Rule's Seduction (The House of Rule 4)

Stilling, he took huge drags of oxygen as they slowly began to come down. His head landed beside hers on the pillow as his hips relaxed against hers. After a few moments, he lifted and she could feel him silently watching her.

She slowly opened her eyes, studied the hard planes of his face and finally managed, “Hey.”

He didn’t crack even so much as a wisp of a smile. “Hey.”

As he stared down at her, he pushed back into her boldly, holding her prisoner beneath him, while the satiated expression on his features faded and was replaced with a dark look. She remained quiet as he finally spoke. “So, the condom you requested, was it for birth control as well as protection against disease?”

It took her a moment to digest his clinical, too-polite question, and when she did, she tried to scoot away, but his hands clamped down hard on her waist as he continued to hold her captive underneath him.

As she remained silent, the look in his eyes turned almost sinister. “Max—”

“Just answer the question,” he demanded almost brutally.

She held his eyes, took a deep, fortifying breath and tried to focus on the unnerving conversation and not on the merciless hold he had on her. “Just protection. Not for birth control.”

“You’re on what? The pill?” he asked as if he had every right to the information. And as he was stilled lodged firmly inside of her, she supposed he did.

“Yes,” she answered.

His eyes narrowed, almost as if displeased—which didn’t make any sense. “Right,” he said. “So the bad news isn’t so bad.”

Panic lodged under her breastbone. Bad news? “What bad news?”

“Condom broke, angel,” he said as if what he was telling her was insignificant. “I’m sorry—but you don’t need to worry—I’m clean.”

His succinct words took a moment to register and when they did, confusion warred within. How could he know that the condom had broken? He was still lodged tightly inside of her and he didn’t seem to be in one bit of a hurry to release her. “How do you know that it broke?”

“Because it was split, darling,” he said slowly.

Pretty, sweetness, angel . . . all these damn endearments! She was about to tear her hair out! “I don’t understand. You’re still—” a wave of embarrassment swamped her. “You’re still inside me. How do you know it split?”

One side of his mouth quirked up. Great. Now he smiles? “Not this condom,” he stated slowly, “The first one.”

Erin began blinking to wash away the fog in her brain. And when confusion departed, anger came swiftly on its heels. “The first one? Are you telling me that you knew the condom had broken? When you were in the bathroom?” She levered her hands against his chest and began pushing against him, to no avail. “You knew about it and yet you still . . . still came out here for more? Without giving me a chance to—”

His features twisted into an unpleasant grimace as he interrupted, “A chance to what?” he bit out heatedly. “Run away scared? Flounce away pissed? Fuck yeah, I knew about it. I also knew what your exact reaction was going to be.”

Erin’s lips flattened as anger permeated. “Oh, really? You know me so well? So, what? You decided to head my feelings off at the pass and just . . . screw me again? While keeping me in the dark?”

His face hardened almost imperceptibly, but she saw it, nonetheless. “Screw you? That’s not a very pretty word to come from such pretty lips.” Pushing his hips against her, physically reminding her that he was still, in fact, screwing her, he continued, “And hell no, I wasn’t finished with you yet. And guess what? I’m still not finished.”

Not finished? She’d never had a one-night stand before, and although she knew she should be feeling some relief that it appeared she wasn’t going to break that inglorious record, she still felt a wave of fury at his highhandedness. Shouldn’t she get to choose whether or not to sleep with him again? “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

“What the hell do you think it means? It means I’m not finished with you yet.”

Erin felt her stomach quiver as she jerked back from him. Anger coursing through her system even as uncontrollable heat bled down her spine, she began pushing harder against him, until finally, he eased out of her and released her, condom intact, erection still there in all its glory. Great. Just effing great! Wouldn’t you effing know that he was a super-stud?

She grabbed the sheet and covered herself as she sat up. “I think we’re done,” she announced definitively.

Moving off the bed to stand before her, he held the condom intact as if it were no big deal, as if he were completely comfortable in his naked skin. “Wrong.”