‘She wasn’t in residence.’

‘You make her sound like royalty!’

‘Well, isn’t she?’

I huff my agreement and bend to get our faces level. ‘I’ve given you your options, Mr Hart. I’m going home with Nan. Would you do me the honour of joining me?’ I’m delighted when his eyes win a bit of sparkle and his lips twitch terribly.

‘I will,’ he mutters, trying to be grumpy when I know his illusive playfulness is fighting to break free. ‘It’ll be pure hell, but I’ll do anything for you, Olivia Taylor, including vowing to refrain from touching you.’

‘You don’t need to do that!’

‘I beg to differ,’ he says calmly, standing and lifting me to his waist. My ankles lock around his lower back as my face screws up in displeasure. ‘I’m not about to disrespect your grandmother.’

‘She threatened to sever your manhood, remember?’ I remind him, hoping to rid his conscience of this silly matter.

His brow furrows beautifully. I’m getting him. ‘I concur, but now she’s ill.’

‘Which means she’ll struggle to catch you.’

He loses the battle to contain his amusement and blinds me with one of his heart-stopping smiles. ‘I love hearing you scream my name when I make you come. That’s not going to be possible. I don’t want your nan thinking I have no respect for her and her home.’

‘Then I’ll whisper it in your ear.’

‘Is my sweet girl’s sass coming out to play?’

I shrug nonchalantly. ‘Is the man I love pretending to be a gentleman again?’

He inhales sharply, like I’ve shocked him. I’m not buying it. ‘I’m offended.’

I lean in and bite the end of his nose. Then I lick a slow, wet trail up to his ear. I can feel his heart rate increase under my chest. ‘Then teach me a lesson,’ I whisper, low and seductively into his ear before I bite down on his lobe.

‘I’m under obligation to do so.’ In a fast string of expert moves, he shifts his grip and flings me onto the bed.

‘Miller!’ I squeal as I coast through the air, my arms flailing in shock. I land in the centre of his huge bed, gasping through my laugh as I attempt to win my bearings. I find him, standing at the edge of the bed, still and calm, looking at me like I’m his next meal. My heavy breathing rockets and I shift, trying to sit myself up as he watches me, his eyes all hooded and oozing desire.

‘Come to me, sweet girl,’ he says, his voice rough. It increases my heart rate further.

‘No.’ I shock myself with my refusal. I want to go to him. Desperately. I don’t know why I said that, and judging by the mild surprise creeping onto his face, Miller’s shocked, too.

‘Come. To. Me.’ He spells out each word, warning lacing his low tone.

‘No,’ I whisper teasingly, edging back a little, distancing myself from him. This is a game. A hunt. I want him badly, but knowing how badly he wants me is upping the ante, increasing our desire to a point that’s difficult to cope with . . . which makes the catch and kill so much more satisfying.

Miller’s head tilts and his eyes twinkle. ‘Playing hard to get?’

I shrug and glance over my shoulder to plot my escape. ‘I don’t feel like any Miller-worshipping right now.’

‘That’s a preposterous claim, Olivia Taylor. I know it and you know it.’ He steps forward and gazes down at the apex of my thighs. ‘I can smell how ready you are for me.’

I wither on the spot, clenching my thighs shut, shifting in a vain attempt to hold off the want ripping through me. ‘I can see how ready you are.’ I centre my attention on his cock, visibly pulsing before my eyes.

He reaches over to the bedside cabinet and slides a condom out slowly, takes it to his lips slowly, and rips it open with his teeth slowly. Then he watches me as he slides it down his hard shaft. That look is debilitating enough. It turns my blood into molten lava and my mind to mush.

‘Come. To. Me.’

I shake my head, wondering why the hell I’m resisting. I’m about to explode. I keep my eyes on his, watching for his next move, seeing him widening his stance a little. I creep back some more.

A mild shake of his head, knocking his curl into place, and a minute curve of his mouth catapults my need. My whole damn body is visibly vibrating. I can’t control it. And I don’t want to. Anticipation is sending me crazy with desire, and it’s my entire fault. He purposely, threateningly jerks forward and watches with amusement as I jump back on a little gasp. ‘Play all you like, Olivia. I’m going to be buried inside of you within ten seconds.’

‘We’ll see,’ I counter cockily, but before I can anticipate his next move, he’s barrelling towards me. Fast. ‘Shit!’ I yelp, and spin over, crawling to the edge of the bed urgently, but he grabs my ankle and yanks, spinning me to my back. I’m panting in his face as he cages me in with his body, breathing down on me, steady and controlled.

‘Is that the best you can do?’ he asks, scanning my face until his eyes land on my lips. He moves in and as soon as I feel the softness of his flesh brush over mine, I fly into action, catching him off guard. He’s on his back in a nanosecond, me straddling his waist, my palms holding his wrists over his head.

‘Always be on your guard,’ I breathe into his face before nibbling teasingly on his bottom lip. He groans, pushing his hips up into me, trying to capture my lips. I deny him, making him growl his frustration.