“Figured you couldn’t walk away,” Yasmin casually tossed at Dane without bothering to hide her triumph when he stepped off the elevator.

Earnestly hoping her cockiness wasn’t in vain, she’d waited with her shoes in one hand and her back resting against the wall in the hotel hallway.

The quick way he tucked away his shock amused her.

“Don’t like being predictable,” he grumbled.

“And I don’t do second chances.” Ignoring his glower, she led the way to her room. “But I suspect that we’re here tonight to break our own rules.”

“Don’t count me as a foregone conclusion.”

“I’ll remember that and temper my giddiness over your presence.” She headed toward her suite hoping that his resistance wouldn’t build up again causing him to head for the next available elevator.

She reached her hotel door and heard his approach slow behind her. “Welcome to my home-away-from-home.” She closed the door after he entered and said, “Make yourself comfortable. The bar is over there.”

“By tomorrow this home should be a memory on your hotel bill. I want your business.”

“We’ll see,” she said. “I don’t want to be a foregone conclusion.”

He laughed and headed for the bar.

Yasmin noticed his shoulders relax but refrained from mentioning the observation. She suspected that he wouldn’t look too hard for any excuse to get out of there. After all, he was in her territory.

“Do you mind if I get into something more comfortable. Love these shoes but my feet are throbbing.” She wiggled each foot wincing at the blisters that started on the top of each foot.

“No issues here.” He saluted her retreat with a glass of seltzer water.

Yasmin had more in mind than slipping into something comfortable. Hot and sticky from her marathon dancing, she slipped out of her clothes and panties and headed for a quick shower.

No doubt he’d hear the water, but getting cleaned up was a priority.

No sooner was she enjoying the shower when she heard a knock at the bathroom door.

“I thought you were only getting into something comfortable. Should I head off, then?”

“No. You don’t have to leave.” Yasmin poked her head out of the shower stall to address him on the other side of the closed door.

“I don’t want to you feel obligated to play hostess. I think that I’ll see myself out.” His voice faded into silence.

Yasmin quickly wrapped the towel around her body and ran into the bedroom. “I needed to wash up. That was less than five minutes.”

He backed up until his hip hit the chest of drawers. His gaze swallowed her whole and lingered over every inch of her body. She was sure the water was drying up on her skin as heat from his stare warmed her.

“Don’t you dare leave,” she ordered.

“Why not?” His chin raised at her sharp command.

“Then I won’t have to use my vibrator tonight.”

His words caught in his throat. He suffered under a fit of coughing.

“I was thinking food, then sex. But if you’re in such a hurry, we can have sex, and I’ll eat later. Your choice.” She undid the towel and let it drop to the floor, then headed back into the bathroom to minister to her skin with the various moisturizing lotions.

When several minutes had passed with no sound from her room, she leaned out of the doorway to check on her guest.

He hadn’t moved. His hands were stuck in his pockets. His head bowed so that she couldn’t discern his expression.

“Need more time?” She didn’t know what was the speed bump. Her nipples were hard as hell. Her sex was wet. And her skin craved his touch.

This reluctant bachelor had her turned inside out.

“I’ve got calls to make. Emails that are waiting for my response. I have reports to read for meetings tomorrow,” he said softly with the added shake of the head.

He took out his phone, as if to make his point, and started punching at the keyboard.

Yasmin stepped close and placed her hand over the phone effectively blocking him from continuing. Gently she took it from him and set it down on the nearby furniture.

His expected flash of stubbornness and indignation swept in but faltered as she cupped his face with her hands. “I promise your world will be there when we’re done.” She smiled, her olive branch for safe return to his reality.

Yasmin’s breath hitched at the not-so-subtle change in Dane’s eyes just before his mouth crash landed on hers in a searing kiss.

Hot and hard.

She moaned her pleasure.

Deliciously sweet and intense.

She wanted more.

His mouth claimed with passion and intention.

She had no regrets as she matched what he offered.

His mouth slid from hers. They both took deep breaths.

Almost immediately her mouth searched to reconnect for another chance to be dominated by his perfect mouth.

He had other plans.

She gasped and moaned under the slow rapture of his tongue against her skin. Gently he sucked her neck until her legs could barely hold her up.

Her arms tightened around him, crushing her naked body against the roughness of his suit.

