She’ll fucking address me as Sir.” He was unaccountably furious at her rejection. At himself. “And if you come here ever again, so will you.”
Her hand trembled where she grasped her purse strap. She flicked a glance at his hand before yanking her elbow free and continuing.
She paused at Jeanine’s desk to say goodbye. Why did that matter so much to him?
He should have snagged the cup of coffee and returned to his office to call his father, but Rafe continued to watch Hope. Each damnable step made her hips sway, and his still-hard cock throbbed in response.
At the door leading to the hallway, Hope paused, her hand on the knob. She glanced over her shoulder and met his gaze without blinking. He might have unsettle
d her, even shocked her. But he hadn’t scared her.
Round one to the beautiful matchmaker.