Page 61 of Untouchable

A smile lifted the corner of his lips. “Did you have something else in mind?”

“Nothing in particular. I’m not slathering after your irresistible body, if that’s what you think. I just wanted to spend the day with you.”

“We spend plenty of time together.”

If she’d been in a real relationship with him, she would get really tired of coming in a distant second to his work. As it was, it was actually helpful—since he wasn’t always around, getting in her space all the time. She gave him a little, pouty frown and didn’t reply.

He chuckled and wrapped an arm around her again, pulling her into a half hug. “You’re not going to start with that kind of thing, are you?”

“No. I’m not going to start with any sort of thing. You can work all the time for all I care.”

He looked ridiculously pleased and a little smug, as if he’d identified a soft spot in her that he liked. “Don’t lie to me. I can always tell. I’ll work from home this afternoon instead of going into the office. How’s that?”

It was evidently a great concession on his part, and he leaned down to kiss her to seal the deal.

But she had a good idea now, and she’d set things up exactly right to follow through with it. So she told herself it didn’t matter when her arms instinctively wrapped around his neck to return the kiss.

At four in the afternoon, she walked into his home office, wearing a little sundress and carrying the black silk cords he’d used on her the night before.

He’d been working since noon, and she’d waited long enough that he wouldn’t feel genuinely annoyed with her for the interruption.

She had to play this exactly right, or it would never succeed and she needed something dramatic enough to distract him.

After what happened last night, the cords would get his attention.

He was clearly startled by her presence, but fortunately, he wasn’t on the phone. He took in her appearance in about two seconds, which was when she saw his expression shift from surprise—to understanding—to a knowing sort of approval—to pure heat.

She shifted from foot to foot, trying to look exaggeratedly shy. “Are you still working?”

“You can see very well that I am.” His tone had taken on that low dominance she was familiar with—different in resonance than his more characteristic, natural authority.

“I was hoping you were done.” She let her loose hair fall over her shoulder so she could hide her face behind it. He was always saying how much he liked that she looked innocent, inexperienced, so she might as well take advantage of it.

He had to be into this all the way if it was ever going to work.

His eyes slanted down to the cords. He leaned over some so he could see her face. The brief question in his eyes eased back into desire, which was a relief. He was certainly an enthusiastic sex partner, but he wasn’t a predictable man—and so it wasn’t always easy to manipulate him.

“We’re not using the cords,” he said at last, in the same low, textured voice.

“But I?—”

“No arguments.”

He sounded a lot bossier than he normally did, but she still couldn’t tell if he was serious or not. She’d had the whole thingplanned out, and she wasn’t sure normal sex would do the trick, so she didn’t want some pretense of sensitivity on his part to get in the way of her plan. “I’m ready,” she said, straightening up and meeting his gaze so he knew she was sincere. “I wasn’t ready last night, but I really want to do it this time.”

He cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair, somehow looking both sophisticated and debauched in his expensive shirt and trousers. Murmured, “We’ll see if you’re ready.”

With a quick intake of breath, she realized he was in after all—he was just changing the game a little. “How?” she breathed.

“Drop the cords.”

She let them fall to the floor and saw them curled like a snake beside her sandals and polished toes. “What are we going to do?”

“We’re going to see how ready you really are to be bound.”

She swallowed hard, her body already responding to the intensity of the heat in his eyes and the authority in his voice, and it was somehow even harder to resist since she kept remembering how tender he’d been last night.

“I was working when you interrupted, so you’re going to have to wait until I’m ready for you.”