With a soft grip of both hands on her ass, he cupped her cheeks.

Yasmin grunted as the powerful surge of desire overwhelmed her. Grabbing hold of one of his hands, she directed him between her legs. To her sex. Wet. Woke. Wanting.

His fingers stroked her, like a sensual introduction, that had her belly in flutters. He tweaked her and teased her clit, sent her skyward toward the deepest rapture.

Her hand stayed on his head prompting him toward her mouth to seal his lips with hers. Otherwise, she’d scream. Loud. In agony. With joy. He hadn’t stopped teasing the sensitive landscape of her sex. Her body responded like a finely-tuned instrument to his touch ready to hum to his will.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Yes,” she hissed.

“Say it,” he commanded. “Beg for it.”

She swept her tongue against his lips, in an act of defiance. Not saying what he wanted to hear, what she needed to feel.

He chuckled, but the warning growl rumbling in his throat prickled her nerves with anticipation.

“Beg,” he demanded with a swat on her backside.

Yasmin giggled as her ass warmed under his large hand.

“Stubborn.” He lifted her and dropped her spread-eagled on the bed.

She beckoned to him with the crook of her finger.

Slowly he peeled off his clothes, taking his time to fold and lay them carefully on the nearby chair.

She howled her impatience. Her hand sought refuge between her legs, stroking and playing to soothe the searing desire that craved for him. Her pulse hadn’t come down to normal since his first contact with her mouth, her skin, her sex. She was hot and so ready.

From clothed to naked, time slowed, as she watched him take his time to remove the last piece of clothing. No matter how much he pretended to be cool and in control, the proud erection of his cock was what mattered to Yasmin.

Still he didn’t approach to fill her with his beautiful sex.

Instead, he reached into his pants pocket and retrieved his wallet. She watched him take out a condom and put it on before he looked up and bathed her with a wicked smile.

Without warning, he hoisted her legs up to his shoulders, her vagina at his mouth, his tongue lashing at her sex.

She screamed and laughed, almost crying as his lips suctioned to tease and drain her dry.

His mouth detached from her body. “Sweet, as I imagined. Now beg.”

“Yes,” she hissed. “I’ll beg. I’ll beg.” But how could she function with him blowing softly on her sex?

“Fuck me,” she begged.

“Gladly.”

He laid her back down, but his hands remained around her hips lifting her up for his entry.

She squeezed her eyes shut. All her energy on the exquisite moment that his cock filled her, fully possessing and holding her captive.

In and out. He pumped. He pounded. He stirred her craving.

His hand slid up her belly, latching on to her breast. His fingers caressed to the wild rhythm of their noisy ride.

She didn’t want to be quiet. Every moan, groan, wail of pleasure escaped with a guttural explosion.

Sanity exploded, as he intermixed his domination with his cock and then his tongue. She couldn’t stop. She had no control.

Her fingers grasped the sheets, fisting the soft fabric into her hands.

Her back arched.

Damn his tongue.

Damn his cock.

“Harder.” She demanded, unafraid of his thickness and hardness.

Sweet delicious torture.

He flipped her with ease onto her belly. His teeth sank into the meaty flesh of her ass.

Her sex pulsed.

“You want it hard.” His voice warmed her ear.

“I like it rough.”

His breath tickled her ear with his chuckle.

Again, his tongue worked its magic along her back. Goosebumps prickled her skin.

His mouth peppered kisses along her shoulders.

He parted her ass and allowed his cock to trace the intimate line to her sex. Every time, she clenched under duress, he swatted her.

His knee opened her legs wider.

She waited. Her heart almost in her throat.

He kissed her on one cheek and then the other.

She panted.

He kissed her on the same path that his cock landed, straight down her ass. He kissed every inch of her, lingering in places that were so sensitive, so intimate, so vulnerable under his mouth and tongue.

She moaned and begged her demands.

Still, he punished her, for that was all she could think, as he teased her sex with the most tender kisses.

Her teeth clenched. Her hips writhed.

“You’re so damned sweet.” His sincerity pleased her.

“Please… I can’t take it anymore.”

He raised her ass.

“Go ahead, fuck me,” she coaxed.

“Hold on tight.”

His fingers dug into her hips holding her in place as he connected and rapid-fire pumped her sex.

