The tight lines around Giada’s eyes smoothed, and her pupils dilated until the only color remaining was a ring of deep forest green. She took in a long, steadying breath as if gathering her courage, then parted her lips.
“And if you’re right?”
The words were a whisper. Barely more than a shaky breath, yet so much more.
They were a reluctant confession.
Surrender.
Giada’s gaze was still guarded, but a new wary vulnerability was embedded in her features. I searched deep into her kaleidoscopic gaze to make sure I hadn’t misread her, but there was no derision, only desire.
Like a shark scenting blood in the water, my predatory instincts screamed at me to claim my prize. To seize what was being offered with greedy abandon. But even drunk on the prospect of victory, I knew that yielding to my hunger for her would be disastrous.
Deciding to test her resolve and give us one last chance to avoid disaster, I lifted myself away from her, leaving a foot of space between us. She could have shoved me backward onto the buckets, giving herself plenty of time to slip away, but she didn’t. The brazen temptress didn’t move a muscle.
“Turn around,” I ordered firmly, the gravel in my voice betraying the slip in my control.
Giada held my gaze as she debated internally.
I refused to soften my stance or give her any reassurance. I wasn’t there to coddle her. If she was brave enough to toy with the devil, she could summon the courage to dance with him as well.
Eventually, her lips pursed with determination, and she spun around to face the wall. “What exactly are we doing here?”
“You’re doing as I say and not asking questions.” It was the only response I could give her because I had no other answer. I had no fucking idea what we were doing or where it would lead.
She peeked over her shoulder. “What does that mean? I don’t want you to hurt me.”
“Shouldn’t you have considered that before you stole from me?”
Giada started to turn back around.
“Stop,” I barked, freezing her in place. “The only thing that may hurt when we’re through is your pride. I’m not in the habit of brutalizing women. If you want to leave, then leave, but if you have the strength to accept the consequences of your actions, then turn around and put your hands on the wall.”
Her eyes slid briefly to mine before she complied. Watching her bend to my will, obeying my commands, raised a mighty storm of masculine pride in my chest. I felt invigorated, as if I’d scaled a mountain and stood on its highest peak, towering above the rest of the world.
This lioness of a woman was giving herself to me, and I would take all I could get.
“That’s a good girl,” I murmured, closing in behind her. My hands drifted to her waist, and my mouth lowered to the smooth skin of her exposed shoulder, but I didn’t kiss her. I simply inhaled her tangy, sweet scent and trailed my lips to her neck and up close to her ear. “I told myself to ignore you after our conversation in the casino. To forget every dirty thing I wanted to do to you and stay focused on my job, but when I realized what you’d done, it was too much. I had to find you.”
Giada arched with my words, her head angling to give me more access to her neck.
I lowered my hands, winding them around to the front of her jeans and deliberately popped open the top button. “Are you already wet for me? Shall we find out?” I lowered the zipper, then eased my hand inside her pants but left her silk panties between us.
My touch drew a breathy moan from her lips. Her panties were drenched.
“Someone likes a little kink in their play. Does a taste of fear turn you on, Giada? Do you get off on not knowing what I might do next?” I retracted my hand and clasped her pants, yanking them down over her hips, along with her underwear.
She gasped at the sudden movement but never shifted her hands from their place on the wall. “You rejected me that night. I came onto you, but you rejected me.”
“Like I told you then, I didn’t want to want you.” I leaned back to admire her rounded backside, stroking my palm over the supple curve of her ass. “But that didn’t stop you, did it? You had to go and fuck with my head, rearranging my priorities.” In one swift motion, I pulled back and brought my hand down hard against her firm flesh, the sound reverberating in the confined space. My hand immediately returned to the site of the offense, caressing over her heated skin.
I was curious how Giada would respond to being struck. It was entirely possible someone as strong-willed as she was would be outraged, incensed over being degraded. I should have known better. Giada wasn’t like any other woman I’d known.
Her responses were unpredictable.
She didn’t cry out or curse me. Struggle or lunge to escape. No. The little temptress released a guttural moan that had my cock swelling painfully against my zipper. She didn’t hide her emotions or give a man what she thought he wanted to hear. She was untamed and raw, and I wanted to conquer and claim every bit of that purity.
It made me furious.
A woman was not on my agenda, and a relationship did not fit in my life. I wasn’t the type of man to have a girlfriend, let alone settle down and raise a family. My anger bled with my desire, stirring up a tornadic burst of emotion.
I pulled back and unleashed a second strike on her opposite cheek, my breathing becoming rushed and heavy. I was losing control. This woman made me feel unstoppable and utterly powerless at the same damn time.
When my hand dropped down between her thighs, seeking her warm center, what I found leached all sanity from my reeling mind. Giada wasn’t just wet; she was dripping arousal. The thick, sticky evidence of her lust coated the inside of her thighs.
It was too much.
Unable to withstand the temptation any longer, I reached my hand around to cup her from the front, finding her opening and surging inside. “Fuck, Giada. You’re every fucking fantasy come true.” I wrapped my free hand around her chest, drawing her close as I fucked her with my fingers. My palm rubbed against her stiff bundle of nerves while my fingers found the sensitive spot inside her, massaging and coaxing every ounce of pleasure from her.
Giada writhed at my touch. Her head rolled back on my shoulder, and she ground her ass against my raging erection. She was more than responsive. She was a sexual goddess, unbridled and free. As much as I wanted to sink my cock inside her, it would be a grave mistake.
Fingering her was one thing, but coming inside her would seal my fate. I would have become hopelessly addicted, and I couldn’t allow that to happen. At least that one tiny shred of my control still held.
Instead, I used the friction between us to ease the ache in my balls, pulled tight against me and begging for release, and focused my attention on seeing Giada come apart.
I didn’t have to wait long.
Within minutes, her breaths became shallow pants, and her legs quivered beneath her.
“That’s it, little monster. Get my hands filthy with your cum.”
She exploded at my words, crying out and arching so sharply, I had to step back to keep us upright. Her body slowly softened as I teased out every tiny contraction until she returned to reality and stiffened with the realization of what she’d done and who she was with.
When she leaned away and supported her own weight, I reached for her panties and jeans and pulled them back up over her hips. Her body was still facing away from me, but she turned to glance at me over her shoulder.