Rex strode away across the room and retrieved a chair from beside the wardrobe. Stationing it in front of her—so that she was still trapped between him and the bed—he stood behind it with his hands resting on the back.
Bizarrely, his pose reminded her of a lion tamer.
“What are you wearing under it?”
“As you are well aware, not a lot.” The dress was backless so she hadn’t been able to wear a bra with it. It scooped low at the back and the fabric rippled across the base of her spine, offering her a sensuous caress every time she moved.
“Show me.”
“What?”
He locked her gaze. “Lift your skirt and expose your underwear to me.”
A rush so hot hit her that she wavered unsteadily. He really intended to do this, to issue her sexual instructions. However, it was the fact that it turned her on so much that astonished her. What happened to keeping him at arm’s length? She’d succumbed, and now he’d well and truly launched his seductive powers on her. She’d walked into his trap.
He sat down on the chair and observed her as she stood there, unable to move without his instruction. Gesturing with one finger, he indicated the scalloped hem of the dress.
It was unbelievable, but some perverse part of her actually wanted to do as he said—she not only wanted to obey, she wanted to reveal herself to him. Good sense had gone. In its place was a visceral physical response to his instructions, as if his command had a magnetic pull on her that she couldn’t resist.
With trembling fingers, Carmen grasped the fabric with one hand and lifted it to reveal her stocking tops. Fixing her attention on him, she watched his response as the silky material swished against her bare skin above the lace-edged black stockings she wore. She paused, her heart thundering.
His eyes darkened, then narrowed. “Higher.”
Lifting the fabric with both hands, she revealed her sheer black lace panties. Embarrassment hit her hard, but it was wildly arousing, too, standing there with her skirt pulled up to her hip bones for him.
Rex hummed approvingly. “So beautiful,” he murmured.
The pulse in her groin beat wildly, heat gathering fast between her thighs. She squeezed them together.
“So obedient, too,” Rex added.
Carmen reacted, dropping the skirt quickly back into place.
Rex laughed. When he made eye contact again he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He was a predator, and she was in danger of falling completely under his seductive spell.
“So this really is your kink,” he commented. “Well, well, I always wanted to know what made you tick. Now I know. My, oh, my, what fun we are going to have.”
The more he teased her, the deeper she got into a setup she wasn’t sure of. He’d turned her into that. This wasn’t something she’d have ever done. Panicking, she turned away. “This was a mistake. I think I should go.”
Rex was on his feet and at he
r back in a flash, his hands on her shoulders arresting her.
“Let me go.” She tensed, her hands fisting by her sides as she resisted him. But his body at her back felt good. Her ability to think straight slipped away.
“You don’t mean that.” He lowered his head alongside hers, resting a trail of kisses on the sensitive skin of her neck. One hand curved around her hip bone and he eased her back against him. The other was on the opposite shoulder, where he stroked her, soothing and arousing her all at once.
Carmen felt as if she was sinking under his will, but it was too good.
“That’s better, isn’t it?” He brushed one finger around the curve of her waist.
His touch clung to her, crackling along her nerve endings.
“If I’d known you were like this, well...I would have wanted you even more.”
Carmen wavered. “Even more?”
He turned her around and tipped her chin up in order to look deep into her eyes. How easily he controlled her...and how good it felt.