“I don’t have a spare,” she said, hitting the button to pop open her trunk. She brushed past him, and he followed. But she wasn’t paying him any mind as she leaned into the trunk for her purse.
“Not that it would help, with two flats,” he said, trying to keep his anger in check. Someone had done this intentionally, and every protective instinct he had rode him hard. He couldn’t help but scan the street and alleys around them, searching for whoever had done this. It was likely some punk kids, but the edge of fear gnawing at him wouldn’t let up. “Let’s get you back inside.”
He didn’t hear her reply with her head so far in her trunk. Where was her purse? Tahoe? He admired the view for a second, remembering the sexy lingerie she wore beneath his coat and also the supple skin beneath those lacy strips of fabric.
He groaned aloud and wrapped his arms around her waist, tugging her backward. She moved with him as she had when he was thrusting deep inside her. This time, though, she swatted at his hand. “I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. I’m going to have to call for a tow, anyway.”
“Then why are you shoving me away?”
She turned in his arms and tilted her head up to look him in the eye. “Because you don’t need to manhandle me every second you’re within arm’s reach.”
“Oh, I beg to differ.”
She rolled her eyes again and then shoved his chest hard. He stepped back, almost slipping on the edge of the curb.
She took out her phone and dialed quickly, then rattled off what he assumed was her member number to her roadside car service. The fact that she had it memorized said she used it far too often.
She gave her location and waited for confirmation, then ended the call and slid the phone back into her purse, which she kept on her shoulder. She closed the empty trunk, and the car beeped, the locks engaging with a click. “Great. This is fantastic.”
She reached up to her earlobe and rubbed it delicately. He found himself leaning forward to place a small kiss over her earlobe and finger. She jerked back as if he’d shocked her. Maybe he had. Like it was a nervous gesture she did automatically, unconsciously. She blinked as if trying to refocus on him.
“Let’s get inside,” he said.
She shook her head. “Tow truck will be here soon enough.”
“And then what?”
“I’ll have him tow me to the garage and call a cab home from there.”
“Nope. We’ll wait inside until he gets here, and then he can tow it to the garage and I’ll take you home. I’m not letting you go off in the middle of the night dressed like that with some tow truck driver and then a cabbie.”
“You don’t actually get a say in the matter.” She stepped back and glared at him. “Clearly my
don’t think this means anything
comment didn’t get through that thick skull of yours. Whatever happened upstairs tonight was a fluke. It was physical. I’m not going to try and deny that I liked it, because we both know it would be a lie. But that doesn’t give you the power to
have
an opinion on what I do with my life, let alone tell me what I am and am not going to do. So you can shove it, Chase.”
Shit. He’d said the wrong thing. Again. Would nothing ever go right with this woman? He failed to mention that for him, her submission meant exactly that. She was his now, even if temporarily. Whether or not she wanted to accept his dominance didn’t change the way he wanted to treat her. The way he needed to protect her as his own.
Push forward or back off? He didn’t know which approach to take. Sometimes she submitted, bending to his strength of will. And then, just when he thought he knew which reaction he’d get, she surprised him, lashing out with her tongue and her wit, and he found that equally as exciting as her submission.
A submissive who wouldn’t submit. There was a word for that in his world: a brat. He didn’t think she was being bratty on purpose to get his attention or to be punished, but damn if it didn’t have the same effect. He pushed her up against the side of the car, pinning her body there with his. She gasped, glancing around wildly, but didn’t scream for help or shove him away again.
Her gaze, when she returned it to his, was heated with desire. And something a lot more dangerous. The stubborn set of her jaw enticed him, encouraged him to kiss away the defiance. He dipped his head and nibbled his way up her jawbone to her earlobe. She shivered beneath his touch, but her body didn’t relax. He wasn’t above seducing her into submission. In fact, that sounded like a brilliant idea. He cupped her hip through the folds of his coat and sucked her earlobe into his mouth.
She groaned but held her body rigid. “Get off,” she said through gritted teeth.
He released her earlobe and chuckled, then whispered, “Oh, sweetheart, I am trying to. But you seem to be giving me a bit of trouble.” He thrust his hard cock against her.
