Surrender (14 page)

Amazingly, as his fingers gently penetrated her swollen folds, she felt a stirring of heat begin to return. Tiny sensations started flooding her core, drifting out through her legs and stomach. Joy filled her as her nipples responded, that pleasurable ache returning and her body immediately awakening to his touch.

Oh, she could do this all day and night!

She heard Rafe’s low sexy chuckle before his mouth dropped down and he slid that masterful tongue along her dripping heat, then nothing but moans of pleasure could be heard in the sun-filled room.

Rafe moved up her body, taking his time as he lathered her stomach in sweet kisses before his mouth rose over the mounds of her breasts and he gently bit down on her erect nipples. Her hands again gripped his hair, this time pulling him upward, wanting his lips on hers.

He quickly obliged her unspoken request as he slid up her body and claimed her mouth, slipping his tongue deep inside. She flinched at the taste of her sex on Rafe's tongue, but he held her in place and soon the slight tanginess was just another part of the excitement, making her burn hotter.

“You’re ready,” he growled as he opened the nightstand and grabbed a foil package. Efficiently sliding the protection onto his impressive length, he leaned in closer,
then spread her legs with his knees.

Her eyes opened wide as he pressed the head of his thick arousal against her opening. She tensed as he began pushing inside her, his engorged staff barely fitting into her heat.

A pinch of pain overrode the pleasure as he rocked his hips, pushing himself fully inside. She squirmed beneath him, suddenly scared, thinking she’d made a huge mistake.

“You’re so tiny. Just give your body a minute to adjust,” he groaned as he lay still against her. Just when she thought all pleasure was gone, he shifted. He pulled slightly back,
then moved forward again. Several more times he moved a couple inches, pulling out, then gently pushing back in.

The pain evaporated as that elusive pressure started building to a feverish pitch. As her body got used to his girth, she wiggled underneath him, seeking that peak of pleasure again, suddenly greedy for release.

Rafe had opened a gate she hadn’t know she'd bolted shut long ago, and now there was no turning back.

“That’s it, Ari – just feel,” Rafe commanded
in a low, seductive tone as he built up speed. She couldn’t turn away from his desire clouded gaze as his body moved perfectly in sync with hers. She wasn’t even consciously moving her hips, but her body had taken over, knowing exactly what it needed to do in order to feel that mind-numbing pleasure of only moments before.

Sweat
slickened his solid chest and Ari’s hands drifted along the sleek muscles of his toned back. She wanted to touch him everywhere, feel every groove of his impressive frame.

A groan filled the room, and she didn’t know which of them it came from, and she didn’t care. She was almost delirious as her body built higher and higher. She felt every single inch of his thick erection penetrating her slick folds – a delicious sensation.

“Ohh,” she cried as her orgasm hit her with more force than the last one. As he moved inside her, the contractions drew out, sending her to another realm of satisfaction.

“Yes, Ari, don’t hold back. Let it all go. Yes… you’re so tight, so hot. I can’t hold out…” he cried as she felt him tense, his throbbing staff pulsing with his release. She felt like a fog was engulfing her in a delirious pleasure, making her unable to process even the smallest of thoughts.

A desire-filled groan continued erupting from Rafe as his hips pushed steadily inside her, though he began slowing down his frantic motion. She felt unbelievable joy at how satisfied she was, and knowing she’d been the cause of Rafe losing control. It was an intoxicating feeling.

As Rafe’s body collapsed against hers, Ari’s mind could take no more and she passed out in a blissful slumber.

A smiled flitted across Rafe’s face as Ari snuggled deeper against his side. His arm flexed as he pulled her closer against his body, feeling the strong beat of her heart against his ribs, and the soft cushion of her full breasts pressing into his skin.

A soft orange sunset cast its colors across the walls of the room and for a single moment, Rafe felt nothing but contentment.

As his sleeping mind fully woke, he tensed. What was he doing? He didn’t allow himself to get comfortable with women. He was acting like a fool, and this road led to nothing more than heartache.

He looked toward his window, shocked that he’d fallen asleep with Ari after their intense afternoon – not only fallen asleep beside her, but he had to have slept for about four hours if the sun was going down. He hadn’t slept beside a woman since he’d been married, not even for a short nap. It was one of his rules that he never broke.

Intimacy was strictly out when it came to relationships. He wanted nothing but sex – pure pleasure. No feelings, no emotion – a controlled environment.

With a firm resolve, he started pulling away from the warmth of Ari’s sated body. He barely stopped the frustrated groan from escaping his closing throat when her grip around him tightened as her unguarded sleeping body sought his.

Digging deep within to find his
iron strength, he pulled her hand away from his side and slid out from beneath her. She softly cried out in her sleep as she squirmed on the bed, seeking out his warmth. His eyes were glued to her half-covered figure as she stirred and began to awaken.

His pants were pulled up and buttoned before her eyes opened and she looked around her in confusion as the sleepy smile fell from her lips. Before he locked away the emotion, desire began to climb, returning once again inside him.

The sheet slipped down her smooth curves, exposing her perfect breasts to his view. Evidence of their love-making –
no
– sex, just sex, was covering her body. Small red marks were easy to see on her alabaster skin, and her pink nipples were partially peaked as if she were ready for him to run his tongue across their delicate surface again. Such femininity, such perfection.

He turned away as he gathered the rest of his clothes. He heard her sitting up in the bed, and when he turned back around, his fingers methodically buttoning his shirt, she was gazing at him in surprise, gripping the blankets tightly across her body.

“Don’t act like a prude, Ari. I’ve touched and tasted just about every inch of you,” he said with a mocking tone, then smirking at the narrowing of her eyes.

