He turned and slammed back into his office.
Chapter Four
Saturday night, Robert sat in the bar at the Ninth Street Wine Grotto and nursed his second beer. He refused to question himself on his choice of location. Running into her here two weeks ago had been a coincidence. It wouldn’t be repeated. Frustration gripped him. This wait was intolerable. He had to push her into quitting. He needed her naked. Under him. Over him. Down on him.
The picture of her face when his bitch of an ex-wife had called was emblazoned on his brain. Her eyes when she realized he wasn’t married. The fear. The relief. The confusion.
She wasn’t immune to him. Far from it.
What had pushed her into the sexy little charade of seduction she had tried on him yesterday? What was in that gorgeous head of hers? Something had changed with her. He was going to find out what it was.
He knew she wanted him. Maybe not as much as he wanted her, but she was curious about him. Curious about how it would be with him. He could smell it on her. The curiosity. It was that curiosity that would give him the opening he needed. He just had to make it happen. It was a sad fact that she couldn’t keep her job. He knew he was a ruthless bastard, but he would get his way. And soon, he would set the pieces into motion.
****
Monday afternoon, Renee was in the archive room looking through dusty blueprints when she heard the door slam.
Her body jolted and twin feelings of panic and excitement slid down her spine when she saw him leaning against the closed door. “What are you doing in here?” His voice lacerated her.
“Mrs. Argenot needs the prints from the Belle Chase project.” Her nerves were stretched but luckily her voice didn’t shake.
He stood, arms crossed, staring at her. Dear God, he was handsome. Renee cataloged his features one by one. He had dark hair with snippets of gray running through it. Gorgeous brown eyes with slashing brows. His lips were full and his skin was a dark, swarthy color. His nose was too large and slightly off-center, where it looked like it had been broken at one time. It turned what would have been true beauty into a masculine, blatantly male countenance.
Her heart started beating faster.
“I want you to quit. This isn’t working out.” It was an order.
Shock slid through her and caught her off guard. She played for time. “Why?” Her voice was soft.
“Why? Are you kidding?” He pushed off the door and took a predatory step toward her.
Renee dropped the papers in her hands and backed up a step. She held out one slim hand to ward him off.
It was enough to stall him a moment.
“So you’ll hand in your resignation?”
Disappointment and an arrow of pain slid through her. “Are you firing me?”
“No. I want you to quit.” The lines of his mouth flattened.
“I don’t want to quit.” More than anything she was beginning to need to know where this would lead.
“Goddammnit, Renee. Quit being so bull headed. You know this is going to end bad for you.” His voice became biting.
She lifted her chin and hit back, challenging him. “Maybe it’s going to end bad for you. Maybe you’re scared of me.”
He laughed. “Kudos for trying, baby. It ain’t going to happen. This is going to end one place and one place only.”
She shook her head back and forth. Her hair moved in a shimmering display around her shoulders. “I’m not going to quit. Are you going to fire me?”
“No. You’re going to quit.” His words were adamant, irrefutable.
She continued to shake her head.
His eyes narrowed on her. “Maybe you’d like a sample? A demonstration of what you can expect if you don’t give up?” He started coming toward her again.
Renee watched him as if in a trance. She backed up until she hit the wall. He followed. Her eyes were huge when he stopped in front of her. He reached out and took a lock of her hair and wrapped it around his fist. Her heart pounded in her chest and her breathing became palpable.
“You’ve put up a good fight. You’re a worthy opponent. But guess what, baby? Check and mate.”
His mouth covered hers.
A heated jolt hit her system. Even though she had expected it, she was still shocked by the intensity. He plastered himself against her and all she could do was hang against the wall as his tongue delved deep at the same time he pushed his lower torso into her. He was blatant in his domination, as his tongue pushed in and pulled out, mimicking the motions of sex. His fist tightened in her hair, his body inundating hers completely.