She smacked her open palm into his chest, but he didn’t budge.
“Look, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t order you about.” He didn’t say he wouldn’t, or that he didn’t have the right to as she seemed to think, simply that he
shouldn’t
. Because it got him in trouble. And maybe that was cause to do it instead of a reason not to. Perhaps
he
was the brat. “But you know it’s safer if you let me take you home.” He appealed to her sensible side, knowing it was buried deep within the brazen beauty who’d taken on two bodyguards double her size in order to get in the club. To him.
He kept his head thoroughly nuzzled into her neck, licking, kissing her flesh as he told her all the reasons she should let him take her home.
“Safer for whom?” she said on a moan.
He thrust his hips into her again. He wanted to lift her coat and rip away the panties beneath to sink his way into her hot sheath. Forget that they were on the street. Or that they were mere yards from his club and doing so could put his business in even more jeopardy. He couldn’t seem to care.
“Chase,” she said, his name a plea on her lips. The sound of it buckled his legs, and he slammed his hands down on the roof of her car to keep steady. God, he could get used to that edge of desperation in her voice. Knowing he’d driven her there took his pleasure to new heights. He had the sudden urge to pound on his bare chest. The friction of the trench coat rubbing against his skin with every squirm she made only revved him up more.
The blaring ring of her phone startled them both, and he rose to his full height, though he kept his body firmly pressed against hers. With shaking hands, she retrieved her phone from inside her huge bag. What the hell did the woman carry in that thing, anyway? An entire library?
She answered the phone. “Hello?” After a pause, she continued, “Yes, that’s great. See you soon.” She hung up and put her cell back in her purse.
“Tow truck?” he asked.
“Yeah, should be here shortly.” That would give them plenty of time to collect their wits.
Son of a bitch. He’d practically had her eating out of his hand. A few more minutes, and she would have agreed to anything, including but not limited to letting him drive her home.
She looked up expectantly at him. He thought about not taking the hint, but after a moment, he stepped back, putting an inch, maybe two between them. The scowl on her face told him she didn’t think that was enough space, but too damned bad.
“Please, just let me drive you home. It’s no big deal. And you’ll get home quicker without having to wait for the tow truck to load your car, drop it at the garage, and then getting a cab home.”
“Don’t you have responsibilities here?” Her voice was defiant, and he had the urge to hold her down and kiss her senseless. She couldn’t be defiant if his tongue was delving in and out of her mouth, now, could she? The idea held definite possibilities. But he refrained. Barely.
“D can hold down the fort for the last hour or so we’re open. I trust him.”
She bit her bottom lip. His gaze zeroed in on the movement, and she quickly tilted her head up, grinning. When he raised his gaze to her eyes, he saw they were sparkling with amusement. Shit. She’d obviously noticed the way he’d focused so intently on those delicious lips of hers. It didn’t do to let her know how badly she affected him. But since he’d taken her from
I don’t do obedience
to following his every order, at least in his office, he supposed he might have some effect on her as well.
“Fine. You may drive me home.” She said it like she was deigning to do
him
a favor, not the other way around.
With a smirk, he moved back another half step and admired the view. She was equal parts adorable and sexy in the oversize trench coat. Her hair was still completely tousled from his attentions, a rosy blush colored her cheeks, and there was a distinct pinkened color on her neck where his mouth had been less than gentle.
She leaned back against the car, her body more relaxed as she gazed up at him. Pride swelled as she perused his chest, as if wondering how he would taste. Maybe after she let him take her home, he’d let her find out.
Chapter Eleven
Liz sat in the leather bucket seat of Chase’s car. The thing was freaking gorgeous. Fast, sleek, sexy. A lot like its owner. She settled into the seat, and her gaze, though she tried to keep it locked on the window, kept straying to her…whatever Chase was to her. She didn’t really want to worry about that right now. So in a classic self-preservation move, she took a deep breath and ignored those thoughts.
She gave him directions as he drove, and watched with fascination while he navigated the city streets with speed and ease.
