Bound and Determined (7 page)

Kerry hesitated. She didn’t know Rafe, shouldn’t trust him. But how many choices did she have?

She looked at his hands, his fingers. Why did her body remember his touch? She felt like a radio tuned in only to his frequency. Butterflies danced in her stomach.

Damn, she needed to focus her thoughts on abduction, not seduction.

“Kerry? You want to help your brother. I want you. Yes or no?”

Rafe was right.

Slowly, she lifted the chain from her neck and thrust the little key into the hole. The cuff came unhinged with a quiet click. Quickly, she deposited the key on the far side of the sitting area, directly on the windowsill. The spot was just beyond his reach, even with the pulleys fully extended. Still, she watched him for anything suspicious.

Rafe seemed to ignore her, instead flexing his fingers. “Much better.”

By his side again, Kerry sent him a lame nod. Silence fell. What now?

Then Rafe sent a stare her way—scorching with sexual promise, possessive even. The inky spikes of his lashes fanned up toward the sweep of his dark brows, framing unforgettable eyes that gleamed like brushed silver.

At that look, Kerry forgot to breathe. The butterflies had suddenly grown by leaps and bounds, either that or taken up air hockey. She wasn’t scared or intimidated. Nervous, definitely. She couldn’t even claim she was out of practice, since she’d never had much in the first place.

“I’ve thought about this all day,” he murmured.

Her stomach coiled so tight, Kerry wondered if she’d ever be able to eat again.

“But,” he added, “I’ve also had something else on my mind.” The wicked grin captured his mouth again, signaling the return of the devil inside him.

“Oh?” Kerry held her breath.

“One of the things I remember most vividly about the limo ride is your sheer little black panties. I want to see you in those.”

Kerry sucked in a breath. “You do?”

“Yeah,” he said in a voice now sandpaper rough. “And nothing else.”

K
erry knew her eyes widened like a kid’s at a horror movie, but she couldn’t stop the reaction. “N-now?” “Right now.” His gaze consumed her.

Her stomach plummeted to her toes. Why, oh why, had she done laundry last night when she couldn’t sleep? Why had she put those little panties on again this morning? No reason, except they made her feel daring, wanton, in control of her sexuality. Like the kind of woman who could handle abducting a sinfully attractive man. The kind of woman she wanted to be.

Kerry tried to drown out the voice in her head that cursed her hare-brained theories. It was too late to back out. A deal was a deal. Anything and everything, he’d said. All she had to do to help Mark—and help herself to a big dish of Rafe’s sex appeal—was cooperate.

He wanted her to strip for him. Scary, yes. But oddly arousing, too—wildly so. A tingling took up residence between her legs, as confidence and curiosity converged in her chest.

“All right.” Her voice never wavered.

He smiled, his stare devouring and challenging her at once. “Excellent.”

His cocky expression told her he didn’t believe she would
follow through, and normally Kerry feared he’d be right. But she’d be damned if she’d allow herself to be outdone by a man wearing nothing more than a sheet, handcuffs, and a killer smile. He could make demands, true, but she had the power. If nothing else, given her lingerie, she had the element of surprise.

Shooting him a daring stare, raking her gaze over his naked, bronzed chest, Kerry kicked aside her sandals. She hesitated only a fraction of a second before she reached for the bottom of her T-shirt.

“You’re wearing them now?” His hot stare drilled into her composure.

Biting her lip, she nodded.

“Even better.” Rafe smiled like a man contemplating a whole lot of sin. “Go on.”

Feeling a flush crawl up her neck, Kerry grabbed the hem of her T-shirt again, eased it over her head, and flung it away. Instantly, the refrigerated air whisked over her heated skin, cascaded over her nipples. He could nearly see them, Kerry knew, peeking over the top of the sheer lace black demibra that all but presented her breasts like an offering.

The smug smile slid off Rafe’s face. He stilled, gaze fixed and intent, then sat up. The sheet dropped to his hips, revealing the ripple of hard abs . . . and barely covering the rest of his remarkable equipment.

The bold appreciation in his stare made her forget the fact she stood half-naked before a virtual stranger, forget everything but him. His rapt body language replaced nerves with confidence. And unexpected liberation. The harder he stared, the more arousal tightened in her belly, heating her in every place suddenly aching for his touch. Her heart pounded like a heavy metal drummer out of control. Her panties . . . How could a man’s mere stare make them so damp? Kerry had never imagined that getting naked on command would flip her switch. Apparently, it did.

