Arrogant, annoying man.” I slammed my iPad down before walking around the corner of my desk and plopping into my chair, thankful Colin worked at the opposite end of the hall so he wouldn’t hear me. God forbid I piss off the domineering, overbearing jackass who paid my salary. And made my panties wet.
Colin Huntley had appeared on my radar screen as nothing more than a name in a news article while I’d been working toward my MBA. He had enough money to finance the projects I preferred—large-scale, huge-budget, tight-deadline. I’d worked my way up through the ranks of bank projects, corporate builds, then into the elite world of billionaire real estate. I wanted those projects, the ones I needed to make my dreams of retiring early a reality. But chasing my entrepreneurial vision had always come at a cost. I was paid well for my skills, sure, but also for my ability to live anywhere, anytime, for however long it took. I had no home, no roots, and no commitments other than my job. Need me to go to China immediately? My passport was in my purse. Want me in Brazil for a year to make sure the latest resort gets finished on budget? I could be packed in five minutes.
Need me to move to an island in the Midwest for six months, including the holiday season, to run a project turning an old shopping mall into something else? Easy. Until him.
When my phone rang, I swiped to answer without looking at the screen. “Sloane McLaren.”
“Sloane McLaren, Colin Huntley. Just wanted to let you know we’re set to leave in five.”
I glanced at the clock, my brow tightening when I saw the time. “Yes. That was the plan, sir.”
“You know I like to give adequate prep time.” He paused, the silence weighted, his voice dropping when he finally spoke again. “To make sure you’re ready for me.”
Sweet Jesus. My hand shook as I disconnected the call. If I thought banging my head against my desk would help stave off the need to both slap and kiss that man’s face, I would’ve done it. How had I gotten myself into this mess? I was a professional—an educated, independent, successful woman. I didn’t submit to men like Colin Huntley. I stood up to them, led them down the path of my choosing, and directed their actions. I didn’t lust after them, and I certainly didn’t sleep with them. Multiple times. So much so that I’d walked with a slight limp the next morning. I knew better.
Or at least I had until I’d actually met Colin.
For all the research I’d conducted on his business, I’d missed looking into his personal life. I was used to working with rich, elderly men sporting big bellies and almost no hair. I hadn’t been prepared for Colin to be so goddamned attractive. The man exuded something that made my brain go fuzzy and my knees weaken. The first time his hazel eyes had met mine, I’d almost stopped breathing. The instant arousal that look had initiated had been something new, something unique. Something I had to ignore.
But ignoring Colin was…difficult, to say the least. He was fit, muscular even, with constant scruff and a face that had women throwing themselves at him. His wallet seemed just as interesting to them. He dated supermodels and A-list actresses. I was neither of those by a long shot. That wasn’t to say I wasn’t attractive—I knew my body was tight and my face got attention. I wasn’t a supermodel, though. I was Colin’s employee. I’d assumed my lusting after him would go unnoticed if I kept myself in check. I’d hoped, at least.
And then came the party.
I’d thought I was winning the battle against his sex appeal. I gave him updates every morning, ignoring his hazel eyes and his dark hair just long enough to make a girl want to hold on and ride that scruffy chin of his. I didn’t breathe too heavily, whimper when he ran his thumb along his lower lip, or giggle at everything he said.
Craving a distraction, I pulled up my email, needing to clear my head of Colin and his sex hair before I soaked my lace panties. I had too much work to do, and apparently, part of that was a car ride over to the construction site with the boss. The same boss I’d worn the panties for. Not that he’d ever know. It wasn’t like we were going to discuss Saturday night. The way he’d stripped me down so roughly before kissing his way up my legs. How he’d spoken the filthiest words while gently running his hands over my body. How solid and thick he was as he’d pushed inside. As he’d fucked me every which way and left me begging for more.
One slip of concentration, and I’d fallen prey to the most infuriating man I’d ever met. I had a feeling that wouldn’t be the only time if I didn’t stay far away from him.
“George has the car around front,” Colin said as he leaned inside the doorway. Of course. I needed distance, and he intended to discuss groin arches and grout thickness. Which only made me think about his thickness. That heavy, delicious cock that had filled me so well.
“Sloane?”
Shit…focus.
“Sorry.” I shook my head to clear it. “I’m ready to go.” I rose from my chair and reached for my iPad. My hand trembled, and my chest felt warmer than normal. Both things I needed to keep him from noticing. “Should I call Ted to make sure he’s available for lunch?”
“Not necessary. He won’t be joining us.”
Danger, Will Robinson. “Okay, so we’ll skip—”
“We’ll still be going to lunch.”
“Just the two of us?”
“Yes.”
Oh no. No, no, no. I racked my brain, trying to think of something to keep this time professional. “Let me grab my spreadsheets. We can go over the import landing costs. Will you need anything specific while we’re there?”
His eyes locked on mine, almost seeming to grow darker. Heated. I knew that look, had practically felt it Saturday night. That was the look of Colin when he needed something, all right. But I doubted cost analysis and demographic updates would satiate him.
