Trapped with the Tycoon

Braden wasn’t about to turn down an invitation like that, even if he’d smell like flowers when he got out. Being with Zara, no matter the circumstances, was totally worth it.

Zara scooted forward, giving him room to step in behind her. When his legs stretched out on either side of her, Braden pulled her back against his chest. She rested her head on his shoulder and peered up at him.

“Did you get your meeting taken care of?”

He scooped up bubbles and swiped them over her bent knees. “I did and now I’m all yours. Did you manage to work?”

“I added another event,” she stated, her voice lifting with excitement. “Parker Abrams was at your party the other night. His assistant sent me an email about working on his corporate event he hosts once a year for his employees. Apparently their last coordinator was caught making out with Parker’s intoxicated son. Great news headline, bad for business. But how am I any different? I’m sleeping with my boss.”

Braden smiled. “That’s great news for you. I promise to keep our fling a secret.”

Her lids closed, and Braden wanted to take back the words. This was starting to feel like more than a fling. He knew it, even if he didn’t admit it out loud. There was something deeper than intimacy going on here. Short-term was the only way he’d worked before, but now...he didn’t necessarily want to keep Zara a secret. She deserved more...they deserved more.

Zara rubbed her hand along the arm he had wrapped around her stomach. “I feel weird discussing business with you when we’re naked. It’s wrong...isn’t it?”

Nothing about this moment was wrong. Nothing about having Zara smiling, happy and naked was wrong.

Braden nuzzled against her neck. “Then maybe we shouldn’t talk.”

Zara’s slight groan had him reaching up to cup the side of her face, turning her so he could capture her lips. But the woman in his arms went a step further and turned until she faced him. Braden straightened his legs when she straddled his lap.

“I was lying here dreaming of you,” she told him as she poised herself above him. “I have no idea how we got to this point, but I don’t want to be anywhere else.”

Encircling her waist with his hands, Braden stroked her damp skin with his thumbs. “I don’t want anything between us, Zara.”

“I’ve always used protection, and I’m on birth control.” She tipped her hips, enough to nearly have his eyes roll back in his head. “What about you?”

“I’m clean and I’ve never been without a condom.”

She quirked a brow in silent question. Braden eased up enough to claim her mouth at the same time he thrust into her. That instant friction, skin to skin, no barriers, was so new, so all-consuming, he wanted to take a moment and just...feel.

But Zara started moving, starting those pants as she tore her mouth away and gripped his shoulders. When she tipped her head back and bit her lip, Braden was absolutely mesmerized by the woman who’d managed to have complete and total control over him. So much so he was letting her into his private life, into his home. He’d never brought a woman into his bed.

Zara was different. He’d known it from the moment she’d stepped into his office. And now she was his. Would he ever let her go?

The thought of losing her chilled him, but he refused to think on that now.

Braden slid his hands up her soapy sides and cupped her breasts. Sliding his thumbs back and forth earned him another groan as she arched her back.

“Look at me,” he demanded. He needed her to see him, to see them. Every primal part of him suddenly took over. “You’re mine.”

Those wide eyes locked on to his, and her mouth opened in a silent cry as he quickened the pace.

“Say it.” Braden went back to gripping her waist, holding her still so he could gain back control. “Say you’re mine, Zara.”

“Yes,” she cried. “Only yours.”

When his hand dipped in the water and touched her intimately, she shattered all around him. Braden would never tire of seeing her come undone, of knowing he caused her pleasure. This was his, she was his. No other man would experience Zara so long as Braden was around, because he wasn’t kidding and he hadn’t been swept into the heat of the moment when he’d demanded she say she belonged to him.

Just as her trembling stopped, Braden squeezed her waist and let himself go. Zara leaned down, whispering something into his ear. He didn’t grasp what she was saying; it didn’t matter. This woman in his arms was all he needed for tonight, for tomorrow.