His Terms

She glanced over at him, and the long black fall of her hair had this seductive quality to it. With the lights of New York and Central Park as a backdrop, she was stunning, and for the first time in his life he wanted to know what it was like to be slow and easy with a woman, to let her see that if he tried hard enough he wasn’t the bastard that she thought he was. Well, not all the time at least.

He moved back toward her, grabbed the back of her hair, tilted her head back, and claimed her mouth. For long seconds all he did was kiss her, long, drugging moments of rubbing his tongue along hers. Sorcha held onto him, but she was still stiff and unsure. He could taste it on her, smell it in the air around her, and feel it in the way she held herself.

Rian pulled back, looked down at her face, and used his other hand to cup her cheek. He then tilted her head back further with his fingers on her chin, looked at her lips, and groaned. “I want you right now, Sorcha.” She parted her lips but said nothing, just breathed out heavily like she felt the same way. “But I’ll practice a little bit of restraint right now, at least until after we eat.” He grinned, but he wasn’t trying to be teasing.

He meant it, because after she was fed all bets were off on him trying to be a gentleman.

13

Sorcha’s hands were shaking as she followed Rian out of his bedroom and into the dining room. His apartment was like nothing she had ever seen before. Ornate accents adorned his home, expensive, tastefully decorated, and making her feel like she lived in a hovel. Hell, his room had a Jacuzzi built into the floor, and the view was incredible. She rubbed her hands on her jeans for the hundredth time it felt, and stared at the set-up. Stainless steel, glass, dark marble, all of it was covering every inch of his apartment. This was certainly a home for one of wealth, and she’d be experiencing it for the next week.

The table seated six, and when he led her to the spot at the other end from where he was sitting she felt suddenly isolated. There was a glass of wine already poured and sitting at her place setting, and although she had finished her champagne in his room, and in fact left the glass on the balcony, she needed more liquid courage. Whatever was going to happen tonight certainly would put her nerves and mind to the test.

Picking up the glass and then glancing up at him showed her that Rian watched her intently. She downed half of the wine in one swallow and set it down before she finished it all and made a fool out of herself. Her lips still tingled from his possessive kiss, and her body felt as though it were on fire. The room was silent, still even, and the food in front of her was covered with a metal dome lid.

“Eat, Sorcha.”

The way he spoke and said her name had this tingle racing down her spine. Rian always had an effect on her, and his voice had made her wet more times than she could count, but right now was different. This situation was strange and confusing in a thousand ways, and she was right in the middle of this whirlwind that would have her body moving in different directions. All of this seemed so impersonal, but she knew by the end of this night there wouldn’t be anything left secret between them. She’d be bared in more ways than she probably thought even possible.

He lifted his dome lid off, and she looked down at hers once more, and then removed it. Baked chicken with this herb crust on it, seasoned cut potatoes, and green beans were on the white porcelain plate. There was a side salad with this little silver boat of dressing beside it. Everything down to the silverware and how it was placed seemed elegant, and made her feel so out of place.

“It’s just food, Sorcha. You’re staring at it like you’re trying to figure out if I poisoned it or not.” There was no humor in his voice, and when she glanced up at him it was to see him positioned in this relaxed manner. He brought his fork to his mouth and took the potato off the end.

God, watching him eat should not have had her nipples tingle, but she was aroused, so much so that she crossed her legs trying to numb some of the sensations moving through her. It had the opposite effect. If they were going to have sex tonight, she didn’t want this evening to seem so uncomfortable and forced, and she knew that if she couldn’t calm down it would be a very difficult week. She didn’t want to feel like this was just a transaction, which she supposed it was, but that was beside the point.