The Vampyre Legal Chronicles - Marcus (11 page)

And she
couldn’t help it, she shivered.

"I plan to
touch you, to kiss every single inch of your skin." Marcus licked
his lips as his eyes went black with arousal, a dark possession,
that thrilled her.

"You know I
don't want you to stop."

He slid her
jacket down arms now held rigid at her sides and threw it in the
general direction of a chair. His knuckles gently grazed her chin
as he started to unbutton her silk blouse. Instantly her nipples
went hard so fast she gasped.

Her belly ached
deep down with an arousal that shocked her in its intensity.

She might have
dreamed of this moment, but not like this, never like this.

The reality of
his touch on her skin was so much better than any dream.

His deep voice
rumbled in his chest.

"Let me touch
you."

Anais stood
absolutely still as he tugged her blouse out of the waistband of
her skirt.

Her heart
hammered a frantic tattoo in her throat as she tried to swallow,
tried to believe what was happening.

"Marcus,
please. I don't think..."

He pressed a
long finger to her quivering lips.

Those eyes went
cold and utterly ruthless.

"Think about
what, Anais? You don’t have a choice if you want to become a
partner."

What?

Sincerely
shocked, Anais just stared into those deep blue eyes. Eyes that
seemed to reel her in. It was as if he was two separate people.

One minute
those eyes held something like affection for her and the next
they'd gone cold and dark with what looked like possession. She'd
seen the ruthless side of Marcus first hand during the long hours
she'd worked for him and understood it, admired it even. A man
didn't reach the pinnacle of a cutthroat career without being
merciless. But he'd never directed that ruthlessness on her.

Until now.

He'd told her
he wanted to kiss every part of her body and that was fine with
her.

But now the
pull of having her heart's desire, of becoming a partner in the
company
if
she slept with him sank into her stunned brain.
And that little voice in her head whispered,
'Why not?'

Why not?

Because she
wasn't built that way, that was why not, she snapped back and told
the voice to shut the hell up.

Again, she
studied those eyes boring into hers and for a second she was almost
certain he could read her mind.

Or, was it
possible that this was some sort of challenge? A test?

She wasn't
putting up a fight, on the contrary, so why say that if she had sex
with him she'd become a partner? Surely he knew she wasn't the type
of woman to sleep her way to the top?

Her stomach
dropped as disappointment in him warred with her vicious arousal.
The man she’d admired and put on a pedestal had just proved he was
the same as all the rest who couldn’t see beyond a pretty face and
a lush body.

No matter how
hard she’d worked to play down her appearance her looks had always
been her Achilles heel. In the office she’d tied her black hair
back in an unflattering style, wore little or no make-up along with
buttoned up shirts and suits but it never seemed to make any
difference.

Guys, even the
married ones, always looked at her with hungry desire.

That muscle in
his jaw ticked again as those amazing eyes went too dark and
intense and she couldn’t look away as he opened her blouse and
peeled it off her shoulders.

Oh, God.

She couldn't
think logically and swallowed audibly as those eyes burned a path
over her slim shoulders and small breasts encased in a tissue thin
bra of ivory silk.

She wanted
him.

She didn't want
him.

Not like
this.

"I don't
understand, Marcus." And that was an understatement. "Surely there
must be another way I can make it up to you?"

He quirked a
dark brow and his voice went silky smooth.

"You want to
make it up to me?"

Sheer panic
made her breath hitch as his hands tested the weight of her small
breasts, as his thumbs rubbed the oversensitive peaks nestled in
her sheer bra.

Fright that she
was about to throw herself at him made her voice high. "Of course I
do! I’ll do anything you want."

"I don’t think
you quite realize what I want, Anais."

Tears flooded
her eyes.

She did
understand.

He wanted
something with no strings and she wanted him, too.

Just not like
this.

She wanted the
man who'd kissed her last night and just now.

The man she
adored.

Not this
horrible cold and calculating stranger who was looking at her as if
he wanted to devour her.

"Marcus, I made
a stupid little mistake."

His fingers
slid the skinny straps of her bra very slowly down her arms to her
elbows and his deep voice went husky with arousal.

"Do as I say
and I’ll overlook your stupid little mistake."

Her eyes
flickered from his, to his mouth, to his groin and the need she saw
tented there made her breath hitch.

"You want to
make love to me?"

She needed to
hear him say it, to spell out his needs in words of one
syllable.

This wasn’t a
dream.

This was a
nightmare.

And was she
going to let him have her?

The last time
she’d been with a man was at University and it hadn’t been a great
experience.

Marcus gave a
soft laugh.

"I'm going take
you hard and in every conceivable way."

Astounded, not only at
the words but at the intention behind those words, Anais saw a
flash of something burn too bright in his eyes, quickly hidden, as
he turned away and began to unbutton his shirt.

Anger with him,
and with herself, at last began to scorch her cheeks.

"Don't you
realise there's no need to bribe me to have sex with you?" she said
to his bare back and couldn't help but admire the rippling muscles
under his smooth skin. And that butt was so tight she wanted her
hands on him, now.

"Don't you
realise I always reward an act of personal sacrifice?" he responded
in a rough voice that held something she couldn't understand.

She
blinked.

He thought it
was a personal sacrifice for her to make love with him?

Was he
crazy
?

What was it
about him that made her want to scream in utter frustration.

"Don’t you worry,
darlin’," he said without missing a beat. "You’ll be screaming all
right, but in a good way."

Stunned that he'd
somehow read her mind, Anais opened her mouth and then it snapped
shut as he turned and stood before her with his hands on his
hips.

