by J. C. Reed
Page 5
“You think you’ll be able to focus once I’m naked?” He laughed. “Sure, baby. Whatever rocks your boat. ”
“It wasn’t a compliment,” I said, irritated. “I can’t focus because you’re staring at me. ”
“Fair enough. Then let me help you feel more at ease. ” He grinned and undid the top button of his shirt. My eyes followed his fingers, drinking in each movement, as he unbuttoned his shirt all the way down—slowly as if he had all the time in the world, revealing rows of toned muscle. My gaze lingered on the tribal tattoo on his upper arm before moving to his chiseled chest and the narrow trail of hair on his abdomen.
He was pure perfection.
Forget perfection—he was a god, sent into the world to mentally torture women with his impossibly sexy body.
I swallowed hard and clenched my legs together to hide the betraying signs of my arousal. It took every ounce of my willpower to fight the need to close my eyes for a second, just to escape the film playing inside my mind. His lips on mine. Our bodies entwined, moving in accord, pleasuring the other as we sought our own release. I groaned inwardly. Why did I have to tell him to take off his clothes? I should have known better.
He dropped the shirt on the floor.
Not your brightest idea, Stewart.
Knowing too well the effect he had on me, Jett sat back in his chair, his gaze lingering on me, and I could’ve sworn I could see the sex movie playing before his eyes, too. A sharp electric shock ran down my spine and gathered in my abdomen, sending delicious jolts through my private parts.
Focus, Stewart. He wants you to lose. That’s why he’s piling on the sex appeal. Why the hell did you give him the idea?
“You know there are many ways we could play this?” he asked.
Pure awesomeness came to my mind.
“How?” I asked casually. It was my turn to draw a card. Two of spades. I decided to keep it.
“You could give up, and I’d take it easy on you. I’d even agree to spending half a day here and the other half back in NY. Deal?”
He was about to lose. For some reason I could feel it. This was my chance. I peered at my cards, confident.
“Thanks, but no. ” I looked up, grinning.
“You sure, baby? It’s your last chance,” Jett said, grinning back.
I could see right through his bluff.
“No. ” I shook my head. “Because there’s no way you could possibly win this one. ”
He did win. A couple of minutes later, I tossed my cards on the table.
Crap!
I didn’t know what went wrong. It might be the way Jett was sitting, so confident and sexy with half his body exposed. Or maybe it was the way he looked at me, his eyes already making plans what he’d do to me. Or maybe—and I’d never admit that to him—he was the better player. Luckier, too. Whatever it was, I was screwed.
Jett stretched out his long legs, obviously enjoying every second of his glory. I figured I’d never get men and their competitive alpha behavior.
I shook my head in disbelief. “How did you do it?”
“It’s called motivation”—his eyes sparkled—“to get laid. Seems I want it more than you do. ”
“I doubt it. ”
His brows shot up. “You doubt I want to sleep with you more than you want with me?”
Heat shot up my neck and face. “No, that’s not what I meant. I—”
He began to laugh, and I clamped my mouth shut.
“I know you were talking about my strategy,” Jett said. “I could teach you my technique. In fact, I can teach a lot of things, Miss Stewart. Things you never experienced before. ”
Holy mother of double meanings.
My heart jumped in my chest as I watched Jett get up and reach me in one step.
“You know you’re mine for the night and I get to do whatever I want with you?” he continued in that unfazed voice of his.
Too cool. Too confident. Too much of everything.
Why the heck did I think I could ever deal with a man like him? If it wasn’t for our unborn child, I might have run.
Maybe.
Probably not.
Because he was like a drug, and I was addicted to him.
I nodded, barely able to peel my gaze off his sculpted and very naked chest.
“Do you have any idea what’s in store tonight?” He kneeled before me, hands resting on both sides of me, and our eyes connected. I pressed a hand against my pounding heart. Did I have an idea? No, but it sounded sexy and forbidden. Whatever it was, I’d take it.
“May I have the pleasure?” Without waiting for my approval, his fingers moved up my legs, putting just the right amount of pressure. A whiplash of electric pulses rushed through me. Gently he pushed my legs apart. My breath came heavy as he started to kiss my knees, then his way up the inside of my legs.
His lips caressed my sensitive skin, working upward closer and closer to the growing wetness between my legs. I could feel the need inside me growing as he kissed my thong, his tongue running over the damp spot.
In spite of the layer of fabric separating his hot lips from my pulsating clit, the sensation was stronger than I ever imagined it to be. I closed my eyes and a soft moan escaped my throat…when he stopped. Opening my eyes, I glanced down, confused. Jett opened his bag but held it away from me so I couldn’t glimpse what was inside. He caught my interested glance but didn’t comment.
