Page 32 of Indecent Proposal

“I don’t know,” I drawled, putting the bags of groceries on the table. “Would it kill you to follow my orders?”

Claire flushed and bit her lip. Her eyes were bright and eager, though. Oh, yes. She was looking forward to this and whatever I had in store for her. She wanted it, badly.

I began putting away the groceries, not giving her anything more, waiting to see what she would do. The silence stretched on.

Finally, she said in a too haughty tone, “And what are you going to do about it, then? Since I didn’t follow them?”

“You’ll find out.” I kept my tone mild and I saw her shiver. I turned away from the cabinets and put my hands on her shoulders from behind, leaning in, letting my lips brush her ear. “You’re going to learn how to submit to me in the end, sweetheart. No matter how much you fight back. You’ll see.”

“N-never,” Claire whispered, her face flushed, though her voice lacked any true conviction.

I felt her shiver again, and satisfaction coursed through me. God, she wanted me to make her my submissive so badly. I could practically taste her begging. I just had to be a little more patient and a little more…firm.

I pulled away and went back to taking care of the groceries. “Well, lucky you, I’ve got a spare couple days now to find out if that’s true or not. I have my tech guys looking at some files and in the meantime, I have nothing to do, so I might as well deal with you.”

The flush drained from Claire’s face as soon as I mentioned the case. “What did you find? Did you get anything?”

“I might have. But I’m not sure yet. I need to look at what our tech guys are able to discover,” I said, putting the orange juice and eggs in the refrigerator. “Right now I’ve got two possibilities and I need to figure out which they are. Until then, we might as well stay put out here and I can keep an eye on you.”

“Have things gotten… am I in more danger?” she asked anxiously.

“Not necessarily.” I put away the grocery bags. “But I was possibly spotted by someone in security today and that might alert the sniper to who I am, if they’re watching the office security. I would, if I were them. So it’s best if we both lay low and let my IT people do what they’re best at.”

Claire nodded. She looked upset, and I could imagine that the fun of the evening had definitely been dampened by the reminder that she was in danger, and possibly more so than before.

“Hey.” I crossed over to where she was sitting at the table and crouched in front of her. “Look at me.” I waited until her worried gaze met mine. “You’re safe, okay? Think of it this way—you get to have more time with me. More time to apologize and grovel for your bad behavior.”

Claire’s eyebrows flew up. “Apologize? You left me hanging!”

I arched a brow. “And I told you to be good and not touch yourself. You took matters into your own hands. Literally.”

Claire huffed and looked away, but I could see that sassy sparkle back in her eyes. She was ready to play again, and I was more than willing to indulge her. Hell, it would be good for me, too. I felt like there was something right in front of my face with this case and I just couldn’t see it, and few things bugged me more than when I couldn’t get a handle on a job.

She crossed her arms over her ample chest, her chin lifting mutinously. “If you’re not going to take care of me, then I’ll take care of myself. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had to give myself an orgasm after a man left me unsatisfied.”

I stood up, amused by the fact that she was lumping me into the type of man who was only in it for his own pleasure, which was the furthest from the truth. “You need to give a little to get a little, sweetheart.”

Claire stood up as well. “And why should I give you anything? Why should I trust you to givemewhat I need?”

She gave me a light shove to give herself room to walk away from me, towards the bed. I grinned, since I could probably lift her with just one arm if I felt like it, curves and all. She was challenging me, and I knew she was mostly being playful, but she had a good point. Whyshouldshe trust me to give her a gratifying outcome and show her what she’d been missing out on with Richard?

I moved towards her slowly, taking my time, watching as her breathing picked up as I neared. “Well. Sounds like I need to prove it to you.”

“And how do you intend to do that?” she asked skeptically, as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

I came to a stop about a foot away from her, and smiled. “Well, you’ll have to do as I say in order to find out.”

Claire pursed her lips, apparently thinking. “Depends on what you tell me to do.”

“Let’s start with something simple,” I murmured. “Slide those shorts off for me.”

Claire fiddled with the hem of the shorts and batted her lashes at me. “Oh? Just the shorts? Not your shirt, too?”

She had a wicked gleam in her eye, as if she knew that her wearing my clothes was really doing it for me. I couldn’t deny that having her scent on my shirt made me feel possessive as hell. Like she was alreadymine.

“Just the shorts,” I confirmed, growling the words out. “Now.”

Claire wriggled her shorts off and let them drop to the floor, and I groaned when I saw that she wasn’t wearing anything underneath. She gave me a triumphant look, and spread her legs apart a little, blatantly showing off her pussy, already wet and glistening with her arousal.

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