“Oh, definitely. But I’m not sure what I have in mind would be appropriate with all the construction workers around.”
Yeah, my spreadsheets weren’t going to save me.
And so the week went. Every day, Colin found some way to end up at lunch together or keep me late so he could talk to me alone. I didn’t know how he managed it, but he even had other people involved. On Wednesday, he’d made dinner plans for us with the mayor of Temperance Falls and her new husband. They hadn’t shown up. Not canceled or notified us to reschedule. They simply never came to the restaurant. I’d ended up stuck across from Colin for two hours all alone.
Though stuck wasn’t the word I’d use, if I was being honest. Colin was…funny. Charming, as I’d expected, but kind and thoughtful outside the office. He still demanded and overwhelmed people, but there was something relaxed about him when we were alone. Something almost sweet in how he took care of me.
I could not surrender to his seductions again, though.
“Anything I can get you before I leave, Ms. McLaren?” Emery, the local woman Colin had hired as his personal assistant, stood at the doorway to my office, carrying her coat and purse. I couldn’t blame her for wanting to leave. The holidays were almost upon us, and we were dropping down to a skeleton crew for the next week or so. A skeleton crew consisting mostly of Colin and me. Alone.
“I’m fine, Emery, but thank you. Have a lovely holiday.”
With a nod, she hurried off, leaving me alone in Colin’s Temperance Falls mansion. I hadn’t seen him all day, a fact that seemed odd after the past week of him constantly in my face. Maybe he’d been busy. Or maybe, just maybe, he’d gotten sick of chasing me. I couldn’t blame him. I’d been downright frosty, fighting hard to keep the professional barrier in place. It’d exhausted me and left me feeling a little…lonely.
I fingered the little pine tree someone had set up on the corner of my desk, wishing I had somewhere to go. That I had holiday plans. That I had someone to spend an evening under a big Christmas tree with. “Bah fucking humbug.”
“I never took you for a Scrooge.”
I jerked back, my eyes meeting Colin’s almost out of instinct. He leaned against the doorjamb, his shirt unbuttoned under his suit vest, tie loose. Casual. And oh-so-very hot.
“Colin.” I coughed once, trying to kill the breathy, fuck-me-now voice that had snuck into my throat. “I assumed you’d gone to the residence wing already.”
“Now why would I do that when you’re still here?” He pushed off the wall, positively swaggering toward me. So presumptuous. So fucking arrogant. “Besides, it’s late, and you haven’t eaten. I had Clara prepare lasagna for us.”
Oh no. That was…unfair wasn’t a strong enough word. He knew I loved lasagna—had listened as I’d regaled him with stories of what I’d done to get it no matter where I was in the world. I couldn’t resist it. I’d just have to resist him.
“That was awfully presumptuous of you. I might have plans.”
A single flicker of doubt danced across his too-handsome face. “Do you?”
I wanted to say yes. Wanted it so badly, the lie sat on the tip of my tongue like a weight. But I couldn’t lie to Colin, not really. Not like that. “No. I don’t.”
“Then it looks like we’ll be enjoying a nice dinner together.” His grin turned mischievous in a way that made me think he knew exactly how this would go. The bastard. “I think I’ll have a bottle of champagne chilling, too.”
He darted a look down to my stomach, probably remembering the same thing I was. His tongue on my skin as he’d lapped champagne off me last weekend. The weekend of my huge fail in keeping a professional boundary between us. That look was not an invitation—it was an assumption. One that pivoted my psyche from turned on to pissed off. “This is getting ridiculous, Colin. You can’t keep playing these games to steal time with me. I’m here as your employee, not your girlfriend.”
He didn’t even blink at my raised voice. “Tell me, Sloane, have you had a terrible time this week?”
“That doesn’t matter.”
His chuckle made the fire in my blood burn hotter. “That’s answer enough.” He edged around the corner of my desk, spinning my chair so we faced one another, then leaned over to box me in. “And if you really wanted me to stop, why have you changed your patterns this week?”
Jesus, his eyes were just so…pretty. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“No? You think I don’t notice when you wear something out of the ordinary? Or keep your hair down more? Or put on that hot-as-fuck red lipstick you know drives me insane?” He glanced down, brushing a finger across my bottom lip. “You know exactly what that does to me. I told you while you had my dick between those pretty red lips.”
Yes. Yes, he had. He’d dropped a lot of filthy words and promises that night. But this was different, this was over the line. This was…too tempting to resist. I smacked his hand away and rose to my feet. “You don’t get to say such things to me.”
Colin stepped closer, herding me back until my ass hit the bookshelf next to the window behind my desk. Trapping me in a way that made me tremble with anticipation, not fear. “If you can tell me right now you haven’t enjoyed every second of this week, haven’t gotten yourself off to memories of Saturday night, I’ll walk away. We won’t ever speak of it again.”
