air into her lungs. “He doesn’t talk business around me.”
“If you’re lying to me—”
“I’m not lying.”
“How do I know that?”
“You think I want to protect him? He’s nothing to me but a new pair of shoes each week and fancy hotel rooms wherever he wants to take me.”
Her face. Stone cold. I see a similar sight in the mirror every day. “How does it feel to know he’s left you at my mercy?” I ask.
“About as good as it feels knowing I’ll be sleeping with you again tonight.”
My lip curls. It’s another face-off. They’re both electrifying and frustrating. This woman fucking frustrates me. Why? Because she challenges me. The weak woman who asks how high when she’s told to jump is challenging me. Me. Danny Black. Does she have a death wish?
I’m about to ask her that very question when her eyes fall to my lips. And in answer, mine drop to hers. I could take her here and now. Fuck her black and blue. Make her scream my name. Shit, I could do with the relief. She wouldn’t stop me.
Without any prompt, my lips move in toward hers. They brush. She moans. “You want it, don’t you? You want my big dick pounding your sweet cunt.” My cock pleads for her to confirm it as I lick the seam of her lips, grinding our hips together.
She hums, sounding dazed. “I’d rather you kill me.”
“Maybe I will.”
“You need me.”
She’s right. And I’m starting to need her for another reason—one that doesn’t involve business. My tongue leaves my mouth, skimming the tip of hers. I groan roughly. She whimpers softly. “Go on,” she whispers, goading me. Giving me the okay? She bites my bottom lip, tugging the flesh. “Kill me.”
Fucking hell.
I move my mouth across hers, hoping to taste fear, but instead I taste nothing but sex. It’s intoxicating. Mind-blanking. “Fuck,” I whisper, and I feel her smile around my mouth.
The door swings open, Brad appears, and I’m yanked back from the brink of a dangerous moment. Perfect fucking timing. His gaze moves from us to the bed. Where my gun is. Not in my hand. Not tucked behind my back.
Shit. I push Rose away and compose myself under the suspicious glare of my right-hand man. “We just got confirmation of Adams’s dinner reservation at Hakasan tonight,” he tells me.
“Who with?”
“Some lawyers and governors. Sounds boring as shit.”
“But still . . .” It’s business as usual for Adams, then? Cheeky fucker. I look at Rose. She’s motionless, quiet, eyes on mine. And she’s still naked. I grab a towel and thrust it in her chest, a demand to cover herself. “Looks like you and I are going on our first date this evening, sweetheart,” I inform her, taking myself to the shower.
Chapter 8
ROSE
* * *
Our first date. Or rather, the first round of Perry’s torture. It’ll be a show. A demonstration.
I’m driving Black wild, and I can’t help getting satisfaction from that. But it feels so good to have a little control, even if it’s a twisted psychological control.
I haven’t seen Black since this morning. He’s been holed up in his office with his army of men, though he made sure one guarded the door to the bedroom so I couldn’t escape. I found that out when I actually tried to escape, peeking out the door to check if the coast was clear. It wasn’t. The guy smiled at me, a knowing smirk full of laughter. And I spilled some crap about needing a drink. There’s a perfectly furnished mini bar in the bedroom. He knew my game.
I’m getting desperate. I’m not supposed to be here. I’m supposed to be with Perry Adams. He has a new investor. I need to share that information with Nox, need to tell him where I am, but I can’t so much as sneeze without Black finding out. He’s having me watched constantly. And to make matters worse, I’m lying to him. Bare-faced lying. He thinks I’m a gold-digging whore who’s latched onto Adams for financial benefits. I wish.
The outcome of this mess is becoming clearer and clearer.
Me.
Dead.
The question is, who will kill me? Nox or Black?
I fiddle with the towel wrapped around me, trying to focus on my boy and my reason to live, at the same time trying not to think about how Black paraded me in front of his men naked, and then clearly regretted it.
The joy I felt in that moment floored me. And scared me. He couldn’t stand another man