Total Surrender (The Sinful 1)

“How did your conversation with your brother and sister go?” she asked curiously.

She was surprisingly comfortable with him naked in the tub with her. Another contradiction, he mused, as he shrugged at her question. “As good as it could have gone considering what they’d expected to happen last night. My brother is pissed that you’re here when your father should have been on his knees last night begging for leniency,” he said honestly. “But Tempest is more . . . empathetic about the situation. If you need anything and I’m not around or you can’t get ahold of me, she will assist you.”

“Thank you. That’s good to know.” She absently swirled her hands in the water, her gaze suddenly turning serious as it met his. “I . . . umm . . . want you to know up front that I called and talked to my father.”

He liked that she didn’t keep that secret from him. It went a long way in building trust with him. “Anything you’d like to share?”

She shook her head. “No. He avoided my questions about the debt he’d accumulated and I had no clue about . . . and when I asked about why you hated him so much, he said I didn’t need to know the details, which is annoying as hell since neither one of you will enlighten me.”

He ran his wet fingers through his long hair, pushing it away from his face. “Of course he doesn’t want you to know the details, because revealing the truth would be equivalent to him admitting guilt.”

“Guilt for what?” she persisted.

It would be so easy to divulge what an unscrupulous man her father was, as well as Gavin’s part in it all. But knowing that the cold, hard facts would crush someone as good-hearted and kind as Arabella, he didn’t answer her question. He wasn’t ready to deal with the emotional upheaval that would accompany such a shocking bombshell. Not yet, anyway. He swore when the timing was right, when discovering the truth had the most impact, she’d learn what a fucking scumbag Theodore Cole was.

But right now, he didn’t want to discuss his hatred toward her father, not when Maddux wanted his hands all over this woman . . . and more specifically, giving her that orgasm he’d interrupted when he’d walked in on her earlier.

“Come over to my side of the tub, Bella,” he ordered, effectively changing the mood between them to something more seductive. “Sit between my spread legs, facing away from me.”

She blinked at him in surprise at the abrupt change in conversation and licked her bottom lip. “Why?”

“Because I said so,” he replied bluntly. “Because I want to show you exactly what your body is capable of feeling when it’s my hands and fingers delivering the pleasure.”

Her chin tipped up a fraction, a daring light glimmering in her eyes. “And if I say no?”

She was testing him . . . and it occurred to Maddux that she enjoyed the cat-and-mouse game his brother had alluded to earlier. The tempting. The teasing. And the anticipation of waiting and seeing what he’d say or how he’d react to her willful attitude.

She had no idea what kind of perverse opponent he truly was. “Defy me, and that orgasm you were about to give yourself before I stopped it will leave you aching for the rest of the day, and night, since I forbid you to touch yourself.” He casually rested his arms along the wide rim of the tub. “Obey, and I’ll make you come so good and so hard you’ll be addicted to my touch.”

A cheeky smile flirted at the edges of her lush, kissable mouth. “You think very highly of yourself, Mr. Wilder.”

“Come here, Bella,” he said on a low, impatient growl. “Now.”

No hesitation or argument this time, giving credence to the fact that she liked his bossy, dominant side. Good thing, considering what he planned to do to her.

She moved toward him, the depth of the water covering up to her chest, though he enjoyed a glimpse of her rosy nipples beneath the surface before she turned and settled between his widespread thighs, just as he’d instructed, but of course deliberately keeping too much distance between them.

Her startled gasp echoed in the bathroom as he took hold of her tiny waist and guided her back farther, until her posterior was tucked right up against his groin and his rigid cock nestled in that soft crease in between her ass cheeks, which felt so fucking good.

“Lie back against my chest and make yourself comfortable,” he told her.

He heard her exhale a deep breath. “Easier said than done when there’s a nine-inch spike prodding me in the back.”

He chuckled, feeling a tad bit smug. “Ahhh, doesn’t feel so small now, does it, Bella?”

“No,” she whispered as she reclined.

Her petite height came up short when aligned against his longer torso, and he lifted her a few inches higher so her head was able to rest on his shoulder, and she was now sitting on his lap, giving his arms and hands better reach to intimate places, as well.

She squirmed restlessly against his dick. “I . . . umm, fibbed about the size of my vibrator and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that the size of your erection makes me . . . nervous. I’m not sure how you’re going to fit.”

She sounded genuinely concerned, and he sought to reassure her, which wasn’t his normal approach with women. Then again, Arabella’s inexperience was new to him, too.

“I’m not fucking you today, so you can relax for now,” he said, sliding his hands along her flat stomach, letting her get used to his touch. “But when I do, I can promise that I’ll make sure your pussy is nice and slick and ready to accommodate my width and length. I won’t take you like a battering ram, if that’s your worry,” he added in a lighter, teasing tone.

She laughed softly, and the last bit of tension seemed to ease away as her body yielded against his, light and weightless in the water. “Now there’s an image I’d rather not have in my head, thank you very much,” she said, her voice wry.

“Then let’s find something more enjoyable for you to focus on,” he murmured seductively, and proceeded to do just that.