Unfortunately for him, it’s sexy as hell. Unfortunately for me, that means I have a harder fight on my hands because I so badly want to submit to his authority. And I can’t.
Not when I know I can crawl under his skin and get to that gooey core. It’s the same one my dad had. The one that got me everything I ever wanted, what I ever asked for or hinted at.
When my gaze meets his, I feign innocence. Obviously. “If I were playing with you, not only would you know it, you’d relish in it.”
He nearly growls, his voice so gruff and infused with breath. “You need to learn when to behave.”
“Oh?” My elbows squeezes closer to push up the line of my exposed breasts. “And you plan to teach me?”
My body is warring with lust and fear, pumping blood through me in a rush that has me a little dizzy from just how bold I’m being.
I’ve played with plenty of men this way. I learned how to get the reactions I’m looking for. But this version of playing with fire is most certainly going to get me burned.
His hand snakes out to grab me by the hair and draw me close enough to taste his minty breath.
I’m shaking, but I don’t know which emotion it stems from. Am I afraid that he’s going to take advantage of me or that he’s not?
The longer we stay this way, the less composed I feel.
His thumb draws across my cheek and jaw, and I’m struggling to breathe. Struggling to tear my gaze from his mouth and the stern pout of his bowed lips. I want to sink my teeth into them.
“Why were you in the file room?”
I touch his throat, dragging my fingertip across to trace his Adam’s apple. The stubble there burns my skin and prods at my already molten core. “I wanted to find more on a file I had in my stack.”
“What file?” If he’s phased by my touching him, he doesn’t show it. He’s stoic. Serious. Sexy as fuck.
I let my touch traipse down to the open collar of his shirt. “One with a lot of missing information.”
Trent’s nose bumps mine, and I gasp. I need more contact. A kiss. Anything to quench the heat threatening to crumble me into ashes.
“What information?” Did his voice grow a shade darker than it was before?
“See. That’s the problem, so much of it was redacted, I don’t really know.” And no, I’m not mentioning my dad’s photo. They had their chance to figure it out.
It’s my turn.
We stay like this for a few more breaths, and my finger hooks into his shirt, getting just a hint of hair at his chest. I lift my gaze to his again instead of my exploration. Instead of his strong chin and soft mouth. And the darkness in those brown eyes, the dirty promises of pain and pleasure, keep me from leaning in for more.
That and his grip in my hair.
But we hover in this limbo so long that I’m trembling.
Then the car comes to a stop, and Trent swiftly releases me.
I have to brace myself for balance against the back of the seat as my door opens. I don’t hesitate to grab my things and charge out, past the yes man who stays out of range from my heels. My glare makes him flinch back an extra step.
“Behave, Harper,” Trent calls after me.
Half to my relief and half to my disappointment, he doesn’t follow me to the door. What would I do with him if he did?
Drool over all of that manliness I’m not allowed to have?
I stomp straight up to my room and start a new journal entry. One where Trent has my hair in a vice grip as he coaxes me slowly out of my clothes, as his free hand explores every inch of my body he can reach. One where his fingers bring me to climax but his mouth never clears that inch between us.
10
OLIVER