Instead of going back to her room, Jaya stormed toward Ivan’s office. One of the guards gave her an alarmed look and jumped in front of the door. She stopped abruptly and stepped back with a frown. “What exactly are you doing?” she demanded, hands on her hips.

“We have orders not to touch you, Miss Jaya,” he said quickly and with authority.

“Uh huh,” she said, quirking a brow and taking a step forward. “Sounds good. Get out of my way.”

“I-I’m also under orders not to let anyone in to see the boss,” he stammered, pressing himself into the door so he wasn’t at risk of touching her.

“Riiight,” she drawled. “Well….” She quirked her head to the side and thought about it. “Not to come across as immature and all… but…” she reached out and placed her hand on his chest, splaying her fingers wide, “get the fuck out of my way.”

He jumped to the side breaking contact with her. The second he cleared the door, she wrenched it open and hurried inside, slamming it shut behind her. She sort of instantly regretted her impulsiveness when she was met with the barrel of a gun pointed directly at her forehead and Ivan’s furious grey gaze. He reholstered the gun when he saw who had entered his private sanctuary, lifted a thick eyebrow and pointed imperiously at a chair as if to tell her she’d better sit or he would bring the gun back out. Jaya took her time sitting, as though it had always been her decision.

Turning back to his desk, Ivan spoke as if Jaya hadn’t just entered the room and interrupted his work. “Is Valdez aware of your interest in the Carlo Cignani?” Ivan asked coolly, though there was an edge of warmth to his voice. “I won’t move on the transaction without his final approval.”

“Fuck you, Ivan!” a woman’s voice said furiously over the speakerphone. “What I say or do to my husband is none of your business. You sold me to him in exchange for a good friend. I’m only doing you this courtesy because the painting will show up on your radar as soon as it goes missing and we both know you’ll trace the heist back to me.”

Jaya’s mouth fell open and she lurched out of the chair, reaching for Ivan’s desk. “Katie!” she yelped. “Is that you? Are you okay, my friend? Last I heard this bastard gave you up to the Valdez cartel. I was so worried about you, kitty cat!”

“Oh my god, XSource! Holy shit, is that you?” Katie shouted, excitement clear in her voice. “I’m doing okay. Just married to Roman Valdez, very much against my will. What about you, I heard everything! I thought Ivan was going to kill you when he got his hands on you!”

“While this reunion is very touching, I’d rather you ladies do it another time,” Ivan said coldly, raising a hand when it looked as though Jaya wanted to speak again. She pressed her lips into a thin line and swore at him silently instead. “Katie, I’m fine with your procurement of Cignani’s Madonna and Child. Do what you like with it. Consider it a wedding gift.” Before she could reply, he pressed the disconnect button. His cool, assessing gaze lifted to Jaya.

“Why are you here in my office, Jaya? You’ve never been here before, so it must be important if it can’t wait.” His cool gaze ran over her curves and then warmed as he took in the way her skirt clung wetly to her legs.

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. “Why am I here, Ivan?” she asked, frustration heavy in her voice. “I don’t get it! I’ve never really gotten it. I’m a hacker and a damn good one, but you’ve never even tried to use my skills to your advantage. You could kidnap any pretty face and keep her locked up, but for some stupid reason you chose me. I would understand this situation way better if you actually tried to use my abilities to your advantage, but you don’t. It makes no sense. It’s like buying a fancy car and keeping it locked up in your garage and going in to touch it and look at it but never taking it out for a drive.”

He studied her for a moment, a slow, lazy grin spreading across his face. Slowly, deliberately he began stalking her around his desk. The look on his face was different, more relaxed than usual, darkly mischievous. Her eyes widened and she backed away from his advance until her ass hit the edge of the wet bar. Liquor bottles and glasses rattled, making her jump. She tried to edge to the side but he brought his hands down on either side of her. She was reminded of those soap opera villains from the 70’s and 80’s that would trap women in their offices and take advantage of them. She used to put old episodes on for background noise while she was hacking, finding them titillating while she worked.