Nothing mattered.

Yet everything did.

Her senses were on hyper awareness. She couldn’t talk, couldn’t catch her breath. Her cries emitted in gasps and moans were mixed with the breaths that she sucked in and held.

His cock didn’t relent. He didn’t slow down. The upward climb to the peak was fast and rigorous.

Now his breath hissed. Strangled cries rumbled over her head.

She felt his cock tighten before he growled with the pulsing beat of his orgasm. Her inner walls answered the primal call, shuddering another release for her.

They rode it out to the end, refusing to uncouple as their bodies trembled in tandem with each other.

He eased out of her and excused himself to head for the bathroom.

Yasmin felt gloriously alive and tingling all over. She enjoyed sex and had no shame in seeking good lovers. But this, well, this was different. Dare she say that it was special.

Slowly, she curled up waiting for his return. Her smile stayed lazily on her face. Her body had a workout that she was sure would have her feeling the after-effects. But her body also had been awakened from a deep slumber. She didn’t look forward to returning to the status quo.

No matter what, she needed Dane to keep fucking her.

As long as she could keep her mission separate, then what was the harm with being sexually satisfied for the next few days. She reached over for the hotel-provided water bottle and took a long drink.

“Monaco just might be my favorite hang out,” she said in the empty room, as the water in the bathroom turned off.

Dane returned to the room. The youngest Laurent brother considered the baby of the family in the news had no babyish qualities. His body glowed under the lamplight showing off his tanned muscled frame.

“You’re gorgeous.” Yasmin continued to sip her water.

“Thanks. You’re pretty damn hot.”

She offered him the water figuring that he might need to wet his throat. “Now what?”

He took a drink and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Now it’s time for me to head home.”

“Still can’t let one night happen without phone or email?”

“I’m not junior staff. I run a company. People aren’t likely to want an absent CEO.”

“That would be your father—the CEO. Not you.”

His hand tilted up her chin. “What game are you playing?”

“No game.” She held his hard gaze willing herself to stay calm.

“Don’t believe you.” He turned to get his clothes.

“Are you always this suspicious or is this reserved for me?” She sat up in the bed with the sheet loosely covering her lap.

He looked at her breasts and then up at her. “You.”

She watched him cover his body with his suit. Regretting the transformation of him back to the reclusive company man.

“You land in Monaco with your requests, although I believe you’re here with an agenda that affects Laurent Holdings.”

“Really? And what would that be?”

He shrugged. “Don’t know the full extent yet.”

“Anything further to add to my indictment?”

“I shouldn’t have stayed.” He snapped on his watch without looking at her.

“Post-coital regrets. How boring.” She summoned a yawn to prove her point and headed for the bathroom.

“In my world, I keep my appetites separate. In the morning, I expect that I’ll be conducting business with you. Beyond that, we have nothing further between us.”

Yasmin smiled and leaned against the doorway of the bathroom. “Looks like we are at the déjà vu point, where you came into my bedroom and then fucked me. I can tell that you enjoyed it. How could you not?” She stepped into the bathroom, leaving the door ajar. “Stay or go, doesn’t matter. I got you to come to me.”

“You are a spoiled brat.”

“Why? Because I know what I want and say it? When a man does the same, I doubt that you call him spoiled or a brat.”

They spoke to each other through the partially open bathroom door.

“As a matter of fact, one of my brothers is a spoiled brat.”

“What do you consider yourself? What’s your label?” Yasmin couldn’t stem her anger at the turn of this night.

He snorted. “Good night.”

“I suspect that we’ll be in each other’s arms sooner than later. Go think about that.” She couldn’t help sounding defiant.

His exit was marked by the sharp closure of her bedroom door and seconds later, her hotel door.

Yasmin turned on the shower for the second time that night. Despite her bold talk, she didn’t believe that Dane would come near her for a repeat. But damn he was good for her. And while his cool reserve did intrigue her, she couldn’t deny that his prowess in bed had overtaken any reservation to continue enjoying sex with him.

But, she’d trampled his pride and couldn’t shake his lingering suspicions. Still, she shouldn’t have sabotaged the night’s ending. She could have played nice a little bit longer.

“Damn.” Yasmin stepped into the shower.

