Tempting The Boss (17 page)

“More important than me?” He closed in on her.

“What are you talking about?”

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a second to try to find any sense of calm he could. But when he opened them again, all he felt was anger. “You come in here, asking for my help, decide for the both of us that we aren’t fantastic together and then have the nerve to show up on my doorstep and tell me how to handle my own sister?”

At least she had the grace to look the tiniest bit guilty. But not enough. “Your sister had a hard night. She doesn’t need you punishing her too.”

“You’re doing it again! Stop telling me what to do!”

“I’m not going to keep my mouth shut when I’m right!” she fired back.

“You left! You don’t get to come back and boss me around, okay? You gave that up this morning.”

Her mouth fell open in shock. “That’s what this is about? You’re mad at me for leaving?”

He stared her down, completely speechless.
Was she surprised? Of course he was mad!
“Is this normal for you? Do you go around having sex like that with all your contractors?” he asked in a lowered voice so Katy wouldn’t hear.

Her eyes widened at the question. But he already knew this wasn’t par for the course. What they had was different, and he’d be damned if he’d let Victoria walk all over him just because she knew he would take it. “If you want to leave, then be my guest. But don’t you come back into my house with my sister and tell me what I’m doing wrong.””

“Dean, I—”

“You what? You’re sorry? I’d rather go back to cleaning toilets at the local bar than hear you say that to me, understand?”” The last thing he fucking wanted to hear was her apologizing for what they did. What happened. He’d spent the entire day thinking about her, only to see her show up all high and mighty and telling him what to do.
No. She sure as hell wasn’’t sorry.

“What do you want from me, Dean? I’m just trying to help, okay? Tell me what I can do.”

He met her eyes and told her the one thing he’d been thinking about all day. “You can go upstairs and take off all your clothes.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Victoria’s breath caught in her throat as she tried to decipher whether she heard him right.

“You get your ass up there, or you walk out that door and I never want to see you again.” He pointed at the door to emphasize his point.

She should leave. She’d explained very clearly why they didn’t work. Hell, she’d been telling herself over and over all day.
“And if I go upstairs?” she breathed.

He took a step closer. “Then you’re in this. No saying it’s a onetime thing. No calling it a mistake and apologizing. You and me for as long as we can stretch it.””

She stared at the door. The safe option. Secure and familiar and completely doable. But no Dean. Without a word, she moved past Dean, her shoulder brushing his, the contact unavoidable due to his oversized shoulders and the narrow hallway. If she hadn’t made up her mind before, the electricity shooting through her settled it. Right before she reached the door, her hand reached out and rested on the stairway railing.

As she moved up the stairs, she could feel Dean’s eyes bore into her. A strange mix of calm and excitement swirled in her belly. Calm that she was making the right decision. Excitement at the prospect of what he was going to do to her in his bedroom.

He was already a ferocious lover when he wasn’t pissed.
What would he do now?
When she finally reached the top landing, she didn’t waste time. She softly shut his bedroom door behind her, aware that Katy was only a few doors away, and made quick work of her decidedly unsexy outfit.

She folded her jacket and pajamas before she set them on his dresser. She glanced to her body in the mirror. The pink lace panties and matching bra were sexy enough, but Dean explicitly said naked. And who was she to say no to that?

She slid the panties down her legs and unhooked her bra, setting them on top of her already folded clothes. Biting her lip, she stared at the bed. The comforter was a worn, soft green and she already knew exactly how good it felt against her bare skin. Did he want her under the covers?

No. On top was definitely better.
She took a steadying breath and climbed up, positioning herself on her back in the middle. Before she could worry too much about how to look sexy, she heard Dean’s footsteps come up the stairs.

She stared intently at the door, every nerve in her body anticipating what would happen when it slid open. Her heart beat faster in her chest as she tried to control her breathing.

And then he was there. Dean calmly walked into the room. His eyes roamed up and down her body. All doubt left her in a rush as she saw the heat in his gaze.

He crossed to the foot of the bed, not taking his eyes off her. The silence stretched and filled the room with an almost palpable tension. Victoria couldn’t speak. Couldn’t even breathe as she watched him and waited for his next move.

“Turn around,” he ordered in a husky voice.

She took a deep swallow as the words sunk in, but she never considered disobeying. This was his room and his rules. Victoria twisted around to face the bed, coming to a rest on her hands and knees. Her hair fell over her shoulder and she felt the bed dip as he crawled on behind her.

Before he even touched her, the heat of him burned into her back, and then the gentle sensation of his lips on her spine shot through her. She arched into him as he kissed his way up her back; his tongue traced a tantalizing pattern along the sensitive skin. She sighed and her head fell forward as he reached the base of her neck and gave her a soft nip.

She jerked at the unexpected feel of his teeth. Her rear came into contact with his rock-hard erection that was evident through his soft pajamas. The sudden reminder that he was fully clothed while she was naked and at his mercy was almost as erotic as his hand reaching around to run down her stomach and into the soft curls at the junction of her thighs.

He pushed his fingers into her as he traced the outside of her earlobe with his tongue. Victoria forgot how to hold herself up. Dean must’ve felt her arms shaking, because his big forearm wrapped around her and rested right under her breasts as he pulled her back against his body so they were both kneeling on the bed.

But his fingers didn’t stop their torture. As he inserted a second, his thumb traced circles around her clit, and his other hand pinched a nipple.

She whimpered as she pushed frantically against him. She never wanted this delicious torture to stop, but at the same time she needed him inside her with an intensity she’d never felt before. “Dean, please,” she begged.