She felt dazed and disoriented as she hung in his grasp while he took from her mouth, his hands gripping her, molding her to him. His hands moved to her neck, wrapped around and briefly held her, then slid to her waist and gripped her in an uncompromising clasp.
All at once the shock left her and intense excitement screamed through her veins. This was it. This was really it. He was kissing her. Finally. God, finally. She reached up and wrapped her hands around his shoulders, moving up to thread her fingers through his hair. He smelled so good. Sexual heat emanated from him. She grasped him more tightly.
Was her job really worth it? No, it wasn’t. She didn’t want to give this up. She needed to know how it would be between them.
He lifted his head and looked deep into her eyes. “Say it. Say I quit, Robert,” he demanded, his voice like gravel.
She shook her head slightly in a negative motion while her fingers caressed his skull. He slid his hands from the indentation of her waist up to her face. He grasped her cheekbones with his strong hands. “I can’t sleep with you while you work for me.” His words were low and deep, the demand in them absolute.
Renee sucked in a breath and watched him in silence. Okay. It was out in the open.
He continued, “If we had met anywhere else, it would already be a done deal. You know it. I know it.” His words softened. “You’re fighting against the inevitable.” His fingers encapsulated her wrists and braced them against the wall as his lips moved to her cheek and trailed to her ear.
A jolt of lightning shot through her system when she felt him breathe in the scent of her hair. He transferred both of her wrists to one strong hand and moved the other down and wrapped it around her neck.
Renee’s mind splintered. Oh, God, this was a seduction she couldn’t fight against. She felt like putty in his hands. She had been in serious lust and halfway infatuated since the moment she met him.
Robert felt her heartbeat accelerate. Her body trembled against his. He watched her eyes flare as he pressed against her neck while he restrained her in a more dominating grasp. He measured his strength against her softness. Jesus Christ, she was fine. He needed to get it in her, and soon. He was becoming obsessed with her, goddamnit!
The acknowledgment hit him hard. He loosened his grip and trailed his hands back down to her waist. He squeezed possessively and said, “Think about it.”
He walked out the door and Renee leaned against the wall and tried desperately to get her fractured mind to function again.
****
“Jenny, he’s not married.” Renee kicked back on her bed, cell phone to her ear, and lifted her legs all the way into the air and examined the new polish on her toes. She felt amazingly good considering all the angst at work.
She twisted her foot one way, then the other, inspecting the new color while she waited for the reaction from her friend she knew was coming.
“What?” Jenny screeched loudly. Renee lifted the phone away from her ear as her friend continued. “Not married? WTF? Are you kidding me? How did that happen? Is he lying?”
Renee smiled at the abbreviated slang. Oh, it was good having teenagers. They really did keep you young. The newest music, up-to-date slang, and of course, gorgeous black cherry toenail polish. She focused back on the conversation. “No, he’s not lying. I just assumed the woman that calls all the time and says she’s his wife really was his wife, and not his ex. He�
��s divorced.” She paused. “And he wants me to quit my job.” Another pause. “So he can have sex with me.”
She hurried to move the phone away from her ear again.
“What? You’ve got to be kidding, right?” Jenny questioned. “Did he say that? Has he heard the term sexual harassment? The guy must think he’s God’s gift. What are you going to do?”
“Well, I’m pretty sure that’s why he wants me to quit. I guess he has it in his mind that it’s not harassment. He’s kind of right, Jen. You can’t really harass the willing, you know? You of all people know how long I’ve had the hots for him. I guess he knows it.”
“Yeah, but Renee, your job? You have to have your job. What the hell? Does he think you’re independently wealthy, or what?” Her friend’s voice was irate.
“I know, Jen. I don’t think he’s thinking with the big head. It’s kind of captivating to watch him, one second he’s so controlled, and the next he just loses it. When he kissed me today—”
“Whhhaaattt? He kissed you? At work? Oh my God. What’d you do? Was it good?”