“But I do want to drive you, sweetheart,” he murmured, bending until he could run his lips along her jawline. She turned her face to the side, intending to move away but instead giving him easier access to her vulnerable ear. She shivered when he pressed his nose and then tongue against the tender spot just behind her ear. “I want to fuck every vulnerable part of you. Hold you down and take you over and over until you’re finally helpless, until you know nothing but me. Until you want no one else but me in your life.” His deep voice penetrated her, while his tongue brushed against her skin, wrapping her in a fog.

Her heart beat heavily within her chest begging her to obey him, telling her he wanted only good things for her. She turned her head to the side and looked up at him, searching his steel grey eyes for a hint of softness. “Why haven’t you asked me to work for you?” she whispered, pressing her lips delicately, helplessly against the edge of his chin, feeling the beginning of his day’s whiskers rasp against her. “Why won’t you use me? Is it because you think I’ll use my knowledge to escape, to leave you?”

His hands tightened on her arms. The bar rattled at her back. “I know you will,” he growled, his voice back to its usual coolness.

She blinked and looked past him, ignoring the clench of his hard hands on her body and the possessiveness of his hold. She was looking inward, trying to figure out what she would do if she did manage to get her hands on a computer. More and more Ivan was pulling her into his world. He was confusing her with his crazy concern every time she got injured or put herself in danger. His possessive love was beginning to take its toll on her. But she owed her loyalty to someone else… didn’t she? The man that called himself her Father, the man that fed, clothed and provided her with shelter for years.

“Let me go,” she whispered.

“Never.” His answer was instant.

She looked up at him, dark eyes pleading with light. “I just need some space.”

“I will never give you that,” he said, his words falling like hammers. He was relentless. This was Ivan. The man who built an empire from nothing, the man who conquered everything around him.

Tears sparkled in her eyes. “Why?” she asked desperately. “What do you want from me? You don’t want my hacking skills, you don’t want me to help you make more money, what could you possibly want from me?”

He lifted a hand and cupped the back of her head, caressing her, before clenching his fingers in the strands, controlling her by forcing her to look up at him. Tears spilled from her lashes as she took in the terrible storm of emotions he was always so careful to keep at bay. No longer. Now he wanted her to see what he kept from the world. The grey wrath that, once unleashed, could cause devastation. “I want your love,” he said simply, his cool voice at odds with the war going on in his gaze.

She opened her mouth to speak but a sob emerged instead. He tilted his head and kissed her, despite the salt of her tears tainting the taste. His kiss was gentle at first, but quickly turned to a devastating assault. What he once might have asked for, he now demanded. He gripped the back of her skull in one hand, his fingers twisting in the strands of her hair, holding her immobile, while his other hand wrapped around her waist and yanked her firmly against him.

She clutched his shoulders, twisting her fingers in his shirt and holding tight while she continued to sob wildly in his arms, the echo of his words hammering through her brain. She didn’t participate in the kiss, couldn’t participate in her current state. It didn’t matter. He took over completely, thrusting his tongue into her mouth, showing her who was master. White lightening streaked pleasure through her brain, sizzling every part of her body. She moaned in his arms, giving herself up to the experience.

Finally, he tipped his head back, releasing her lips. But only by a few centimeters. When he spoke, his words rushed hotly over her wet mouth, swollen from his brutal kisses. “I’ll be everything to you, sweetheart. I promise, I’m keeping you forever.”

She stared up at him, the emotions so overwhelming she could barely speak. Her lips shook when she opened her mouth. How had he come to mean so much to her, so quickly? Finally she whispered, “I think I want that too.”

His hands tightened, almost unbearably and his eyes snapped grey fire down at her. “Then choose to stay with me, choose to stop running.”

She reached up and wrapped her arms tight around his neck, clinging to him as though he were her lifeline. “Okay,” she whispered.