But he wasn’t interested in her pleas. “I don’t think you’re ready yet,” he whispered. At the same time, he rubbed himself against her and teased her with what he wouldn’t give her.

Her head fell back against his shoulder as she let out a whimper of frustration. “Believe me, I’m ready.”

“Not until I get something from you first.” He pushed a third finger into her.

She covered his hand with her own, trying to get him to move faster, harder, anything to let her come. But he knew exactly the torture he was putting her through. “What do you want?”

“You need to promise me something.”

“This is blackmail.” She gave up trying to move his fingers faster within her, instead moving her hands up to cup her breasts. She felt him stiffen against her back as she pinched her own nipples and moaned at the pleasure she gave herself.

But Dean wasn’t one to be outdone. His arm around her torso moved in a flash and his fingers wrapped in her hair, pulling her neck back. Even though he was gentle enough that it didn’t hurt, she still reached up to cover his hands with hers. ““Dean…” For the first time, she was unsure.

“You can’t come until I let you, understand?”

She took a deep breath. Arousal and uncertainty swirled within her.

“This is what it feels like to have no say. This is what you did when you decided for the both of us this morning that we shouldn’t even give this a chance.”

He was proving a point?
“You’re punishing me?”

He flattened his palm against her mound, pushed in just the right way against her clit and made her forget that she should be mad for a second. “I need you to promise that you won’t go running scared again.”

As much as she craved the orgasm that was so close and so far, she wasn’t the type to give in. “Or what? I’ll get more fantastic foreplay? I’’ll take my chances.”

Abruptly, he pushed her down until she was once again on all fours before him. Before she could glance over her shoulder to see what he was up to, the head of his cock pressed against her entrance.

She smiled in victory and pushed against him, but one of his big palms gripped her hips and kept her right where she was. “If you want to take your chances, feel free. You can leave right now.”

What? She was practically shaking with the need to have him inside her and he was telling her to go?
“You’re bluffing…””

He leaned forward and gently bit her hip. The sting was just another reminder that he was calling the shots. “Try me,” he whispered.

“You son of a bitch,” she muttered as she once again tried to maneuver to get him inside her. “Yes, okay? I’ll do whatever you want. Just fuck m—”

Before she even finished, he slid into her in one smooth stroke. But instead of giving her a chance to adjust to his sudden intrusion, he gave her exactly what she’d begged and pleaded for.

She’d been so hot from his touch, it didn’t take much to push her over the edge. As she fell apart beneath him, he tensed as his strokes came faster and faster. One palm rested on the bed to hold him up while the other arm wrapped around her waist to hold her tightly against him as his own orgasm took over.

Victoria tried to catch her breath, and Dean slowly lowered her onto the bed, kissing her shoulder. She smiled at his touch, still caught up in the high that only came after really good sex.

He pulled her against him, and she relaxed into his hold. For a moment, she just appreciated his touch as sleep crept up on her.

“Are you staying the night?” He maneuvered the blanket around him.

As tempting as it was, she knew sleeping over was out of the question. “Dad’s funeral is tomorrow and they’re reading the will afterwards. I need to get to the church early to make sure everything looks okay.”

He nuzzled his face into her neck and for the first time, talking about her father’s funeral didn’t make her want to cry.

“Did you want me to go with you?”

“I would love it,” she said honestly. “But you shouldn’t.””

“I don’t mind. I can move some things around.”

The poor guy probably wouldn’t have any business left after all the moving around he’d done for her.
“It’s not that. The press is going to be there and I don’t want any more attention than necessary.”

“They’re at his funeral? What the fuck?”

She shrugged. “I’m used to it. The city loved him, you know? I’m looking it as a sign of how many people want to be there for us. Even if it is just through pictures in the newspaper. Besides, you need to deal with Katy tomorrow anyway.”

He groaned. “What the hell am I supposed to do with her?”

“Teenagers aren’t exactly my forte, but I’d assume you do the same thing with her as most other women. You listen. She’’s never done anything like this before. She had reasonable, if teenager-y, logic for what she did. It’s important that she knows she can count on you to call in the future. What if I didn’t answer my phone?””

He shuddered against her back. “I’m trying my best not to think about the what-ifs,” he said.

“Probably best,” she said. The what-ifs were the scariest parts of life. The very reason she’d driven off without Dean that morning. She closed her eyes and tried to push the thoughts out of her mind.
No more what-ifs.
She’d promised, even if under duress, that she’d give this a chance. “I can stay for a few hours,” she whispered. The missed sleep would be worth it to stay in Dean’s arms.

“How are you getting back home?”

“Gordon will arrange someone to pick me up.”

“Your new bodyguard?” asked Dean with an obvious hint of jealousy.

“What’s wrong? Can’t take a little competition?”

In a flash, he had her rolled onto her back as he loomed over her. “Oh, I can handle competition,” he assured her. He caught her wrists in his hand, raised them above her head, and his eyes immediately fell to her raised breasts.

She jutted her chin and smiled up at him. “Prove it.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Victoria let out a breath of relief as the elevator dinged and opened to the Green & Sons corporate offices. Jace silently followed behind her, just as unobtrusive as Gordon promised when he recommended she hire him.

But so far there’d been no hint that anyone was still after her. She didn’t know how much longer she could have Jace or Gordon following her around. Either she’d have to figure out who tried to kill her in the first place, or she’d have to simply hope it never happened again.