It takes me a second to get the words out because I’m so overwhelmed by the magnitude of everything Jax is saying to me.

“I’ll never be done with you.”

His shoulders collapse as he registers what I’m saying, and then he closes the distance between us and takes me in his strong arms, the motion so powerful my heart nearly stops.

Then his mouth is on mine, his tongue is in my mouth, he tastes like mint and magic and it’s all so right I could scream, I could cry, but instead I kiss him back with everything I have, like there’s no moment other than this one, like this is my only chance.

When he breaks the kiss I gasp for breath.

There’s something else I need from him.

“Will you give me anything I ask for?”

“You know the answer to that,” he murmurs in my ear as his hands tighten on my waist.

“Will you prove to me that I belong to you?”

He pulls back, looking deeply into my eyes. “How should I do that?”

I take a deep breath, then reach for my shirt, pulling it over my head. My shorts are next, dropping to the floor in a crumpled pile of cotton, and Jax watches as I strip off my panties and bra.

Then, slowly, I kneel in front of him.

My hands shake with anticipation.

“I broke our agreement,” I say, my voice soft. “I didn’t follow the rules.”

He instantly understands.

“And you need me to correct you?”

“Yes, Mr. Hunter.”

I need it so badly that I don’t know how I survived without him these past days, without our meetings in his office. I don’t know how I kept breathing from one minute to the next when there was no possibility of him possessing me, dominating me, like only he can.

I am desperate for him to take charge.

In my professional life, I need to have the reins…but here, where we are the only two people in the world, I need him to be the man I know he is at his core.

Powerful. Measured. Raw.

He unzips his pants with one motion and frees his cock, which is already so hard it twitches when the air hits it.

“Suck.”

His voice is all authority, all command, and it sends a shiver down my spine.

I obey immediately.

Taking him into my mouth, I go to work as if this is the most important thing I will ever do, circling the head of his cock with the tip of my tongue, dragging the flat of it along the sensitive underside, sucking, sucking, building the rhythm faster and faster until—

He pushes my head away, then shoves his cock back inside his pants.

“To the desk.”

I start to get to my feet, but he holds out his hand. “Crawl.”

My opening is dripping as I crawl across the freshly shined floor to the brand new desk. Jax gets there first, moving the nameplate to the side—it doesn’t matter here, in this deliciously dirty game we’re playing.

“Up.”

I stand.

“Bend over.”

I arrange myself over the desk and spread my legs, lowering my breasts to the cold metal surface and arching my back. My breath comes fast and shallow, the anticipation so strong I can hardly stay still.

Jax runs his hands over the white expanse of my back, all the way down to my waist, all the way down to my ass, and then he cups it in his hands, squeezing, testing. I push back into his grip, wanting more of him, and he responds with a slap to my right asscheek.

“You stay in position.”

“Yes, Mr. Hunter.”

He drags the pad of a single finger down the length of my opening and I shove my knuckles into my mouth to keep from crying out.

“You’re very wet,” he comments, in the same tone that he might say, “It’s raining out.”

“Yes, Mr. Hunter.”

“You like this.”

“Yes, Mr. Hunter.”

“You need this.”

“Yes, Mr. Hunter.”

“Do I need to remind you what happens when you break the rules?”

“No, Mr. Hunter.”

“Twenty strokes for appalling behavior. Move out of position, and we’ll start over.”

“Yes, Mr. Hunter.”

The words have barely had a chance to leave my mouth before his hand crashes down against my ass, the pain hot and stinging and sharp. It comes down again a moment later on the other cheek. Again. Again. Again. He keeps a steady rhythm, my ass heating up under his strikes as my pussy does the same, the juices collecting, dripping down the inside of my thighs. I grip the desk, trying to stay still, but something has to give. The pressure needs an outlet. I shout around my own fingers as the pain builds, builds, Jesus Christ it’s so exquisite, I want more, I need more, I love him.

He reaches twenty and there are tears in my eyes and my legs shake from trying to stay in position. There’s the sound of his zipper and then he dips the head of his cock into my juices, lines it up with my opening.

“Beg.”

“Please, fuck me,” I say, trying to push myself back onto him. He holds me in place, his hands on my waist.

“Excuse me?”

“Please, fuck me, Mr. Hunter.”

“Why should I do that?”

“Because I belong to you.”

“That’s right,” he answers. “You belong to me.”

On the last word me he thrusts into me with all of his strength, filling me and stretching me and bottoming out and I catch my own cries with my hand because he is consumed with claiming me.

Then he pulls at me, turning me, lifting me up in his strong, muscular arms, and then laying me back down on a bed of my own clothes.

“Spread your legs.”

I spread them wide, my hands on my knees, pressing.

“Please,” I whisper, and he bends toward me and fills me again, this time touching my face, my neck, my breasts, he’s kissing me, biting me, licking me, sucking at every available inch of me and stretching me while he sends us careening toward the peak of desire, climbing, climbing…

My muscles tense around him and release as I explode. He covers my mouth this time so that the people in the bookstore and the café next door can’t hear us. He follows suit several moments later as I descend from my own high, going in deeper than ever as his hips jerk uncontrollably.

When he’s spent he lays his head down against my shoulder for a moment before standing up and pulling along with him. He helps me put my clothes back on.

A wicked grin forms across his face. “If we’re going to continue this, we should go back to the hotel.”

“Only if we can get there fast,” I say, grinning back.

We head toward the door.

“There’s one more thing,” I say, reaching for his hand.

“What is it, Cate? Anything.”

I bite my lip. I’m going to sound like an idiot. “I love the building…but I don’t want it.”

Jax’s face falls. “You don’t?”

“No. If I’m going to run a company like this, I want to do it in New York, where I can be with you.”

A smile grows on his face, and he tilts his head back and laughs. “You’re unbelievable. I can’t get enough of you.”

“I hope you never do.”