What is it about this man that speaks to me, not with his voice but with his mere presence?
Never in my life had I felt such an attraction, as if I wasn’t in control of my body’s reactions. I’d turned down men like him in the past, men who oozed power and dominance. I’d walked away with my head held high. And yet with Rett, in a matter of maybe an hour, I was putty in his hands.
It was more than the way he commanded the situation; it was also the lustful desire in his eyes. I saw it in his stare, the way the dark now swirled with more. The throbbing of my core caused my high heels to shift upon the floor as my desire grew.
As he leaned closer, I knew for sure that it wasn’t just me.
A hardening erection against my tummy alerted me that he wanted me as much as I wanted him.
Holding my hands in place above my head with one hand, Rett teased a stray strand of my golden hair away from my cheek with his other. He then traced my lower lip with his thumb. A tug and my mouth opened with a soft pop. Without instruction, I allowed his thumb to enter. Closing my lips, I sucked, tasting the saltiness of his oyster.
My eyes fluttered shut as a moan bubbled within me. It was as I opened my eyes that I saw it. Similar to a spark to dry kindling, what had previously been flickers in his eyes had combusted to a raging fire.
Rett removed his thumb, again tracing my lip. “Emma, the business deal is complete. Your little project is funded.”
His proximity and the way he was touching me had me distracted, but I knew what he was saying deserved my attention. “It is? You agreed to partner—”
He held my lips with the pressure of his finger, stopping my question and interrupting, “I didn’t agree to be a partner.”
My breasts heaved as he leaned closer, his rigid, toned body pressing me tighter against the wall. The pressure painfully stretched my upheld arms, while at the same time, Rett wordlessly informed me by the rock hardness of his erection that I was truly desired.
“I agreed to a deal,” he said definitively.
SIX
RETT’S DEEP VOICE had my full attention. “I was contacted a while ago, informed of your true identity.”
My head shook. “I’m who I am. Emma O’Brien is my identity.”
“You are correct. However, Miss North, you are more important than that. Your biological father was my father’s greatest adversary. They were each involved in the other’s demise. New Orleans is now mine, and who better to be at my side than the daughter of Isaiah Boudreau?”
Isaiah Boudreau.
I’d never heard that name.
My head shook. “I don’t know him or you.”
Again Rett traced my lips as his chest flattened my breasts, and his hips pushed closer. “Fight me, Emma. Tell me you don’t want me.”
I pulled against his grip, yet I didn’t have the strength to break it. The undeniable truth, evident by the warmth pooling between my thighs and dampening my panties, tightening my nipples, and making my breasts heavy with need was that I didn’t want to fight.
I wanted him too. Instead of replying, I asked, “Rett, what deal did you make?”
His stare bore into me, heating me from within. The tepid coolness of the air conditioning disappeared as the temperature rose.
“I traded the investment for something I desired more than a piece of an insignificant software program.”
This time I gave it effort, fighting his grip. “Our work is not insignificant.”
Rett’s grin returned, a bit more sinister than before. “Easy, tiger. Do not take offense. You see…” He was still holding my wrists. “…everything is insignificant in comparison.”
“What is this thing of great value that you want?”
“Who.” He leaned down, bringing his firm lips to mine.
I didn’t fight, not to get away.
Maybe I’d been drugged, or perhaps it was Everett Ramses who had me intoxicated. Whatever the case, in his presence, I wasn’t thinking straight. As his kiss deepened, the air filled with moans and whimpers.
Were they from me?
I pulled at his grip, wanting my hands free. I needed to touch him as his free hand was touching me, fingers splayed over my back, coming forward and caressing my breasts. Under my top, he tweaked my diamond-hard nipples as energy zapped from his touch to my twisting core.
Multitalented, he was competent in more than caresses as he