Adjusting the knot on my tie, I check myself out in the mirror. It’s only seven fifteen, but I told Mia I’d pick her up at eight and I don’t want her to wait.

For a week, I’ve wanted her. From that first glance, images of Mia Karakova have burned themselves into my mind. I can’t get enough of her, but I’ve had to push myself away from the meetings, from drinking her in and obsessing over her. She’s got a thousand and one little ways that she’s teased me and she doesn’t even know it.

The way she bites the end of her pen, her lips nibbling at the plastic making me want her mouth and teeth on my skin.

The way her eyelashes flutter behind her lenses as she absorbs someone else’s prattle. I want to make her eyelids flutter like that as my tongue sends shivers up her spine.

Lust isn’t the word to describe the driven thirst coursing through my veins for her. I’ve never felt this way about any woman before, but by some miracle, I’ve been able to stay professional.

Until this afternoon.

The first time I had her alone, I caved.

I’d needed to prove a point, to myself and to her, that I’m in charge. So I’d burst in with both barrels blazing, taking control of the conversation. And at first, it’d worked as she shrank beneath my criticism.

But then . . .

The way her eyes sparkled behind her eyeglasses, the intensity in her voice, the way her breath quickened and her body seemed to grow before my eyes. I couldn’t resist, and watching her storm out, her ass flexing in her denim skirt, made me thankful I’d instituted denim Fridays at the office.

But nothing was as much fun as the few moments where I’d teased her. She tried to stay strong, and she could be, especially after the way she said she’s analyzed me. I’d been glad I was behind my desk because my cock sprang to full attention at that comment, with the way her cheeks blushed and she unconsciously bit her lip.

It doesn’t take me long to drive to Mia’s apartment, a decent place in a decent part of Roseboro. Still, I know she can afford more than this. She must have either some outstanding debts, or more likely, knowing what I do about her, she’s socking it away, because while it is a nice enough place, she could afford more.

I walk up to her second-floor apartment, knocking on her door just as my watch says seven fifty-eight.

“Just a moment!”

One minute later, the door opens . . . and I’m floored.

She’s a goddess, wrapped in a black, deep V-necked cocktail dress with floral accents along the top of the thigh-high slit that makes every inch of her flawless alabaster skin look succulent.

I’m almost tempted to push her back inside her place and take her right here, taste her to see if her skin’s as creamy sweet as it looks.

She’s even changed her glasses, going with some black frames that give her perfection a subtle quirky, geeky twist that only highlights just how unique she is.

“Mister . . . Thomas,” Mia says, biting her lip but still smiling. “Uhm, I hope this is okay? I don’t often dress formally.”

“It’s perfect,” I reassure her, checking her out all the way down to her open-toed heels that show off toes so precious I want to suck them until she giggles or orgasms, whichever comes first. “You look beautiful.”

It’s so true that my stomach clenches tightly, threatening to send this date careening off the rails before we even get to the restaurant.

I grew up with Grace Goldstone as the epitome of female beauty in my mind. She was my mother, but as I grew up, I could still admit how gorgeous she was.

And she’d abandoned me.

But Mia isn’t Grace Goldstone, I keep telling myself, and it helps me calm down a little. She’s too . . . unorthodox.

I’m more surprised than ever when we get out to the parking lot and she pulls away to run her hand over the fender of my car.

“Whoa . . . Acura NSX with a hybrid twin turbo. Super-rare here in the States.”

“You like cars,” I comment, and she turns, blushing a little. “No?”

“Not exactly. I’m just a geek,” Mia explains shyly. “One of my favorite animes has a character who drives an NSX.”

I nod as though I typically discuss cartoons with my dates, but I tuck the information away, escorting her around to the passenger side and opening the door for her.

She gets in, revealing a long stretch of subtly toned thigh that has my cock jumping in my pants again, and I have to take a moment to adjust myself as I go around back and get in the driver’s seat. I look over at her, where she’s wide-eyed, checking out the interior.

“Never saw the inside of one.”

“I’ve customized it some,” I admit. “It’s a better driving experience for me this way.”

It’s about this time that I expect Mia to try to play off the fact that my bank account dwarfs hers with either an unfunny joke or an obvious money grab. In my experience, that’s what women tend to do when faced with an in-your-face show of my wealth. Instead, she smiles, relaxing a little as the leather seats of my car support her body.

