My cheeks suddenly burn. What the fuck did I just do?! I came in here to fight this guy, and here I am, the taste of his come on my lips—and fuck, is he sweet.
I stand up suddenly, running my hand through my hair and looking at him with wide eyes. “I...I have to…” I say, my mind a blur as I look around me, a haze of post-orgasmic lust. He tilts his head with a smile that tells me he knows what I’m thinking, but he does nothing to stop me as I pull my shorts up, clasp my bra, and hurry out the tent, making a beeline for my trailer as fast as my legs can carry me.
I just got fucked by the man who’s going to endanger this entire research project!
I stare at the red mark on my neck Will gave me. “Fuck,” I mutter under my breath.
But the word is hollow. I should be embarrassed about it and put makeup over it, with a polo shirt. But I keep looking at it because every time I think about Will claiming me like he did yesterday, I feel myself getting warm all over again.
What happened yesterday? I’m a Master’s student here on important work, but that guy...he had me drinking in his cum within a few minutes of my being in front of him.
Okay, maybe I can rationalize it away. He’s hot, and I hadn’t had any action before him. Who could resist him? But I know there’s something more to it just under my skin that I have to push down, even as I feel my desire burning again.
It’s early in the morning, and the workers are at it again. As long as they’re there, I can’t get any work done, and I may as well be taking a vacation out here. So after a quick word with the workers and a short
cab drive, I’m pulling up to the local government building.
To my confusion, I was told that Will Delaney has a temporary office here, and that he’s working closely with this tiny country’s president. Fucking venture capitalists exploiting the locals as usual, I figure. But I storm into the building undaunted, ready to give him a piece of my mind.
“Will Delaney,” I snap at the secretary as I storm in, knowing his name will get some attention. “I need to see him. Tell him Harper is here.”
The secretary blinks at me in surprise, but at my name, she raises her eyebrows and nods, and a few moments later, I’m walking towards his office on the top floor of the building. It’s a sleek entryway, marble floors and fine mahogany doors. There are statues of past presidents nearby, and I can’t imagine how much clout Will must have to command such a presence with the officials here.
I push the door open to see the back of a large leather armchair facing a window that looks out over the front of the building, and I can see Will’s towering frame behind it, looking down at the scenery of the island. Bastard probably watched me pull up.
“Will!” I shout, storming forward, but he doesn’t turn to face me. He just laughs that same, deep, amused laugh
“You look lovely today, Harper,” he says, and I notice the camera feed on his desktop, and I clench my fists. I made an effort to look professional today, wearing a white pencil skirt and blazer and a bright red blouse, fiercer and more pronounced than yesterday’s. My hair is down this time, and I’m wearing a light layer of makeup to accentuate my eyes and lips, which is about as much as I ever wear. “Did you just want to make yourself look good for me? You’ve done a good job. I really should reward the effort.”
My jaw sets, but his words are having an effect on me, and I look down at myself, doubt already creeping in. Did something in my subconscious spur me to get this dolled up for him? I thought it looked professional, but as I look down at the heels I was wearing when I met him, damn it, I’m sexy.
“That’s not why I’m here, Will,” I say firmly, stepping forward to the desk. “I’m here because I want to have a serious conversation.”
“I’ve heard your concerns,” he says, waving dismissively in a way that makes color rise to my cheeks. “But my point stands. I can’t let some student’s pet project get in the way of my work.”
“What are you doing?” I ask, not budging, but his firmness sends a warmness through me, the cool command with which he carries himself. I feel like a child asking her father for a favor in front of him like this.
For the first time, he turns around in his chair and stands up, slowly walking around the table as he locks eyes with me, speaking slowly. “Delaney Enterprises is a non-profit. We’re here on request. The locals have spent years raising funds for the project going on outside your trailer — a clean water system running from a nearby spring to the poorest parts of town. They provide the planning and the labor, we provide the machinery.”
My jaw drops, and I feel punched in the gut.
“Your work might be disrupted by the project,” he says, stepping up to me, looming, “but countless lives will be improved by what I’m doing here. I will not budge. No matter how much your presence awakens something...unexpected within me,” he adds, his voice getting lower as he wraps his hand around my waist and pulls me in, and I don’t even try to put up a fight as I look up at him.
This is the one thing I didn’t come here to do. I can’t let this happen...can I? But there’s something about him that I can’t seem to resist, and then an idea comes to me that my instincts and my judgement finally come to an agreement on. It’s a long shot...but it might be my only chance of meeting this god among men halfway, because I’m not about to fight a charity like this.
“I didn’t realize…” I start, but then I raise a hand, laying it on his chest softly. “I’m sorry. I thought you were something very different.”
He smiles, a rumble in his chest as he leans in. “Don’t be so quick to think I’m all sunshine just yet, Harper.”
I swallow before I manage to speak again. “I know. That’s why I have a proposal.” I can’t believe what I’m about to say, something utterly primal awakened in me because of this superior man. “Let’s work together.”
He laughs, and my heart sinks. “Work together? Oh, girl, I enjoy you more than anyone I’ve had before, but don’t think you can start making demands.”
“Not demands,” I say quickly, pressing my hips up against his, and I feel the warmth in his stiffening cock. “Work with me to keep your project eco-friendly — help the locals while keeping the ecosystem intact.”
“That’s a lot of resources, girl,” he says, his voice with a threatening edge to it. I shiver, excitement running through me. He could break me so easily.
“I’m here for a year,” I whisper, barely a breath. “If you help me...I’ll be yours for all that time.”