And she meant it. The ties to her past started to loosen and fall away. The misplaced loyalty that had bound her to Father meant less and less. Logically she’d always known he hadn’t really cared for her. That the sterile room he’d kept her in during her early teen years, the food he provided, the equipment he’d given her hadn’t been the same as love. But without anything else to latch on to, without any other comparison she’d allowed the man who’d rescued her from the streets of Mumbai to fill her mind with hate. Now it was time to let go of Father and embrace the man who professed to love her. Right or wrong, this was the path she wanted to take.

The look of intense relief on Ivan’s face told her she’d given him something precious, something far better than all the riches he could have conquered on his own. Despite the tears still wetting her cheeks she smiled. “It’s too much work to hate a man determined to love me even when I blew up his island and caused thousands of dollars of damage to a Tiffany’s store.”

“Hundreds of thousands,” he corrected her. “The money doesn’t matter. I’ll buy you a hundred islands and a dozen jewellery stores. Blow them all to hell if you want.”

They stared at each other, feeling the sizzle in the air as their undeniable attraction raced between and around them. It had taken them several weeks to get to this moment of perfect synchronicity. Months even as Ivan had chased her across the globe intent on capturing the tech genius that teased him.

His fingers clenched against her. “How’s your arm?” he asked huskily piercing her with his uncanny eyes.

She caught her breath and enjoyed the sensations swirling in her belly. He wasn’t really asking about her arm. She could feel the shift in tension between them from loving to sexual. He wanted her and he wanted her right now. She licked her lips and glanced at him from beneath her lashes. “It’s better, doesn’t really hurt anymore.”

“Is it better enough?” he demanded, a hard edge to his voice. He wanted her bad, but he wasn’t willing to take any risks.

She looped her good arm around his neck and pulled herself boldly up against him, pressing her breasts against his hard chest. Heat swirled between them, flaming higher with each touch. This was the first time Jaya had gone into Ivan’s embrace without hesitation. She pressed her lips against his throat, tracing first the hollow with her tongue and then his Adam’s apple when it bobbed against her mouth. He groaned and clenched his hand against the back of her head.

“I need you to touch me, to make love to me, Ivan,” she whispered into the flesh she’d just licked.

His hand tightened in her hair until his hold was nearly punishing. He tipped her head back against the bar, his eyes devouring her face seconds before his mouth took hers in another sweeping kiss. She shoved her tongue back against his, tightening her fingers against him and pulling him hard against her. Heat sparked through her body, raging higher and higher, an inferno that threatened to burn out of control now that she was giving herself permission to have this man.

Ivan’s response to her wholehearted enthusiasm was to take her harder than ever before. He gripped her face in both hands, pulled her against him and lost every ounce of the prized control he’d spent a lifetime cultivating. She moaned into his mouth, reached up and slid her hands into his hair, holding him close while he fucked her mouth with relentless strokes. She jumped when she heard a smash, but he refused to release her. Another smash told her they were rattling the bar so hard bottles were dropping to the floor.

Ivan wrapped an arm around her waist, lifted her off the floor and turned them around in a sweeping circle. He strode to his desk and shoved everything aside, heedless of what it was. Everything that got in his way went crashing to the floor. As her ass touched the surface she lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist. He growled appreciatively and reached back to shove the sandals off her feet. Once they were gone he shrugged his holster off. Her eyes flew wide when his gun hit the floor with a thud. He didn’t seem to care. He gripped her neck and pulled her back up into his embrace, his lips meeting hers again, the rasp of his chin scraping her flesh with the desperation of each kiss.

They clung to each other as though it were their last moment. As though discovering each other for the first time but unable to slow down long enough to explore. Jaya wanted to touch him, wanted to run her hands over masculine shoulders and broad muscles, but he kept knocking her hands aside in his furious assault on her senses. She heard the tearing of fabric but had no idea whether it was her clothes or his. She felt his fingers between her legs, strong and sure, stroking and pressing with relentless intent.