Excitement rushed through me at the though of him taking charge. He had done it before. Only, the bag made me nervous because, for some reason, it kick-started my imagination, pushing it to run wild with images of sex toys and kinky lingerie.
“You’re not a masochist, are you?” I tried to read his cryptic expression and failed. “Because if you are, we need a safe word. And you should know in advance that I’m not into spanking, choking, in fact anything that involves unbearable pain. ”
He looked up, his green eyes full of mischief. “Pain wasn’t quite part of my plans. ”
Holy shit!
What did he mean with “quite” and “plans?”
I would have given anything to know his plans, yet his reply was as cryptic as his expression. I grimaced but didn’t pursue the issue. Eventually, he retrieved a timer from his bag and placed it on the coffee table.
“Ready?” Jett pressed a red button, and the timer started to count backward.
Twenty-three hours. Fifty-nine minutes. Fifty-nine seconds.
The seconds began to tick by as my nerves began to fray. I clasped my hands in my lap, unsure what to do.
“Back inside you said you trusted me. ” Jett’s statement took me by surprise.
“I did. Why are you asking?” I frowned as I watched him pull out a sheet of paper from his bag and pass it on to me.
“Those are the rules. ”
I almost choked on my breath. “Seriously? You have sex rules?” Why was I even surprised? This was the same guy who demanded a nondisclosure contract before sleeping with me.
“I do because I’ve won you for the night, which is why I’m setting the rules. So consider yourself obligatorily at my mercy. ” His smile was gone now, replaced by a dead-seriousness. I had never been at a man’s mercy, and I didn’t know how to feel about it.
I swallowed past the lump in my throat as my eyes began to scan the computer printout.
RULES
1. The losing party agrees to keep the phone switched off at all times.
2. The losing party agrees to shower and dress in the winner’s preferred outfit to look most enticing in accordance with the winning party’s wishes.
3. The losing party agrees to be willing to experiment with new things in accordance with the winning party’s wishes.
4. The losing party agrees to pay maximum effort to both reaching and causing physical pleasure.
5. The losing party agrees not to discuss the events happening on this day with any third party.
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6. A change in Terms is to be suggested in written form through a recognized lawyer. The winning party reserves the right to decline any and all suggestions made by the losing party.
7. The winning party can’t be held responsible for any strong reactions experienced as a result of this game and its rules and implications.
My eyes widened at the words losing…enticing…commands…not to be discussed…strong reactions.
“Seriously?” I repeated for the second time. “You know, this looks kind of formal, not to mention creepy. ”
On the bright side it wasn’t an agreement to having some kind of depraved sex that might’ve scared the hell out of me. It was short and to the point—and absolutely non-descriptive. I was as clueless as I had been before.
I pointed to paragraph six. “It’s impossible for me to suggest anything in written form because there’s no lawyer around and I’m bound to the house. By the time we get back to New York, your twenty-four hours might be over. ”
“Exactly. ” He grinned. “I thought I should make it sound like you had any say in the matter. ”
I grimaced again. “How kind of you to think of me. Why don’t you also throw in some feedback form? You know, the kind I could submit after you’re done with me. ” My voice dripped with sarcasm, and he laughed out loud.
As I handed the rule sheet back to him, his finger touched mine and a spark ignited between us, traveling all the way down my spine and into my abdomen. I flinched and my eyes connected with his, searching for a clue that he had felt it as well. His expression remained as composed as always.
“You sure you don’t want me to sign over my soul?” I asked, joking.
“That’s a tempting offer, Brooke. I might indeed take you up on it later to make sure you’ll always be mine. But for now all I want is the chase. ”
He pointed to the shirt next to me, and I threw it to him. He caught it in midair and I watched him pull it on again, almost regretful.
“Go take a shower and get dressed. ” Jett opened his bag again, and this time I caught a glimpse of a white gift box, which he handed to me. “I want you to wear that. ”
The box was surprisingly light for its size. Curious, I opened it and retrieved a sexy red and black set of lingerie, a pair of matching high heels, a satin robe that’d barely cover my ass, and…were those stockings?
“Oh, God. ” I held up the narrow strip of fabric I assumed was a thong but I couldn’t be sure because it was the skimpiest I had ever seen. It was sexy, made of mesh and chiffon, and left nothing to the imagination. “You expect me to wear this?” Somehow the thought made me excited.
Jett nodded slowly. “As I said, yes. My game, my rules. ” The corners of his lips curled into a lazy smile. “Ever since I set my eyes on you in that bar, I’ve been wanting to see you in something like this. Can you blame a man for living out his fantasy?”
I couldn’t. I just wished it didn’t involve prancing around a stranger’s home half naked.
Chapter 5
AS PER JETT’S request, I first took a shower. Under the hot water running down my body, the tension in my muscles slowly subsided, but my thoughts of being an uninvited guest in this mansion weren’t so easy to switch off.