I opened my mouth to refute him but closed it again. I couldn’t find the words to lie. Truth was, I’d enjoyed my time with him. Outside of the office, he was the sort of guy I’d be interested in. But we had to work together, and Office Colin was a dick. A thought that only made me think of his dick…again. I’d dreamed of it, gotten myself off a number of times to the memory of what this man could do to my body. Hell, I’d come twice this morning remembering the feel of him on top of me.
Which was so not what I needed to be thinking about.
“You’re an asshole, you know that?”
Colin’s lips quirked again, that knowing look back. He was even daring enough to run a finger along my collarbone and over my cleavage. A featherlight touch that set my skin ablaze.
“Is that a no?” He stepped closer, brushing his body against mine, completely overwhelming my senses. “Because if not, I’m going to slide my fingers under that tight skirt and see if you’re as wet as I think you are.” He leaned forward, his lips against my ear, the weight of his chest pinning me in place. “And you’re going to let me.”
I gasped, the feel of him so close turning my knees to rubber and soaking my panties. His lips were on mine in a flash in what I could only describe as a brutal kiss. I thrust my tongue against his, trying to take control, but he was bigger. Stronger. He shoved me against the bookcase and grabbed my face between his palms. Controlling me. The jackass.
“God, I hate you sometimes,” I said when he moved his lips down to my neck.
He bit down hard, making me jump as he grabbed my thigh. “But not all the time. You don’t hate me when you’re screaming my name.”
True, though I wasn’t ready to admit that. I wanted to fight instead. But his fingers were inching under my skirt, and his lips and tongue were working their magic on my throat. The man was lust in human form, sensual and sexual at once. Too tempting to say no to, and too fucking hot for his own good.
“Come on, spitfire. Spread these beautiful legs, and let me see what’s waiting for me.”
I groaned, giving in to my desire and doing as he asked. I wasn’t fully surrendering, though. Not really. It was more…a break. A moment of peace in the middle of the fight. I could hate him again once he’d fucked me six ways to Sunday. I needed him to make me come, wanted him so badly, I couldn’t resist.
I grabbed hold of his shoulders as he tugged my panties aside to run his knuckle through my slit. Once, twice…he teased with a light pressure, rubbing back and forth as he stared down at me. Looking as if he was waiting for something. Holding out on me.
I wasn’t having that. “You might as well stop now if you’re not going to get me off.”
The grin was back, the one that said he saw through me, and he kept up his maddeningly slow pace. “Ah, but you don’t want me to stop, do you? Maybe I should tease you and make you wait, just like you’ve done to me this week. Get you right to the point of coming all over me, then pull back… Or maybe not.”
“Fuck,” I yelped, my body arching toward him as he plunged his fingers inside of me. Two, three…I had no idea, but I felt full. Complete. Ready to come. He pressed his thumb against my clit and pumped in and out, fucking me roughly with his hand.
“I think we both know I love watching you come too much to do that. Love how this pussy squeezes my fingers and cock, don’t I?” He leaned in, taking my bottom lip between his and giving it a solid suck before releasing. “Now give me room to work. Pull that skirt up so I can see how wet you’ve made my hand.”
Shameless, I yanked up my skirt over my hips and spread my legs wider, even going so far as to set my right foot on a shelf to give him more room. If I was going to dance with the devil again, I might as well make it more than just a middle-school sway. And Colin was nothing if not a little on the devilish side.
It didn’t take long for him to have me melted against him, writhing on his hand. “So good. I’m gonna…I’m close.”
“You’re close because I’m working over this pussy perfectly, aren’t I? Less than twelve hours spent between your legs, and I already know exactly what it takes to get you off.”
“Just shut up and make me come.”
His hand disappeared, the emptiness left behind stealing my breath. For one moment, for one brief, hanging-over-the-edge second, I honestly thought I’d pushed him too far. That he was leaving me like this—wet, swollen, so fucking wanting.
I should’ve known he’d never surrender.
Without warning, his fingers snapped forward, smacking my pussy with a popping sound. “That’s not how we ask nicely.”
I jerked, unable to hold still as a shot of pleasure-laced pain stormed through me. The man was a beast, an animal, unable to be tamed. And though it was fun to try, I was over waiting. I needed him. Wanted him. So I gave a little.
“Please,” I whispered. “Is that nice enough for you?”
His soft laugh pissed me off, but it also pushed me right over the edge along with the extra deep thrust of his fingers inside me. I came with a loud moan, pulling Colin closer and stealing a passionate kiss from him as I clenched and shook. Fuck, he was so good at this. So good at everything. It was an annoying gift for the man to have, but at that moment, I was nothing but grateful.
At least until he opened his mouth again.
“You know the only time you quit fighting is when you’re coming all over me?” He took his hand away, bringing his fingers to his mouth so he could lick them clean. How anything so filthy was so hot, I had no idea. But it was. As was his cocky arrogance as he said, “Hope you’re ready for round two.”