“Yeah, it was good. Really good. Just like I thought it would be.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. Play it by ear, I guess. You know I can get my old job back if I need to. I just don’t want to be too easy. He’s so arrogant. He expects to get his way about everything. I don’t know.” She sighed. “Enough about him. How are things going with you? How’s Richard?”
“Controlling as hell. Possessive. Jealous. Spoiled. Awesome in bed. Hot. Unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. I’m freakin’ addicted.” Jenny laughed.
Renee smiled. “Cool. You deserve to go a little wild. Still think he’s a mobster?”
Jenny answered, “I have no clue. He’s so damn rich and I can’t figure out where the money’s coming from.”
“Well, I guess we’ve both got stuff to work out.”
****
The next day was dark and rainy and Renee was sitting at her desk when the internal phone rang. She picked it up and Robert’s voice barked down the line. “Get in here. I want to talk to you.”
He disconnected and she was left hanging onto the phone.
Robert watched her slip into his office after a slight knock. She stood back and he looked his fill. Yeah, the game had definitely changed. Miles and miles of leg hit him. Short skirt. Tiny waist. Long hair.
It was time. Fuck. It was past time.
“Shut the door.”
Chapter Five
Robert leaned back in his chair and crossed his hands behind his head. She closed the door and turned back toward him, but didn’t move any closer. She didn’t say anything. She stood there, quietly waiting. Quietly driving him out of his fucking mind.
Renee watched in fascination as his expression grew more menacing. His voice bit out at her. “I want you to quit your job.”
Renee stiffened her spine and fought back with a simple word. “No.”
His tactic changed immediately. “Come here.”
She was horrified to feel a blush cover her face. She let out a tiny semi-hysterical laugh and shook her head. “No.”
“Renee, come here, baby.” He patted the shiny surface of his desk.
Christ, what would he do if she actually went over there? She was so tempted to find out. The clandestine nature of the moment hit her and went straight to her head. She took two steps toward his desk, and then stopped. “No.”
He actually let out a groan when she stopped. “I’m getting tired of hearing the word no from those beautiful lips. Learn a new answer.”
He stood up.
She stepped back.
He prowled across the room until he stood in front of her. He reached out and flipped the lock on the door.
Renee’s nerves tightened at the sound of the bolt closing and she tried to control her breathing. He was so big. He had shoulders worthy of a New Orleans Saint. She knew he used to do hard physical labor for a living until he had taken a chance and opened his own construction company. It had paid off. He was rich by just about any standard, but he still had the brawny physique of a laborer.
She wanted this so badly it almost consumed her. But the stakes had changed. It wasn’t her job she was playing for anymore. Jobs would come and go. How long had it been since she’d felt this way about a man? Had she ever felt this way? If she let him catch her now, it would all be over. He’d use her, get her out of his system, and that would be that. She wanted more. She couldn’t let him know the way he made her feel, and she couldn’t give in to him easily.
Her breath splintered when he reached out and pulled a lock of her hair into his hand. He twirled it around until his hand was fisted at her scalp. He leaned down and placed a single kiss to her lips. Her spine was flat against the door.
He lifted his mouth. “Say yes, Renee.”
She shook her head. “No.”
He ignored her. “This is a pretty little skirt, baby.” His hand slid down and tightened around the hem. “Did you wear it for me?”
Renee stood in frozen excitement in Robert’s grasp. Her brain turned to mush. The other day in the archive room he had dominated her, shocked her with his strength and intensity. Today, his seduction had changed. Gentleness exuded from his voice. His manner was just as fierce as before, his movements sure and possessive, but his voice was gentle. The change in personality was tipping her off balance.
His eyes were deep brown as they stared into hers. This was so good already she thought she would die. She swallowed a gasp as she felt his hand slowly drag her skirt up and bunch it around her upper thighs. She knew if she looked down, her panties would be showing.
Her eyes started to glaze and close. His fist tightened in her hair. “No, no, no. Keep them open for me.”
