The Burlington Manor Affair

“What does that mean?”

“You gave me consent to take charge of you.”

She’d lost touch with what was being said and panic started to rise. “I did not.”

“I’m afraid you did.” The wicked gleam in his eyes emphasized the point.

Ordering her thoughts didn’t come easily. Her body was pounding in response to being in his arms and his blatant statement of intent.

“Do you want to withdraw your comment about it being easier for you, hmm, playing the sub?”

Carmen stared at him, aghast. Playing the sub?

She hadn’t said that, but...that’s what he’d read into it.

He began to climb the stairs, her weight apparently no hindrance as he darted up them with her in his arms. The way he took charge and controlled her physically was breathtaking. Acting on instinct, she locked her hands around the back of his neck. He paused on the landing at the top of the stairs and glanced down at her with a smile. “I thought not.”

He crossed the landing fast and kicked the door to his bedroom wide open. The sight of his bed should have made her squirm. Instead, she just stared at it as he approached, her body a rush of longing.

He threw her down onto the surface.

“Rex, please.”

“Rest assured I intend to take full advantage of the offer.”

“I didn’t make an offer.” She struggled to her feet. Rex had her caged by the edge of his bed.

He watched her, apparently amused. “Oh, yes, you did. You said that me being in charge made it easier.”

He had her over a barrel. “That wasn’t meant to be an offer, it was merely a comment.”

He didn’t answer that. Instead, he looked pointedly at what she was wearing. “When I saw that dress it made me think of you.”

Another knee-jerk response flew out of her. She couldn’t seem to keep on top of the conversation. “Why?”

He lifted one shoulder in a casual shrug. “I saw it and it instantly made me think of you. So I bought it. I carried it with me for three years.”

Carmen shook her head. “You’re just saying that. I’m well aware that you’ve had a very active love life. Why would you buy and keep a gift for another woman while dating some of the most beautiful women in Europe?”

“One of my whims...as you would call it, perhaps.” He gave a wry smile. “It was worth it, though. My expectations have been exceeded. Then again, the prize is so much better than the wrapping.”

Don’t listen to him, she urged herself. A clever ploy, using his dangerous charm to make her more malleable. “Your other women didn’t want it,” she said, clutching at anything she might use to defend herself.

“They weren’t shown it.” His tone was casual and yet there was an undertow there, a weighty inference that defied her to deny him. “The dress was bought for you and you alone.”

“That implies you knew we would see each other again.”

“Perhaps it does. I always wanted to see you again, but in that sense it was an impulse buy. It made me think of you, and I wanted it.”

Something fluttered inside her. It was the way he looked at her while he said, “I wanted it.”

“You seem to think I had an ulterior motive. It’s simply a gift. And it does suit you, you can’t deny that.”

Against her better judgment, Carmen was flattered. She glanced down, and instinctively ran her fingertips from the collar along the edge of the fabric where it curved around the outside of her left breast. “It is lovely.”

“On that we agree.” He was staring at her hand, and the outline of her breast through the sheer fabric. When her hand dropped away, he met her gaze. “Enough stalling.”

The comment, so direct and compromising, made her pulse hitch.