“Damn, woman.”

“Problem?” She feigned innocence, her self-assurance growing.

“No problem at all, babe,” he whispered. “I love a woman with real thighs, instead of twigs.”

Kerry felt as if she were glowing, as if she were enormously beautiful, not the woman who had grumbled about her hips while struggling into her size twelve shorts.

Suddenly, his mischievous smile returned. “The rest, please.”

At his prompt, she reached for the snap at her shorts with trembling hands, their gazes fused in heat. A pool of desire swirled low in Kerry’s belly, trickling down between her thighs as she eased down the zipper, the rasp of the metal teeth like a crescendo in the silence punctuated by her aroused breaths. The merest slice of those black panties appeared. His pupils dilated. Oh, she had his rapt attention. Her confidence—and her arousal—soared.

High on the surge of her feminine power, Kerry slid the shorts down the curve of her hips with an exaggerated wriggle. The denim caressed her thighs, then stopped in a heap at her feet.

She wore only sheer black undergarments, which hid absolutely nothing, and a brazen smile.

Her heartbeat pounded as perspiration gathered between her breasts, thrust together by the deceptively sturdy lace bra. And Rafe’s expression . . . hot, unblinking, intent. It alone made her melt. What would happen when he actually touched her?

“And that delectable little bra now . . .” he prompted, motioning with long, dark fingers.

Kerry’s heart chugged faster as she reached behind her, torn between a new attack of her nerves and sharp arousal. One, two . . . The hooks came undone, the bra fell forward. By some instinct, she caught the cups in her hands, barely covering her breasts.

Rafe’s chest rose and fell a bit more rapidly. He leaned forward until he came to his knees on the mattress, exposing a lean hip, the top of a muscular thigh. His gaze was now melded onto her. For a moment, Kerry closed her eyes but the stark appreciation in Rafe’s stare burned its way into her brain, scorched a path from her belly to her vagina. He wanted her—no question. In a fierce, reckless way, she wanted him, too, more than she ever would’ve imagined possible, given the circumstances. Arousal thickened inside her, dampening her
black panties. Was it having a man of his size and power at her mercy or knowing that she affected him on the most basic level that turned her on?

“Kerry?” His growl demanded she look at him.

She opened her eyes, taunted him with a come-hither stare—and dropped the bra.

Her nipples beaded under his sizzling gaze, now unbearably tight. Power, need, fear all swirled together. They played a dangerous game, and still Kerry wanted it, wanted his touch.

“Come here.”

Said the spider to the fly . . .

Refusing to back down, to be afraid, Kerry put one foot in front of the other, keenly aware of the gentle bobbing of her breasts as she stepped to the edge of the bed.

“Closer,” he whispered, finger crooked. “Where I can kiss you and touch every inch of your skin.”

Kerry hesitated, then wondered why. She had the upper hand. The key to the handcuffs lay far across the room, his cell phone tucked away in a closet he couldn’t reach. He did, however, have what she needed to gratify the hot ache bubbling inside her.

Drawing in a shallow breath, she sat on the edge of the bed, near his knee.

Rafe wrapped heated fingers around her arm, and her heart went into overdrive. Oh, even that touch felt like heaven. Desire coiled deep in her belly, winding even tighter when he caressed her arm up and down, thumb brushing the side swell of her breast.

“You’re so soft,” he murmured, moving in.

Closer he came, closer . . . He leaned toward her, his potent gaze focused on her mouth. She tingled with anticipation as she closed her eyes.

His skin felt as hot as a furnace as their chests met. His breath fanned across her cheek as he whispered, “I can’t wait to devour you.”

Kerry didn’t think it possible, but her heart beat even more wildly, the coil in the pit of her belly pulled tighter, the need between her legs ached deeper.

Then he kissed her. Nothing gentle or tentative. Rafe conquered her mouth, not with force but persuasion. His kiss
seduced her until she yearned to open to him and give him everything he wanted. The soft command of his lips over hers, his tongue luring her into the recklessly building fire between them, was too compelling to resist. He cupped her face and groaned, a sound that reverberated all through her body.

