Rule's Seduction (The House of Rule 4)

She hadn’t been standing there longer than ten seconds before Max walked in behind her. “Good morning,” he said in a low tone.

Erin turned to face him, her pulse accelerating. “Good morning.”

He was silent as he studied her, walking into the room and leaning against the back of the settee. An air of raw, sexual chemistry seemed to fill the space that separated them. It was almost as if an invisible pulley was hooked between them simulating an unbreakable force, drawing her to him no matter how firmly she tried to plant her feet to the floor.

As his gaze trailed down her body, it was almost as if he touched her in every place that his eyes stopped. She could practically feel his body next to hers—and it was causing conflicting emotions that she couldn’t seem to get control over.

He was impatient—she could feel it. And she didn’t know if she had what it was going to take to keep putting him off.

Just as she thought she was doomed, just as he pushed away from the settee and took the first step toward her, Marisol interrupted the tension in the room when she cleared her throat.

Max snapped his gaze away from Erin, the flecks of red that highlighted his cheekbones telling her that he wasn’t finished with her yet. “Yes?” he asked the housekeeper.

Marisol smiled cautiously as she advised, “Company has arrived, señor. I’ve put the Navarros in the front room.”

An air of annoyance blazed across Max’s countenance. “Thank you, Marisol. Serve them refreshments and we will be there momentarily.”

“Si, señor,” the housekeeper murmured before leaving.

Max’s full attention came back to Erin as his gaze traveled from her eyes, to her lips, to her throat, where she knew he could see how fast the pulse was quivering in her neck. “Not a good time for guests,” he rasped as his eyes came back to lock with hers. “I’d much rather give you an example of how we will spend our leisure time together.”

Ignoring his insinuation and grasping onto the excuse, she asked, “Who are they?”

“Neighbors. The Navarros own the closest ranching operation to us.” When he used the word ‘us,’ Erin felt a splinter of amazement that he would include her, as if they were a unit. “They are twenty miles away, but still, the closest neighbors we have. It is good to stay in contact.”

“Yes, of course,” she agreed, looking forward to meeting the people of the area.

A harsh glitter suddenly lit his eyes. “You will not flirt with Rafael.”

The neighbor? “Why would I flirt with Rafael?”

His lips flattened. “I don’t know if you would, but I feel compelled to warn you against such an endeavor—it will not please me.”

“Because . . .?” she prompted, although she already had Max’s number. The guy was not going to share and how the hell did that make her feel?

“Because he is a friend of mine—of sorts—and I would hate to have to get rid of him,” he announced matter-of-factly.

Erin studied him for a moment, trying to understand him. “So you would take it out on him but not on me?”

“I would deal with him—and then I would undoubtedly feel compelled to litter bruises across your posterior.”

She swallowed at the description while she fought the skittish feeling. “I thought it wasn’t your intention to hurt me.”

His eyes narrowed as his hands sank around her shoulders in nothing less than a death grip, his eyes blazing into hers for the space of several seconds. And then his mouth abruptly lowered as he skimmed her parted lips before trailing down, past her jaw line, down, until his lips sank onto the pale skin of her neck. Lightning went off in her head as he held her glued to him and began kissing her neck with such force that she began to see stars. Her legs began shaking and her heart began beating rapidly as she abruptly remembered what it felt like to lie underneath him.

She hung in his arms for how long, she didn’t know, but finally, he lifted his head. Her eyes snapped open and when she came to her senses, she found a ferocious look on his features.

He swung her around until her back was to his front and his arm sank around her middle, holding her tightly to him. He walked her forward a few feet until she was standing in front of a gilded mirror; Erin leaned back on him, her legs feeling like jelly. Her eyes were glued to his, watching his lips move as he snarled, “Look.”

She took a shaky breath and glanced into her own eyes—eyes that had darkened dramatically. Her gaze skipped over her reflection. Her hair was mussed, her cheekbones flushed. Her eyes dropped to her neck where he’d been kissing her so intensely only seconds before.