Renee valiantly opened her eyes.
“That’s good. You’ve got such pretty eyes. Now. We’ve got some negotiating to get through.” He lowered his head and sucked her bottom lip into his mouth. Her eyes slid closed again.
Renee let out a small moan and felt wetness on her panties. She hung in his grasp while he sucked and licked her bottom lip.
He pushed his torso into hers and she felt the hard ridge of his erection. Her breathing became more labored.
He lifted his head. She opened her eyes and they fastened on his. “Good girl.” His voice was deep. “Okay. You don’t want to quit your job. I’m going to let you win that one for now. But you’re going to have to give me something in return.” She jerked in his arms. He controlled her movements. “Shh⦠Shh⦠I want some verification you understand where this is going.”
She hung in silence in his restraining arms.
His voice became gravelly. “Nod your head if you understand.”
Renee’s head jerked up and down just once.
“Good. Of course, I get to choose the proof.” His hand slid from the hem of her skirt to the feminine mound between her thighs. He cupped her heat through her panties. Her eyes closed as his mouth came down over hers.
Robert felt her softness all around him and thought his head was going to blow off. God, he’d wanted to screw her for so long. He didn’t know if he had the control to keep this in check. Sex in the office was not how he wanted their first time to be. Hell, sex in the office was what he’d been trying to avoid. He needed to maintain control. But he had to touch her. Now.
Renee’s body was pliant as she stood captured between his big body and the door. The twin stroking of his tongue in her mouth and his hand between her legs was drugging her. She began pushing against him in frustration and growing arousal.
He roughly pushed her panties aside and found the feminine slit at the heart of her. His lips and tongue began a subtle sucking motion as his large, blunt finger pushed for entrance. Renee’s heartbeat shifted into overdrive as the core of her rained heat between them and his finger slid inside.
Her inner muscles greedily clasped his finger and she gasped into his mouth as he g
roaned into hers. She broke the kiss to draw oxygen into her screaming lungs. He let her drag one gulp of air and immediately took her mouth again. The onslaught was brutally physical. He drank from her mouth and showed her no respite. His hand pushed at her, his finger rendering her helpless in his arms as he stroked her to within moments of orgasm.
He lifted his head and looked at her, hanging in his arms. She balanced on a precipice as he growled at her, “You’re going to give me what I want. This is only the beginning.”
Renee recognized the arrogance and conceit in his voice as he lowered his mouth back to hers. It wasn’t enough to keep her from flying over the edge. Her body stiffened as an intense orgasm consumed her.
She leaned against the door, her mind fuzzy and her heartbeat out of control, as she tried to come down.
The ringing of the phone jolted her back to reality.
It interrupted the tense silence around them and wouldn’t let up. Robert removed his hand from her as gently as possible and steadied her against the door. He walked over to his desk and grabbed the phone. “Thibodeaux.”
Renee tried to control the hysteria bubbling up close to the surface as she straightened her clothing. She saw him turn to face her as he listened to the caller. An indefinable expression crossed his features that quickly turned into antagonism. Toward the caller. Toward her. Renee was disturbed and distressed as he continued to listen in silence and stare at her with smoldering fury.
And then all hell broke loose. His rage came to the surface. “No. Goddammit, Cameron, she’s my secretary. You cannot fucking have her phone number.” He paused to listen as Renee stared in shocked silence as she realized the conversation was about her. “It’s not your fucking business whether she’s married or not. Stay away from her. Don’t call her. Don’t come by here. In fact, I’ll bring the blueprints to you when they’re ready.” He slammed the phone down.
His scowl became ferocious. Renee recognized the unappeased arousal and anger radiating from him. His eyes never wavered from hers as he started toward her again. The stupor she had fallen in left her in a rush as she felt him coming down on her. With only seconds to spare, she flicked open the lock on the door and turned and ran.
The Louisiana Liaisons Series Box Set Page 16