His gaze flickered over her nude body. The delicate rings piercing her flesh entranced him. Only then did he notice the one piercing the skin of her belly button as well.

“When in the hell did you get those piercings done?” He fought the need to cover her body and take her again, then and there.

His c**k was so hard it pulsed in agony.

“About a month after I got the tattoo.” She shrugged carelessly.

His eyes went over her body again. He didn’t see a tattoo.

“What tattoo?” He was instantly wary of the wicked glint in her eyes.

She turned over, slowly. His eyes widened. It stretched across her back. A delicate intricate vine and two graceful, open flowers just above the full globes of her bu**ocks.

“Do you like?” She turned her head, flexing the muscles of her ass temptingly.

Jesse felt perspiration dot his forehead. His c**k was screaming for action, his hands itching to clench those tight little globes, to separate them. He shook his head, fighting for control.

“Why?” he finally asked as he fought to breathe.

She turned back over, watching him carefully.

“Tally dared me.”

He shook his head, his gaze now centered on the glistening ring at her clit. He moved closer to the bed, his mouth watering, the need to taste her nearly overwhelming.

“Tally?” he asked, wondering what the hell his secretary could have to do with this.

“Yes. Tally. Tally Raines.” The name slid through his mind with dawning horror. “We’ve been friends forever.”

He nearly lost his erection. “She’s evil,” he burst out, shaking his head as he thought of the wily, sarcastic-tongued little shrew that ruled the offices at Delacourte Electronics.

“Evil?” She tilted her head, smirking at him. “You’re just mad because she doesn’t kiss your ass and makes you do your own filing.”

He was not going to spend the rest of the morning arguing over the sharp-tongued dragon he had made the mistake of hiring last year. As soon as possible, she would be transferring to another office anyway. He’d be damned if he would have someone in his office who could out-yell him. And damned if she couldn’t do it.

“Stay away from Tally,” he growled. “She’s dangerous.”

He picked up his clothes, dressing quickly. If he didn’t get out of the bedroom he was going to lose control again. He had to figure out what the hell had happened to his control before he even considered touching her again.

She lay there on the bed. Calm. Cool. Her hazel eyes quizzical as she watched him pull his clothes on. She didn’t say anything, and he’d be damned if he knew what to say at this point.

“I’ll call you this evening,” he said as he tucked his shirt into his pants, glancing at her, his temper building as she watched him so calmly. She should be furious. Screaming, cursing and threatening him until hell wouldn’t have him.

“Don’t bother.” She finally shrugged. “I wasn’t looking for anything, Jesse. You started this, if you’ll remember. Not me.”

“Like hell I did,” he snapped as he strode back to the bed and pulled her from it as she gasped in surprise.

He had her in his arms, her gaze widening, her perfect lips parting on a gasp.

“Jesse,” she cried out, arousal and surprise vying in her voice.

“You started this the other night, Terrie,” he reminded her brutally as he fought the lust pounding through his veins. “I told you not to push me. Not to provoke something you couldn’t handle. Now I would suggest, for the time being, you stop pushing or we may both come to regret it.”

Before she could let loose with the fury of words he could see building in her expression, his lips slammed down on hers, parting them. Her tongue meeting his halfway as he pushed it past the seam of her lips. He groaned, arching her closer into his body as he ate at her, licking at her, savoring the taste of her.

They were both breathing hard when he pulled back. He knew he was damned near as dazed as she looked and once again his body shuddered as he fought for control.

“Tonight.” He was breathing hard as he set her carefully away from him. “I’ll call you tonight.”

He left the room before he lost all sanity. He was within seconds of throwing her back to the bed and f**king her again with a driving hunger he felt would never be sated. A hunger he had never known for another woman.

Chapter Seven

“Tally, hold all calls. I’m unavailable until after lunch.” Jesse entered the outer office, his eyes narrowing on the sardonic expression his secretary held.

Tally Raines was an unholy terror as far as he was concerned. The curvy, haughtily aloof Filipino watched him with what he was terribly certain was a knowing expression.

“I’ll be sure to do that,” she drawled, her cultured voice filled with amused patience. “Would you like coffee, sir?”

He paused at his office door and glanced back at her, his eyes narrowing as she watched him with superior female indulgence.

“Coffee, please,” he said coolly. “Then get me the Conover contract so I can go over it before sending it to James.”

“It’s on your desk.” She rose gracefully from her chair, long black hair rippling down the back of her white silk blouse to touch her shapely hips. “Anything else?”

Yeah, no more body piercings for Terrie, he thought with a flash of temper that he tamped down. Dammit, the woman was a menace.

“Nothing else,” he finally growled. “Bring the coffee as soon as possible.”

“Of course.” She sounded mildly surprised that he would think she would delay.

Jesse figured he might get the coffee before he left the office that evening. He grunted rudely, jerking the door open, and entered his own office. Now he knew why she drove him crazy. Terrie had to be giving her lessons.

He grimaced as he took his seat behind his desk and flipped open the file waiting on him. Lucian Conover was an old friend; part of the exclusive group that had begun back in college. Not that any of them had been moronic enough to name the group. He did know he had broken one of the cardinal rules, though. Control. Complete control. Only her pleasure mattered. Only her complete, mindless surrender to the pleasure was the goal. Not his.

He pushed his fingers wearily through his hair, frowning down at the papers before him as he fought to make sense of what had happened. Fought to try to at least understand how he had managed to land himself in this predicament. Never in his entire adult life, certainly not since admitting to himself the extreme pleasure he gained from his sexual lifestyle, had he lost control like this.