She couldn’t drag her
eyes from his amazing body. He was built like a Gladiator. All
smooth skin over sculpted muscle. The need to touch that skin with
her fingertips, her mouth, and shockingly, the need to sink her
teeth into him nearly brought her to her knees. The urge to bite
him was so strong her mouth watered.

What was the
matter with her?

His watchful
eyes never left hers as he began to unbuckle his belt.

Those deep blue
eyes burned a path over her body.

"Strip," he
said in a voice that chilled her to the bone.

Controlling.

Dominant.

She'd read
about men who liked to be dominant in the bedroom, of course she
had. But surely there had to be trust between consenting adults
before they explored their sexuality in that way?

And then she
realised that she did trust him.

However, Anais
wasn't sure she had it in her to submit.

It wasn't in
her nature.

Her hands
trembled as they covered her small breasts now, even as they
swelled in a way that caught her breath in her throat.

How could she
be so turned on and so terrified at the same time?

"Marcus,
please..."

"It’s up to
you. Do exactly as I say or lose your job."

His voice
sounded hard and totally devoid of emotion.

Right there was
the clarity of her situation. And Anais decided she hated him for
doing this to her.
Hated
him. But walking away before she'd
had a taste of what it was like to feel him buried deep within her
was simply not an option.

She had a
choice to make.

A choice she
knew had the potential to change her life.

She wanted him,
but not at any price. And she certainly was not prepared to turn
her back on her ethics and values. So she would have sex with him,
however he wanted it. And afterwards she would tell him she didn't
want the job and walk away with her integrity and her pride
intact.

The small smile
that curved that fabulous mouth, made her nervous and now those
dark eyes were hot with a burning desire. And the heavy pulse of
his need, thick and strong jerked between his legs.

Her hands were
trembling so much she fumbled with the button and zip of her
skirt.

It pooled to
the floor and she stepped out still in her shoes.

Her stockings
were sheer holdups in black silk.

She moved to
take off her shoes and his rough command stopped her in her
tracks,

"Leave the
stockings and the high heels."

She froze.

Kinky sex?

How could this
be happening?

The trembling
afflicting her body made her legs weak.

Anais stood
before him in her matching bra and thong.

"Marcus," she
whimpered.

“Strip, Anais,”
he ordered, his voice deep and throaty with arousal.

Now she went
hot and then cold.

The room
spun.

Perhaps this
was a dream?

None of it, the
unsnapping of her bra, the way it dropped from her nerveless
fingers or how the way her soft breasts swayed felt real.

His sudden
intake of breath made her squeeze her eyes tight.

"Darlin’, you
are so beautiful," he said, his voice no more than a whisper.

Her fingers plucked the
silky ribbon of her thong.

"Marcus?" her
plea was no more than a whisper of breath.

In response he
whipped the slim belt out of the loops of his jeans, undid the
button and pulled down the zip before he moved into her.

His hand rose
to cup the vulnerable curve of her neck.

It was a move
that screamed, control, possession.

He pulled her
close.

And all the
while those fabulous eyes never left hers.

A sensation of
drowning, sinking into a deep blue sea overwhelmed her.

Anais licked
her lips as the scent of his shampoo and clean salty sweat made her
head spin.

The heel of his
hand pressed hard against the swollen flesh between her thighs in a
way that again screamed ownership and her mouth went bone dry.

His breath
scorched her cheeks as he inhaled.

"I love your
scent. You’ve wanted this for a long time, Anais."

Her cheeks
burned with a potent mix of shame and arousal.

He was
right.

She did want
him and wondered how she'd resisted the constant tension and
heightened state of awareness that had besieged them for too many
months. How had she resisted a sexual chemistry that her intuition
told her might be so catastrophic to her well-being it had the
ability to destroy her.

If she did this
Anais knew she would never, ever, be the same again.

And her body
was responding to his, to the fantastic scent of his peppery
cologne, turned on healthy male and something else. Something dark
and exotic that sang in her blood as it raced through her
veins.

A toxic mix of
a merciless arousal, and deep humiliation that she simply could not
resist this man, made her breath sob in her throat in hard little
pants.

"Please,
Marcus."

She gasped.

With a quick
tug, he ripped her thong.

Then her whole
body jolted as his clever fingers slicked across her swollen
arousal, exploring the over sensitive flesh in a way that had her
pelvis tilt back and forth against his hand.

She’d never
felt anything like it, never behaved like this.

Her body was
humming from her scalp to the tips of her toes.

Her gasp of
pleasure had him nuzzle the delicate skin of her neck.

"My kind have a
heightened olfactory sense." Dimly Anais realised his words made
absolutely no sense to her. But the way he was touching her she
couldn't think, couldn't breathe. "You’re so wet, so hot and so
ready for me," he growled in her ear before nipping her tender lobe
and licking the tiny sting in a way that made her flesh quiver.

Then he wrapped
the belt around her wrists and pulled it tight locking her hands
together.

And then her
brain was unable to think at all.

His thigh
spread her legs wider.

"You’re going
to pay for your little mistake today, darlin’."

Dear God.

She was
standing in front of him naked and he’d tied her wrists!

The injury to
her hand ached so badly it made her eyes sting.

Anais struggled
to free her hands, but she was bound tight.

What was he
going to do to her?

Her body might
hum with a dark heightened arousal, but her logical brain wasn’t so
certain.

"Marcus.
Please," she begged for something, everything.

Then she was no
longer certain what she wanted as his fingers slid and snaked
across her slick swollen flesh winding the inner tendons of her
womanhood tighter as her body raced towards a relentless
climax.

When his lips
crushed hers in a kiss that branded her as his, Anais moaned into
his mouth. His tongue replicated the fast slide of his fingers that
had her clench the muscles of her core and drench his hand.