Cassie finished the last bite of her sandwich with a satisfied smile.

“Good?” Patrick asked.

“Very good.”

“I’m glad I was able to oblige.”

She sat back and gazed around the room. “Full belly and a lovely view. Not a bad way to spend my lunch hour.”

“Are you talking about me, or the scenery outside my window?”

“Both.”

Now that she’d been here a few times, his place didn’t seem as intimidating. Luxurious, yes, and definitely expensive. But there was something about the vast amount of wide-open space that seemed…lonely.

Patrick’s leaned across the table, eyes glittering. “My view isn’t so bad either.”

Cassie’s stomach flip-flopped. They held one another’s stares for a long moment until Patrick moved to stand. “Give me a second to clean up.”

Cassie started to help, but he put a hand out to stop her, gathering the remains of their lunch and bringing it to the sink. His gallantry was surprising—truthfully, she thought a man with his money would have a housekeeper or a team of maids to cater to his every whim. It still felt like he was running his game on her, but whatever, she’d sit and let him do the work.

Wanting a better look at the scenery, Cassie walked over to the windows. The building looked out onto the Charles River Basin. A crew team was hard at work in the water, their paddles slicing through the waves. Beyond that, a sea of autumn colors was splashed along Beacon Hill, so classically Boston and reminding her of what drew her to New England in the first place.

“It’s beautiful here.”

“Sure is.” Patrick moved in behind her and pressed a light kiss to the back of her neck. His goatee and mustache scratched lightly as his nose pushed her hair out of the way. “Here too.”

“Such a smooth talker,” she said sarcastically. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”

“Will you shut up?” he asked, then bit down gently.

Cassie shivered, closing her eyes against the rush. “Never.”

“Didn’t think so.”

He led her to the living room. Cassie ran her fingers across the stones lining the far wall, the jagged surfaces in brown, grey and taupe rough beneath her fingers.

“Have you always lived in Boston?” she asked.

“I have. Are we going to talk about real estate, or about your list of fantasies?”

She wasn’t stalling. She wasn’t. “I was waiting on you. You’re the player. Don’t you have some kind of evil master plan?”

“I might. Helps if I know what you want first, though.”

“I want a lot of things.”

He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. “Pick one.”

God, it would be so much easier if he was fighting with her. If she could avoid speaking the words out loud, and say what she wanted through nasty comments until he shoved her backward, growling and violent in his lust.

Cassie took a breath. She could do this. Like today at the office, this was her show. Her time to get what she wanted. She could remind herself of her own strength, even when what she wanted was for him to take it away.

“I don’t know if you noticed, but I like being…manhandled a little.”

“I noticed.” His voice went deeper. He was barely an inch away, and the air between them cracked like static. “What did you like about it?”

“I like it when you’re mean to me. Like when you asked why I made things so difficult in my apartment and shoved me against the wall. I like the feeling of being trapped, and being made to enjoy something.”

Good thing she didn’t have her hand over a Bible. It wasn’t the whole truth, but it was good enough.

“Is that what you want?” he murmured. “For me to trap you? Be mean?”

She swallowed. Her skin was buzzing, heart pounding. She wanted him to move closer. To demand. To take. “Yes. Then make me come whether I want to or not.”

Something wild flared in Patrick’s eyes. Something fierce and animalistic that made her tremble. “Dangerous fantasy.”

“I know, so I think we should have a safeword. Something to say in case—”

“I know what a safeword is, Cassie.” His tone was soft and condescending at the same time, and it pushed the feeling of being put in her place. “Do you have one in mind?”

She searched her brain, going with the quickest thing that came to it. “Exit.”

He let out a short, amused laugh. “That works.”

He uncrossed his arms and finally touched her, his fingertips light on her skin from her hands to her shoulders. Then he gripped them lightly and brought his mouth to hers. This kiss didn’t consume—it was yielding. Tender. It was an agreement made with lips and closed eyes and a warm exchange of breath.

He inhaled once, then tightened his grip on her shoulders and shoved her mercilessly against the wall.

Cassie gasped. “What the f—”

“Shut up,” he hissed.

Her heart galloped. She could feel it straining in her chest, pounding under Patrick’s implacable hold. He held her for a moment, not hurting—just keeping her still, and the corners of his lips turned up in a grin.

Oh, fuck yes.

“I will not,” she snapped, arching forward and trying to push off the wall.

Patrick held her down easily, fingers spread across her breastbone as he resisted her efforts. He leaned in until his nose met hers.

“Yes, you will.”

She struggled against him, scratched at his chest until he wrenched her hands to her sides. Pressing her to the wall with his body, he ground against her, that egotistic, hotshot grin on his face as she started to buck.

“What a little fighter you are. It’s cute to watch.”

Cassie worked to free her hands, but it was pointless. He was using all his strength now, hard muscle and broad shoulders keeping her pinned in place. He twisted one of her hands up and molded the other over his trouser-clad cock.

“You see what you did? What you always do to me?”

He was like steel, thick and warm. Knowing she’d gotten him this turned on made desire fray every nerve in her body.