It’s not a long drive. Roseboro’s not large enough for anyone to have to worry about a long drive anywhere, but what the city lacks in size, it more than makes up for in quality. Quality I help cultivate with selective loans, support, and donations.

Case in point . . . Moreau-Laurent’s. A husband and wife partnership, they may not have the huge name that comes with having a restaurant in a bigger city, but they do have a James Beard award, and more importantly, they have passion for their cuisine. And they’ve done so well in Roseboro that they paid off their loan with me in record time.

“I’ve driven by this place but never been here,” Mia admits as we sit down, the white damask tablecloth just draping to our laps. “What do you recommend?”

I grin, seeing how she’s not trusting in the waiter but in my opinion. “I tend to always get the smoked salmon, but . . .” I let my voice drop deeper and quieter as if I’m sharing a secret. “I know what I like.”

I’m looking directly at her, and judging by the way she squirms in her seat, I think she recognizes I’m not talking about the food.

“Oh?” Mia asks, lifting an eyebrow. “I thought we were here to discuss the hospital figures?”

It’s a challenge wrapped in flirtation as she traces a finger along the rim of her water glass and looks at me through her lashes.

She’s testing the waters, wanting me to make my intentions crystal clear before she steps off the corporate straight and narrow, which doesn’t surprise me about a number cruncher like her, even if she’s definitely not a rule follower.

But I left that path a week ago when I first saw her, and I’m the bastard who’s going to pull her into the deep end with me, regardless of whether she can swim with the sharks or not. I’ll hold her, protect her, buoy her, if need be.

“Mia, though there’s absolutely no pressure either way, I think we’re both well aware that this dinner has nothing to do with the project.” I pin her with my eyes, daring her to disagree.

“Aren’t we—and by ‘we’, I mean you—getting a little ahead of ourselves?” she backpedals, but I can see the fire in her eyes.

The longing is so clear, and I realize that for all her sexiness, perhaps she’s shy or inexperienced. The former is surprisingly adorable, a word I don’t think I’ve ever actually used, not even in my mind. The latter can be delightfully corrected.

“Maybe . . . but when I want something, I go for it. Question is, Miss Mia Karakova, do you?”

She pushes her hair behind her ear, meeting my eyes as she lifts her chin defiantly. And it’s game on.

Dinner is delicious, but more sumptuous is Mia. She keeps the conversation light, even touching on Roseboro and Goldstone Inc. But I don’t mind, because intermixed with the first-date conversation, it seems we’re tossing innuendo back and forth like this is a tennis match.

By the time the check comes, the sexual tension is like a tractor beam pulling us together, and it feels natural to let my hand fall to her waist as we walk out.

“So, what did you think?”

“I think I haven’t tasted a damn thing since the chicken was taken away,” she admits. “The company was too magnetic.”

“Too bad. You missed a great dessert.”

Mia’s lips twitch, and I laugh. “Yes?”

“Oh, I was just waiting for the come-on line about how you’ve got another dessert waiting for me,” Mia says, and I can’t hold back my smirk.

“You said it, not me.”

I drive back to the Goldstone building one-handed, my right hand resting on Mia’s thigh, squeezing and stroking the muscle higher and higher over top of her dress. She’s biting her lip again, but I can see her nipples hardening through the top of her dress, and I grin. If she’s wearing a bra that thin . . . she’s been thinking the same way I have.

“Why are we back here?” she asks, a little confused as I pull into the parking garage in the sub-basement.

“Just trust me. You’ll love this,” I reply as I lead her over to my elevator. There’s one floor that’s not accessible on the touch panel, only available when I insert my key card, and the motor starts.

As we start to ascend, I crowd Mia against the side of the elevator, pulling her glasses off and tucking them in my breast pocket. “Thomas—”

I kiss her hard, claiming her mouth, and she freezes in shock for half a moment before giving in to me, her hands coming up to my neck and pulling me in deeper.

Her kisses are soft caresses against my lips combined with the strong, powerful twist of her tongue as she greedily tries to taste me, our mouths opening up to each other.

I breathe her in, her unique scent searing its way inside me before I give the air back to her and she moans in ecstasy.

My hand runs up her thigh, lifting the hem of her dress as I trace the delicious contour of her leg, realizing that she didn’t wear any stockings. The soft sexiness I’ve been watching all night was just her natural skin. My cock throbs in my pants, pressing against her hip.

“Is that . . . for me?” she asks, moaning as I grind against her.