God, she was lost. Was there anything more decadent than having such a man’s single-minded attention, his rampant desire? If there was, she’d never felt it.

And he had yet to do more than kiss her.

Breathing hard, Rafe lay his forehead against hers. “Lie down beside me.”

His request . . . dangerous.
No, no, no,
her mind chanted. But who wanted to listen to reason at a time like this? The need he roused in her flared pure fire across her skin. No doubt, he could burn her all the way to the core if she wasn’t cautious.

But damn it, she’d been cautious her whole life. No one had ever incited this hot, wild feeling in her, made her so aware of herself as a woman. No man, especially not puking Richard of prom party fame, had ever made her ache with his very first touch.

Yes!
her body shouted.

A few shallow breaths later, Kerry succumbed to curiosity and the broiling flame in her belly and lay on her back, staring at him through slumberous, watchful eyes.

“You want to know what I’m going to do, don’t you?” The small smile on his face teased her with possibilities.

Her heart pounded out a frantic rhythm. “Yes.”

His smile widened as he cupped her breast. His fingers warmed the sensitive skin beneath. Kerry caught her breath, then recovered . . . until he flicked a thumb across her distended nipple. Yes, she’d been touched here, touched herself even. But it was nothing like this.

Kerry gasped as he repeated the process. Her nipples tightened to hard nubs. She felt her breasts swelling, the pleasure spreading. Then he started on the other. She caught her breath.

“So sensitive. So sexy,” he whispered against her nipple.

Rafe caught both the nubs between thumbs and fingers and rolled them in his firm grip. His touch was rife with pleasure . . . and a hint of pain. The sting of it ignited her, zinging fire
through her belly, straight between her legs. Lord, what else would he do to her?

As if he could read her thoughts, he reached around him to the bedside table. Puzzled, Kerry watched as he swiped the jelly off the corner of the toast she’d brought earlier. He rubbed it onto her breast, over her nipple. The cool sensation jolted her with a fresh jab of desire. Swallowing, Kerry knew what would come next, knew, and wanted it more than her next breath.

But no imagining or remembrance prepared her for his hot mouth covering her nipple, tongue swirling, teeth nipping, lips suckling, until Kerry thought she’d come out of her skin with pleasure. She gasped, thrashing on the bed as her arousal climbed to dizzying heights.

He reached around for another swipe of jelly, applying it to her other breast.

“Yes!” she shouted at the feel of his mouth on her freshly coated nipple.

In answer, he merely groaned, sending delicious vibrations through her body. She felt so tightly strung, so in need of release.

“You want to come?” he murmured into the valley between her breasts, dusting kisses on her abdomen.

Kerry hesitated, watching him. Did she answer yes, say she wanted to come more than anything? She wanted to, but had no experience with this kind of thing. Would he think her too brazen if she admitted aloud how much she wanted an orgasm?

“Don’t be afraid to say what you want,” he whispered, as if he understood her hesitation. Then he laved her nipple with his tongue. “Tell me everything you want. I want to give it to you.”

As his voice dropped to a wicked rasp, the fire in her belly raged hotter at his words. His teeth gently teased her nipple, his palm skimming the surface of her belly and hip. Pleasure burst and spread until she could hardly breathe.

“Yes,” she admitted raggedly as he sucked her nipple into his mouth again. “But . . . but I—oh, that feels good . . .”

He chuckled. “You were saying?”

“I thought . . .” Kerry tried to gather her thoughts in the face of such enormous pleasure. “I should be auditioning for you, not the other way around.”

Lifting his head for a moment, Rafe smiled with both mirth and warmth. “You are.”

“What?” she breathed.

His smile turned downright sinful. “I want to know that you can come for me. Readily and loudly. Half my pleasure is in feeling yours.”

Before Kerry could reply, Rafe lowered his head again, and the delicious rasp of his tongue over the sensitive curve of her breast coiled the desire inside her even tighter.

“Shouldn’t I be—Lord, I can’t think when . . . when you do that,” she stammered.

“So don’t think.”

Fighting the mounting confusion and desire, Kerry thrashed her head from side to side. “I should be arousing you.”

“Oh, you are. I can’t wait to hear you scream.” Rafe kissed a path up to her neck, nibbling until he sent shivers down her spine. “Grab the headboard.”