There was no build up, no foreplay. Suddenly he was there, shoving his fingers relentlessly inside her. She threw her head back against the desk with a shriek and pressed her knees to the side lifting her hips in desperate supplication. He shoved her panties to the side and removed his fingers, flicking her clit on the way out. She cried out again, this time in disappointment.

“Look at me,” he demanded, reaching between them and unzipping his pants.

She tilted her head up in time to see the piercing look of desire and blatant possession just before he pressed himself against her and then leaned forward, using the hardness of the desk to thrust full-length inside her. Jaya gasped at the fullness of his intrusion, reaching up to grip his shoulders, digging her nails into his shirt.

He took her with long, fierce strokes, his eyes never leaving her face. She locked eyes with him and refused to look away, understanding that this moment meant something. This was the first completely consensual coming together. She was giving him her free will and agreeing to stay. Equal ground.

He leaned over her, gripping her so tight the space between them virtually disappeared. His strokes became shorter, shallower and more brutal as his hips slammed her into the desk. She wrapped her arms around his neck, buried her face against him and held on, clinging to the man determined to take everything from her, but give her more in return. He turned his face into her neck and bit down on the flesh between her shoulder and neck. Pleasure burst through her and she came in a wild rush of colour and hot, sizzling sensations. Her head fell back and she opened her eyes to stare into the bright sunlit sky through the window behind them while he continued to wring every last lingering bit of orgasm from her body.

With a savage, satisfied grunt he tipped over the edge of orgasm, joining her in the blissful, floating world he’d sent her spiralling into moments before. He dropped his head and buried it into the thick cloud of her hair, spread out all around them on the desk.

She tilted her head and looked down. “I think you might need a new laptop,” she said breathlessly.

He chuckled and said, his voice muffled, “It’s a good thing I know someone who’s great with computers.”

“Excuse me?” she said disdainfully. “First of all, I am not a computer repair person, I am an elite hacker. There is a big difference! That’s like asking Scarlet Johansen to star in Sharknado. Just no. And second of all, since when did you decide to trust me near a computer?”

He pushed himself up, his hands splayed on either side of her head. She couldn’t help herself, she just had to tilt her head to the side and watch the play of muscles through his dress shirt as he moved. Despite the impressive orgasm he’d just treated her to she could feel the tingles begin to spark back to life in her tummy and lower in her pussy. Especially when he pulled out of her. She gasped and pressed her knees together as he moved back. She wanted to put her hand between her legs and continue what they’d just started and finished but she didn’t think that was fair to him. Not that he would mind the show.

“I have to start trusting you sometime, and I choose to believe you when you say you want to be with me. Now, tell me, what’s with your obsession with the American actress?” he asked with a chuckle, straightening his clothes and then reaching to help her sit up on the edge of the desk.

She stared at him in astonishment for a moment before saying in a rush, “Are you serious? How can you not have a thing for her? You’re a guy for god’s sake, you have no excuse! She’s the freaking Black Widow, plus she’s amazing in virtually everything she’s ever been in. And she was married to Ryan Reynolds. Yes, it was for like a minute. But it must have been the best minute of her life. Can you imagine being married to the guy that played Deadpool? Epic!”

He simply watched her while she spoke, his expression softer than usual, more indulgent. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I must admit, I enjoy watching you when you speak this way. Yet another facet of your character for me to fall in love with.”

She grinned at him and pushed herself off his desk allowing her skirt to fall the rest of the way down to cover her legs. She wiggled until her panties were back in place. “Good, because we’re going to be spending a lot of time on your nerd education in the near future mister Vogel if you intend to hang out with a Master hacker.”

“I will do as you command, watch whatever you think I must,” he opened the door and, ignoring the man guarding the hall, pulled her against him for another kiss. “But let’s be clear, sweetheart. There is only one Master around here.”

She grinned up at him and whispered, “Master Vogel.” She swore she felt his cock twitch against her right before she pulled away and left him standing in the door of his office.