“Get out,” she said, her voice controlled, surprising him and oddly raising his opinion of her at the same time. He’d expected hysterics or crying. He
hadn't expected her cool detachment. He should feel a smidgeon of insult, but he knew he could make her body go up in flames with a single touch of his hand. He had nothing to prove.

“Meet me in the dining room in twenty minutes… unless you want me to come up here and find you again.” He waited until he left the room to smile. He nearly laughed when he heard the thud against the door, wondering what she’d thrown at it.

Since meeting Arianna Harlow, his life hadn’t been boring. She was constantly surprising him, not only by her reactions, but by his to her, as well. She caused a stir in him that had lain dormant for so many years he hadn’t thought it capable of stirring to life again.

She would be his for as long as he desired her to be so. Until she did submit to him, he was sure enjoying the journey the two of them were taking. He almost dreaded the day he grew bored of her. He couldn’t imagine another woman stirring his damaged soul so much.

As Rafe sat at the table, watching the clock, he almost hoped she tried to defy him again. He wouldn’t mind hunting her down and teaching her the first real lesson in what happened to those who displeased him.

When nineteen minutes hit, his feet twitched. At exactly twenty, he was going to stand and
begin his lesson.

“I’m here, master.”

“Master?”

“I figure you think you’re the lord of all, so you’d want to be called by an appropriate dictator name,” she snapped as she sat across from him.

“Sir is just fine,” he mocked.

“How about ass?” she asked with innocence.

“Careful, Ari. I’ll only be pushed so far,” he threatened.

“Do you honestly think that you frighten me, Mr. Palazzo? I’m actually curious. If you so much as lay one finger on me, I won’t hesitate to have you thrown in jail. You may get back out really fast with your vast fortune, and what I’m sure is just about everyone in your back pocket, but still, I’d get the satisfaction of seeing you cuffed and taken in,” she said while looking him square in the eyes.

“I laid more than a finger on you earlier, Ari, and you were screaming – but not in displeasure. Should I demonstrate again how much you like my… fingers on and in you?” he called her bluff.

“That wasn’t the most unpleasant way I’ve spent a boring afternoon, but you know that’s not what I mean. I read your stupid contract, and though I may not be the most knowledgeable person on this planet when it comes to sex, I can read between the lines.
You
get control of me?
You
get to choose what I do,
who
I see,
where
I go. You’re a control freak and I want no part of it. I would never allow a man to hit me!”

“Is that what you think of me? Honestly? You think that I need to
beat
my women into submission?” he thundered as he stood up with his hands on the table and his body leaning toward her. He was furious.

“I’m just repeating what I read,” she fired back.

“There was nothing in those papers that said I get off on hurting a woman!”

“Then, please tell, how you exert your control!”

Rafe sat back down, his temper at an all-time high. He took in several deep breaths as he once again thought about the sanity of dealing with this woman. She’d made a lot of assumptions and he owed her no explanations. He was furious that he even wanted to have the conversation.

Instead of saying anything, he pressed a buzzer, letting the staff know he was ready for their first course. Two people moved into the room, silent as they set down plates and filled glasses with wine and water.

Rafe lifted the cup to his lips and took a sip of the sweet beverage as he waited for them to exit. His eyes didn’t leave Ari’s face. She glanced at him, then looked away, muttering a quiet thank you as her salad was placed before her. Nervously, she picked up her own glass and gulped down a large swallow, then drank half the glass before setting it back down.

His staff went quietly to the back of the room, ready to refill glasses, and bring out new courses. They were loyal and he didn’t have to worry about his words in front of them. He wouldn’t hire anyone he couldn’t be himself around without their absolute discretion.

“Why don’t you sign the contract and work for me so you can find out,” Rafe finally spoke after ten awkward minutes of silence.

Ari jerked her gaze up, seemingly surprised that he was still in the room. Rafe didn’t know if he should be offended or not, to be forgotten so easily. Ari wasn’t great for his ego.

“I do appreciate you saving me from the club and having a doctor look after me, but no matter how much you rescue me, or swoop in on your white horse, I won’t be a part of your chosen lifestyle. My mother raised me to expect more out of life than to be some man’s mistress. This entire seduction scene is pointless. I won’t be yours.”

For a moment her eyes were pleading as if she were begging him to let her go. If he had an ounce of humanity left in him, he might have done just that, but when it came to women, he chose not to be humane. He chose to seek out pleasure.

“You say you’re appreciative, but you haven’t shown me any gratitude. I can think of at least a dozen ways you can repay me, Ari,” he countered with a smirk. “You know how this will end – you have to have figured it out by now. Why must you insist on fighting the inevitable?” Her eyes widened before they narrowed.

“I don’t know how many times, or in how many ways I can say
no
to you, Mr. Palazzo. I will never be your employee, mistress or whore,” she responded before spearing a piece of vinaigrette covered lettuce and forcing it into her mouth.

“Ah, Ari, you’d make a good whore,” he mocked, knowing his comment would set her off.

Her face turned red as she glared at him and bit into a piece of cucumber, crunching down on the vegetable like he was sure she’d like to be clamping down on his skin – and not in a pleasant way.

Then, her lips turned up in a smile, once again surprising him as she slowed her vicious chewing, looking at him thoughtfully. He couldn’t wait to hear what came from her plump pink lips next.

“You know what, Mr. Palazzo, I think you’re right. I could enjoy being a whore. Sex isn’t nearly as horrible as I remember it being,” she said as she looked thoughtfully at him, starting to send his heartbeat up. Then she continued. “I’ll just never be yours,” she finished as if she were talking about nothing more significant than the weather.

Rafe knew she was only trying to bait him, and it was working. The thought of her with another man sent fire pulsing through him. She was free to whore around all she wanted once he was done with her – but no man would touch what was his and right now she was, indeed, his.