I grin, promising her with my eyes. The elevator dings, and I take her by the hand, pulling her out into my entryway.

“Welcome to my home.”

I don’t give her time to respond as I pull her to me, crushing her in my arms as I consume her with another powerful kiss. I’m barely able to watch where I’m going as I drag her to my bedroom, ready to conquer her.

Somewhere along the way, her dress gets unzipped and my jacket and tie get pulled off, a button popping and bouncing away noisily before we’re in my bedroom. My shirt is half undone, exposing my chest while I look at Mia on my bed, her breasts cupped in a lacy midnight-blue bra with matching see-through panties.

“Gorgeous, naughty girl.”

Mia lets out a seductive smile and reaches for my belt. I step back, shrugging my shirt the rest of the way off and undoing my pants, stripping naked for her while she watches. Her fingertips stroke her nipples and drift between her legs, and she gasps as I come into view, fully hard and ready for her.

I lie down on the bed next to her, pulling her to me and kissing her again, licking over to her neck to nuzzle against her ear.

She moans, and I growl in triumph, cupping her ass and squeezing hard as I explore her body. Every inch of her skin pressed against me is an erotic revelation, a symphony of sensation crackling up and down my nerves until my cock is twitching, oozing clear drops of precum even before I have her panties off.

I push her onto her back, my need taking over. Mia barely has a chance to take a breath before I tug her panties to the side and thrust two fingers deep into her pussy, making her cry out.

“Oh . . . fuuuuuu—”

I love the way she draws it out, her eyes rolling back as I nip and suck on her throat, sucking hard enough to mark her and give her a hickey. My thumb brushes against her clit, and electricity leaps through her body, making her cry out as her hips lift up to meet me.

She’s tight, so tight my fingers are squeezed almost numb as I pump them in and out of her, and dimly, in the part of my mind not taken over by my animal passions, I’m glad that I’m doing this to prepare her instead of taking her hard with my cock first.

I don’t want to hurt her.

But another side of me wants to be rough. It wants to hear her cry out as I pound her, and that side eventually takes over, though I hope she’s ready for me. I pull my fingers out, licking them half clean before shoving them in Mia’s mouth, startling her into sucking her own juices off my fingers.

“Like that, don’t you? You taste so fucking good.”

Mia’s eyes close, and she moans around my fingers, but I pull back. “That’s enough. I’m just getting started.”

She whimpers but spreads her legs wider for me. I look down at her pussy for the first time, my inner beast tamed just slightly by the beauty that I see. Her pale lips are puffy with need, slick with her desire, and her core is deeper pink, beckoning me to come closer.

As I guide my cock inside her, I take it slow so I can watch her pussy suck me inside, each inch stretching and disappearing inside her. Mia moans, her eyes rapturous as she watches too until I’m all the way in, my hips pressed against hers.

“More,” she whispers, and in her quiet plea I hear damnation and salvation. I grab her wrists, pinning her to the bed as I pull back, pausing for just a moment before thrusting hard into her again.

Her pussy is the tightest, most amazing embrace I’ve ever felt. With each thrust she pulls me in tighter, wanting more of my cock, and each time I pull back, her body clings to me, not willing to let go until she’s wrung every bit of pleasure she can out of me.

I let go of her wrists to clutch her tightly, greedy to feel her skin against mine, her lips against mine, her tongue wrapped around mine.

She must be mine.

My bedroom fills with the deep animal sounds of our fucking, my hips slapping against hers as she tilts her hips up, begging me to give it to her deep and hard. I’m growling, pounding her with everything I have as my inner beast is unleashed.

I grind against her, feeling her body tighten and squeeze around me, her orgasm rushing through her like a thunderbolt.

“Thomas!” she screams, her nails digging into my back, but I don’t let up. If anything, I thrust harder, faster, filling her clenching, spasming pussy with my thick shaft until I feel my balls tighten. She’s moaning deeply too, her eyes open and staring into mine as she feels me swell. “Please . . . I’m so close again . . .”

It’s ten seconds of eternity, holding back my climax until Mia comes again, this time deep and savage as she grunts out a curse.

I cry out, my balls exploding as I fill her with my cum, my body spasming and shaking as I press her body tighter against the bed. My back and neck arch to the point I can feel crackles going up and down my spine even as the last droplets leave me, but I stay inside her for a moment, enjoying the depth of the connection.

I collapse on top of Mia, and she holds me close, sighing happily.