“I see.” She managed to free a finger, scratching her nail along the length of him. Patrick snatched her hand more tightly. The look on his face was almost violent.

“You like knowing how much I want you?” He released her hand to unzip his pants.

“Uh-huh.” Cassie didn’t bother to hide the satisfaction in her voice. But when he took that deliciously thick, hard cock from his trousers, she forgot to be sarcastic.

“Well then, you’d better be ready to do something about it.”

Patrick grabbed her by the hair and shoved her to the floor. The stones grated against her back through her blouse. It was going to leave marks, maybe even rip her shirt a little.

She’d never been so aroused in her life.

He captured both her hands and held them up against the wall until her arms took the shape of goalposts. “Now stay still while I take that amazing mouth of yours.”

Cassie’s breathing went shallow, her body flooding with endorphins. She was trapped, jammed against the wall and unable to fight him. This was exactly what she wanted—the push and pull, a constant show of him overtaking her. The satiny head of his cock reached her mouth, already wet with pre-come.

“You gonna behave?” he asked. “Or am I gonna have to make this unpleasant?”

Fuck. Cassie licked her lips to soften the entry as he slid over her tongue.

“That’s right. There you go.”

She relaxed her jaw to accommodate him, let her cheeks stretch, breathing through her nose and flicking her tongue along the underside of that wide, blunt head. Gliding in and out of her mouth, he groaned with each smooth, slow movement, cursing when she closed her lips and sucked.

Cassie glanced up and smiled around him.

“Proud of yourself, are you?” Patrick withdrew almost completely, then drove himself past her lips again. “Don’t get overconfident. I’m still the one holding your ass to the wall.”

Bastard. Prickles of excitement shivered down her body.

She sucked harder with his next plunge forward, letting her teeth graze the underside, and Patrick exhaled a short, sharp sound of pleasure. She tried to take advantage of his fleeting moment of weakness, attempting to shove her way off the wall, but his grip on her wrists was unrelenting.

“I told you to stay still.”

Something dark and twisted leapt inside her. He thrust deeper, harder, faster, and longing shot through her like lightning. It was so crude, so cruel. So fucking wrong to be used like this, but she liked it.

Goddamn it, she liked it.

Patrick continued thrusting, his expression shifting, mouth dropping open as he looked down at her with an almost pained expression. She could feel him swelling in her mouth, clearly nearing release. But instead of letting go, he slowed himself down, withdrawing until only the tip teased her tongue.

“Too bad you don’t like being on your knees. Subservience does you well.”

Cassie glared and sucked harder to show him she still had a little fight in her. Patrick’s body surged on a combination of a groan, a shudder and a laugh.

“You’re such a little bitch.”

She exhaled heavily around him. The words hit her just right. Her stomach churned in an angry, white heat as she fought with herself, wanting to claw and fight back, and to have him call her that again. She liked it and didn’t. She hated it and loved it. It shouldn’t have felt this good to feel so damn bad.

Patrick gazed at her. “What is it? That word?”

She nodded—as best she could with her head and body trapped this way—amazed and relieved that he’d figured it out.

Bracing himself against the wall, he moved in closer, filling her mouth to the point of near gagging. “You goddamn fucking tease. Every time I saw you, every night we argued in that bar, I hated you. Because I wanted you, wanted this. But you got off on fighting me, didn’t you? It turned you on, my bitchy little princess.”

Cassie moaned her assent, unable to say anything more around his unyielding plunges.

“Well you’re not gonna fight me now, are you?” he asked, breathless. “No, you’re gonna take my fucking come in your mouth.”

His hands clasped her wrists with a merciless force, and he hit the back of her throat. Cassie’s eyes watered and she couldn’t catch her breath, but she didn’t want him to stop, didn’t want him to do anything to break this spell. His thighs tensed, his strokes becoming erratic until he gasped and his body caved in.

“Cassie, Jesus—fuck.”

Swallowing down his release, she glanced up to watch. Mouth open, chin tilted back, his eyes shut and chest heaving, he was beautiful in the throes of orgasm. When the last spurts of his release filled her mouth, Patrick pulled back and let go of her hands.

“Holy shit.” He was still out of breath as one sweaty palm found her cheek. “Are you okay?”

“Very okay. That was seriously hot.”

Patrick laughed. “It sure as hell was.”

He tucked himself back into his pants, helped her to her feet and walked her to the couch. They sat, their heads touching as he drew her legs up and over his. He caressed the back of her neck with his fingers, gentle and soothing. A deep sense of contentment flowed through her.

“Thank you,” she said quietly. “For fulfilling that fantasy.”

“You’re welcome. But I don’t believe I’ve fulfilled anything yet.”

Cue another round of shivers. Cassie lifted her head as he made a tentative stroke with his finger over her knee.

“Am I allowed to touch your clit this time?” he asked.

She smiled. “You are.”

Patrick slid his hand up her thigh and smiled when his fingertips nudged the top edge of her thigh-highs. “Good. ’Cause I’m gonna make you come now, whether you like it or not.”