She looks down at my length pressing against the slacks, then back up at me. She gives me a one-sided grin.
“Do you usually have to pay women to suck your dick?” she asks, tilting her head.
I smile. Study her. “You’re poking a bear, sweetheart.”
“That’s sad, really, a man like you, having to pay women to fuck him.”
“On your knees. Let’s put that mouth to the use it was intended for.”
“Are you always such a jackass?”
“You bring out the best in me. Kneel.”
“I’m not putting that thing in my mouth.”
“Do you prefer to take it up your ass?” From the look on her face, it’s not what she expected. “We’ll get to that, I promise, but I was easing you in, sweetheart.”
“Stop calling me that. I am not your sweetheart.”
“You’ll be whatever I want you to be. You’re bought and paid for, remember? Now get on your knees before you piss me off.”
Her face goes red and rage rolls off her.
I open my mouth to say something, but I don’t expect what she does next.
I don’t expect her to slap me, not after my warning.
Her gasp comes an instant after her hand collides with my face.
I force a long, deep breath, feeling the sting of the slap. Feeling the rage bubble inside me. I tighten the muscles of my gut to tamp it down, to control it.
I’m bigger than her. Stronger. I can hurt her in a way she can’t hurt me. I have to be careful.
When I shift my gaze back to hers, she has her hands to her mouth and her eyes are huge. She’s staring at me like she can’t fucking believe what she just fucking did.
It takes me a long time before I speak.
“You want to play rough, Melissa?” The words are a low, almost whispered threat.
She swallows, shaking her head. Streaks of black line her cheeks, a trail of mascara and tears.
“Because I can do rough.”
She gives a scream when I lift her off the floor, throw her over my shoulder. I feel like a caveman as I stalk down the hall, slapping her ass once as her fists pound against my back.
My bedroom is the last one, it takes up the whole of the back of the penthouse. I walk in, flip the light switch so the lamps on either side of the bed go on. They cast a warm, yellow light, as the clear glass of the windows turns smoky, darkening.
Windows for walls here too. The city lights beyond. Quiet but for the sounds she makes as she struggles.
I toss her on her back onto the bed.
She bounces on the mattress.
I stare down at her, at her pretty, naked body, small and soft and supple. I unbutton the top buttons of my shirt, undo the cuffs, taking my time as I watch her lying there watching me. Once it’s half-unbuttoned, I pull it over my head.
She looks at me, takes in my chest, my arms.
On the outside, I look like a businessman. Underneath the thousand-dollar suits, I could be mistaken for the enforcer.
Her eyes zero in on the tattoo she can see.
“Respect all. Fear none,” I tell her.
At least until they prove you wrong.
Her gaze shifts to my eyes.
I strip off my pants, and they move south to the dragon along my thigh and hip, and it’s like she can’t stop looking and doesn’t know where to look, especially when I take off my briefs and she sees my hard cock. I watch her for a moment as she takes it in and when she meets my eyes again, I see a slight panic inside them.
I put one knee on the bed. “You want me to be rough with you?”
She’s up on her elbows, then her hands, and inching backwards away from me.
I grab her ankle, tug her back down and lay my weight on her. With one hand, I grip the hair at the back of her head, force her to look at me and all the while, I feel her wetness against my belly, my cock.
“Some women need it. Do you need it, Melissa? You need me to be rough so you come?”
She shakes her head as much as she can, watching me, her breathing short and audible.
She looks different than I expect. Panicked.
And mute.
I have to remember she’s not the usual sort of woman I bring up here. Any fear those women show is an act.
This one, I get the feeling she’s not acting.
I shake off the thought.
I just paid a quarter-of-a-million-dollars for her. I’m fucking her. And for that price, she’d better be one hell of a fuck.
Without taking my eyes off her, I open the nightstand drawer, take out a condom. What I want most is to sink my cock into her bare, but I don’t need complications.
“Cat got your tongue?” I ask, kneeling up over her to roll the condom on.