“Come outside with me for a minute,” he told Ria. He took her hand in his and led her out the door. He could sense she was uncomfortable with the move Ajax had taken. And he wanted to get her out of there before she could interfere and make things worse for Sophie.
He guided her out onto the balcony. Before she could gather her defenses back up, he pulled her close and kissed her. He pushed her back against the building, surrounding her with the feel of him. When he drew back, she stared up at him, completely dazed. Her mouth opened then closed.
“Hmm, now I know how to get you to be quiet. I just kiss you.”
She brought up her hand. It was shaking. She pointed her finger at him. “You won’t be doing that again.”
“No?”
“No.”
“So next time you’ll kiss me?”
“I will not.”
He smiled. “We’ll see.”
She just stared up at him for a few breaths then she groaned and ran her hand over her face. “I can’t believe I just did that. You’ve been lying to me about who you are.”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Uh, yes, you have. I didn’t even know your last name! Was kissing me part of the investigation?”
His temper stirred. “No, it certainly was not. In fact, I’ve done my best to stay away from you because of the investigation. Because I didn’t want to lie or get involved with you until I knew who the thief was. But now that I know, there’s nothing holding us back.”
She shook her head. The fact that she looked scared had him backing off a little. He ran a finger down the side of her face. “Little wildcat, I’m not going to hurt you.”
She snorted. “Right. Heard that before.”
He’d love to know who’d promised not to hurt her. Because they obviously hadn’t kept that promise. But he also knew that asking Ria questions was a surefire way to get her to clam up and shut him out. He had to be far sneakier.
He figured he was going to be around for a bit longer. Roarke wasn’t going to let a blackmailer run around his club. And now that he knew she wasn’t the thief it freed him up to take things a step further.
He cupped her chin, raising her face. “We can both feel there’s something here. An attraction. It can go as far as you want it to. But I’m hoping, that while I’m here, you might want to explore that attraction with me. And you might want to play.”
“I’m not a sub.”
He ran his thumb over her lower lip. “If you say so.”
Her gaze narrowed. “Don’t talk to me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like I’m a child who doesn’t know what they need. Or who they are.”
“You know who you are, Ria. But for some reason you’re denying that part of you. I’d love to know why.”
She remained stubbornly silent. Yeah, he didn’t think she was going to suddenly confess her secrets.
“I also think that part of you is becoming harder and harder to deny.”
“Yeah? Why’s that?”
“Because you knelt for me.”
“So what? That was just some weird thing. It’s never happened before.”
“No? So, you haven’t been trained as a sub? And, before you answer, you should know that lying is going to get you into trouble with me.”