“So, what made you come to the club tonight? And why were you crying beforehand?” He stared at her from the driver’s seat, his dark eyes intense, drawing her in.
“Watch the road!” she chided after a full minute.
“Not until you answer me.” His voice was firm, and his gaze never wavered. The car lurched forward as he shifted into fifth gear.
Liz’s heart pounded. She didn’t want to answer him. But she didn’t want to die in a fiery wreck either. Her mouth dried, her palms sweat, and she had to clamp her muscles tightly to keep from squirming under that penetrating, all-focused stare.
“Well, it wasn’t really on purpose. I’d gotten lost, kind of driving around aimlessly. Then I looked around and realized I was near the club. And I…I don’t know…”
His stare turned dark, his face like granite. “You what?”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. I wanted to come in and see for myself what all the fuss was about, okay?”
Truth was, she might have been heading straight for that club without knowing it. But she wasn’t going to tell him that. And she was not going to admit why she was upset. He didn’t know her, and though she’d slept with him, it didn’t mean she had to share her deepest secrets with him. Though she’d kind of already done that by admitting she liked the things he did to her body. As secrets went, that was a big one.
A smile quirked up the side of his mouth, and he finally turned his attention back to the road. She sighed in relief, but her breath came in short gasps, and her heart still thundered. For a man who was a Dominant, who seemed to have this deep-seated need to control the women around him, he sure had a way of making her feel out of control.
“You said
fuck
again,” he said, glancing at her.
She rolled her eyes. “Shut up.”
He glanced at her again, then back at the road, then at her again.
“What?”
The look on his face was almost hesitant. No, that couldn’t be right. It must be a trick of the light, or she was projecting her uncertainties onto him, seeing them reflected in his eyes instead of reading his thoughts. No way could Chase Masters be unsure of anything.
“Turn left here,” she said, remembering at the last second they were nearing her house. She ignored the sinking feeling in her gut that he’d be dropping her off soon. She
wanted
to be away from him. Needed to digest the past several hours in the peace and tranquility of her quiet house. He turned, and she slid sideways from the force. But she couldn’t quell the disappointment that they’d be parting ways soon. God, she was screwed up.
He drove in silence for the next few minutes until pulling into the driveway in front of her cottage-style home. It had been a gem to find a New England cottage in Nevada, and she loved her little house.
Chase turned to face her. “Why did you kiss me?”
Crap. She hadn’t been expecting him to ask that. She didn’t know. It had been an impulse she’d been incapable of controlling. “Um, ’cause I wanted to?” She sounded unsure even to herself. Ugh. She didn’t want to analyze this. At least not with him six inches away, scrutinizing her with that stare of his. It saw too much of her that she wasn’t ready to expose. Perhaps she should be asking him why she’d kissed him, since he seemed able to play her body like a well-tuned grand piano with his long, lean fingers. Her sheath clenched as she remembered the way he wrung pleasure from every inch of her body. Her lips parted.
“Why?” he whispered. And then his mouth was covering hers in a scorching yet somehow sweet kiss. It was a slow burn, his lips touching and moving back again and again, his tongue swiping along her bottom lip. He held her head, his fingers threading into her hair, palms cupping her face. She melted into his touch, her tongue dueling with his. Her already damp panties rubbed against her swollen mound as she shifted in the seat, leaning toward him. He pulled her up and out of the bucket seat to straddle him. She held herself up with her hands planted firmly on his shoulders as he lavished her mouth with attention.
They were making out in his car like teenagers. It was thrilling. He trailed his fingers down the sides of her face to the gap of the trench coat, then down to cup her ass. She lifted in invitation, and he tugged on her panties. She stared down into those almost black eyes.
“Damn it,” he grumbled, tugging harder. Still grumbling, he glanced down as if commanding the panties with his mind to disappear. A second later, the fabric gave way under his fingers, and he grinned. She reached for his pants, unbuttoning them and slowly lowering his fly. His cock was hot in her palm as she cupped him. He groaned and lifted his hips. Raising herself over him, she angled him toward her entrance. He thrust up, and she thought he was ready, but he reached into his back pocket, and she saw the distinct glint of a foil packet.