Water pummeled her from overhead and through the three jets at her midsection. She leaned her head in the various directions to facilitate the water gushing uninhibited along her body.

She just picked up the shampoo bottle when she sensed that she wasn’t alone.

Through the clear curtain, she watched Dane take off his clothes and meticulously folded them and set them on the counter. She knew that it wasn’t that he was a neat freak, but deliberating over every move and probably searching for any valid reason to cut and run.

“Welcome, back.” She held aside the curtain.

His entry into the room was halting. He seemed stuck in limbo as his gaze hungrily stuck on her naked body.

Carefully, as if each step took a concerted effort, he entered the space with her. The water jets bathed him immediately, but the overhead stream of water was only on her head.

“I was about to shampoo my hair,” she said, handing him the bottle.

He took it from her and the back of his hand gently grazed her nipple. The bottle slipped from his hand landing on the tiled floor.

It didn’t matter.

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard. With her back was pressed against the marble tiles, she hooked her legs around him, trusting in his strength.

Damn. He didn’t disappoint. Hoisting her up around his hips, he somehow managed to slip on a condom tossing the wrapper next to the shampoo bottle.

He plunged in, deep, with long strokes.

Her moan escaped in a happy wail for him to continue. Harder. Fucking harder.

She sank her nails into his ass. The muscles twitched and tightened, exciting her further. He didn’t let up, pulsing his hips in a rhythm fury that drove her wild.

Her breasts brushed against the evening shadow of growth. The new spiky hair grazed and tantalized the tight peaks. When his mouth closed over one nipple, she screamed her joy for the sweet relief.

As his tongue worked at that nipple, his beats hadn’t lessened. She knew she was going to hit that highest point at any moment. Clamping down, hanging on, squeezing her thighs, she couldn’t stop the orgasm that rushed from the starting point deep within her and rushed through her body like a rogue wave taking out everything, including her ability to think straight.

“You came back,” she whispered against his shoulder.

“To tell you that whatever you’re planning, I’ll be ahead of you.”

She raised her head and considered her options in the cold blue eyes. “Then can we be enemies with benefits?”

He turned off the water.

Yasmin smoothed back her hair and wiped the water from her eyes. She wondered what he saw when he looked at her. No smile appeared. No disgusted snorts. His expression was neutral as if all the emotion had been sucked deep behind a wall.

He kissed her forehead. Then he tilted her chin and kissed her mouth.

Yasmin melted under his gentle pressure. Every part of her wanted and welcomed his touch. His kiss drew a breathless sigh from her. “I’m going with my gut on this.” She pressed her fingers to her lips. The heat of the moment hadn’t lessened. Not when he was inches away from her.  She struggled to stay as cool as he appeared.

“That’s if you play the short game. And somehow you don’t strike me as the type,” he taunted.

“Are we really going to have a serious discussion with your cock stroking me and my nipples jabbing at your chest? Quite the model for future international deadlock.”

“I’m adaptable.”

“You’re also stubborn. I’m not suggesting anything that you might not be thinking. You’re just not used to hearing it from a woman.”

He didn’t respond, but Yasmin struggled at least to sound sane.

He backed out of the shower stall and grabbed a fresh towel. “Knowing where all the pieces of the chessboard go work best for me. Right now, that’s not so clear.”

“Maybe you’re overthinking things.” Yasmin wrapped her towel around her body and watched him get fully dressed again. “I wear no disguises.”

He paused in the doorway and looked at her. “Hmm. But I know that brain is always whirring at high speed. It’s in your eyes. Can’t hide that from anyone.”

“That’s because I’m more than a pretty face. Get used to that.”

“I don’t plan to get used to any of this.” He saluted before disappearing into her room.

This time she followed him to the hotel door for his quiet exit. Still not wound down from his attention, Yasmin fixed herself a drink, flopped onto the cushioned couch and propped her feet on the center table.

Each sip blazed a fiery path from her tongue down the back of her throat and into the pit of her belly. She pushed her way into Dane’s space. Might not have been the original plan, but it happened. And she would do it again.

She took another sip and braced for the alcohol’s punch.

Now he’d made it clear that she had ulterior motives. Good.

She had every intention of being a force to be reckoned with.

She had every intention to reclaim her father’s legacy by whatever means.