I don’t know if Mount’s last statement is meant to rile me up, but that’s exactly what it does. I offered him honesty, and he responded with dominance. Like always.

So I’ll give him what he expects from me. Attitude.

“And what do you want right now, Mount?” I stress his name because, for a moment, he seemed like a man I could confide in, and now he’s the arrogant bastard I’ve faced since the beginning.

“What I’ve wanted since the beginning. You.”

His hand moves at lightning speed, snatching mine and pulling me against him. I can’t miss the hard bulge shielded by the thin material of his suit pants as he turns me in a circle.

“So, this whole act tonight was just to get me into bed?” I look up at him in defiance and watch his eyes narrow and his expression darken.

“I don’t need an act for that. You’ve already agreed to all my terms. Whenever I want, and willing.”

My jaw clenches at his reminder. “Do they teach classes for that kind of arrogance, or were you born with it?”

All softness I felt toward him melts away like snow in the bayou, and it feels like we’re back to square one. Except I’m in Dublin. And he brought me here.

Facing this man is like taking on a Category 5 hurricane. My conflicting emotions surge within me.

Mount’s laugh is low and harsh. “You think I’m arrogant now? You’ve barely scratched the surface. For the record, just because I let you take the lead in your world doesn’t mean you get to call the shots anywhere else.”

“You’re impossible.” I hiss the words, but my body is already responding to his, and it’s taking all my self-control not to rub up against him like an animal in heat. Every bit of pressure heightens the sensation, thanks to my piercing.

“Pot, meet kettle,” he says.

“Fuck your pot and kettle.”

“All I want to fuck is you.” His gaze burns over my skin, and his nostrils flare as his free hand wraps around the back of my thigh, dragging upward until his palm skates under the fabric of my dress to grip my ass. “And you want it just as bad.”

“Not tonight.”

He lowers his lips close to my ear, and whispers a single word. “Liar.”

I have two options—murder him in this gorgeous hotel suite and spend the rest of my life on the run, or give in to the insanity and climb him like my body is dying for me to do.

“I still hate you.”

His teeth close over my earlobe. “No, you don’t. You just hate that you want me as badly as I want you.” He tugs and my nipples harden into points. “Admit it, and I’ll give you what you want.”

“This isn’t a new game. We both know you can make me want you, and it won’t mean anything except that you know how to play the game better than I do.”

He releases his hold on me completely. Surprised, I stumble back on my heels, catching myself on the bar.

Mount takes a step backward and shrugs off his jacket, leaving it folded over the back of the living room sofa. With another step back, he loosens the knot of his tie and tosses it on a chair. One more step, and the top two buttons of his shirt are undone, revealing the tanned, thick column of his neck. Another step, and the remaining buttons are undone and his shirt falls open, revealing his hard chest and rippling abs.

He stands in the middle of the suite, tucking his hands into his pockets as he meets my gaze. “I want to hear it now. Before I drag you to the brink and you’re willing to say anything for me to let you come.”

I lick my lips and flatten them. My inner muscles are already clenching, wetness soaking my thong as my body anticipates what’s coming next.

Murder or pleasure. What happened to my life that these two choices became equally viable outcomes to the same issue?

Mount happened.

“Fine. I’ll admit it. You win.”

Mount shakes his head slowly. “This isn’t about winning. This is about making it crystal fucking clear in your head that you crave what I give you. You don’t just want me to take control—you need it.”

He’s right. There’s no way I can deny it. We both know I’m a shitty liar.

“Then take it,” I tell him.

Again, his ridiculously handsome face moves slowly from side to side. “No, tonight you’re going to give it to me willingly.”

“What do you mean?”

He tips his head toward the floor-to-ceiling windows, hidden by opulent window treatments. “Open the curtains.”

My brain spins at his order. Where is he going with this?

“Why?”

“Ask another question, and I swear you won’t come tonight.”

I bite down on my lip because my natural instinct is to question his every order. But the idea of being denied orgasms all night, while he undoubtedly can give me many, isn’t something I want to contemplate.

His dark eyes flare with heat as I step toward the drapes and yank them wide open. The lights in the room are low, but still bright enough to give a clear view inside.

“Hands at your sides. Don’t move.”

In the reflection of the glass, I watch as Mount unbuttons his cuffs, strips off his shirt, and drops it on the floor before stalking toward me.

The cold from the window is already sending chills through my body, and Mount’s heat at my back creates warring sensations that are normal when I’m dealing with him.

The zipper on my dress hisses as Mount slides it down. His fingers push the straps off my shoulders, but I catch them with my elbows, holding the dress against my chest.

“Someone could see.”

His voice is low but implacable. “They can look, but they can’t fucking touch what’s mine.”

Of their own volition, my arms drop to my sides and my dress slides down, puddling at my feet.

“Step out of it.”

Mount’s teeth graze my shoulder before he drags them up the column of my neck, and I hold in a moan.

“Are you going to make me repeat myself?” He growls it in my ear, nipping my lobe.

This is the power struggle. The one I crave. When he said I wanted this, he wasn’t wrong.

“No.”

I comply, and Mount kicks the expensive designer dress aside before closing a hand around my wrists, lifting my hands to press them both palm-first against the window. I shiver, my nipples pebbling against the lace of my strapless bra as he growls in my ear.

“Keep your hands on the window or your punishment will come later, and I promise it won’t be nearly as enjoyable as this.”

I nod, and Mount releases his hold. I stay in position as his fingers skim down my arms to my shoulders before circling my rib cage to thumb my nipples through my bra.

“I don’t spend nearly enough time on these gorgeous tits.” He releases the clasp of my bra, sending it to the floor, and my breasts spill into his hands. He toys with my nipples, sending jolts of pleasure straight to my center.

My moan slips free, and it urges him on. “Bend forward. Put them on the window. Get them nice and cold. I want them even harder for me.”

Even though my instinct is to balk at how obscene his order is, I follow his command, sucking in a breath when my sensitive skin touches the chilled glass.

“Good girl,” Mount says, right before his palm connects with my ass with a smack.

I straighten, but he grips my hips to pull me back into position as he grinds the hard length of his erection against me.

“You worried about them seeing you now?”

“I don’t know,” I whisper.

His hand slides around to my stomach and skims down to toy with the waistband of my thong, snapping the thin material before it falls away. He cups my center with his palm, his teeth grazing my other shoulder as he growls in satisfaction.

“Then I better show everyone out there who owns this pussy, in case they get any ideas.”

The forbidden thrill of being watched only adds to my confused emotions. Mount slips one finger between my lips, already finding me wet. When he drags it around my piercing, my hips move, my body desperate for more contact.

“You gonna tell me that I don’t own this perfect cunt?”

His growled words make me even more frantic.

“No!” This time the word comes out on a harsh moan as he pushes two fingers knuckle-deep inside me.

“I didn’t think so.”

He fucks me deeper with his fingers, and my hands squeeze into fists. But I manage to keep them on the window, never breaking contact, not even when Mount frees his cock and works it between the cheeks of my ass.

“Someday soon, there won’t be any question about who owns this ass either, because when I sink my cock inside it, you’ll be screaming my name.”

His filthy words trigger another drawn-out moan. Mount shifts, fitting the head of his shaft against my entrance, pushing forward just enough to nudge the tip inside.

I open my mouth, ready to beg, except this time he doesn’t make me wait. He buries himself to the hilt in a single thrust. With both his hands pressing against mine on the glass, he powers into me without mercy, and I love every single second of it.

When I come, it’s with a scream that all of Dublin must be able to hear—and see.

But in the circle of Mount’s arms, I forget to care.