Behind Closed Doors

Chapter 6

Raine crouched in the bathtub, shaking so hard that she could barely keep her balance. She lunged up for the shower nozzle, missed it and slid back, falling with a painful thud against the cold porcelain.

Shaken to bits.

This had been nothing like her fantasies. Nothing like the rude reality she had lived with Frederick. But the Frederick episode had been stupid and embarrassing, an error to forget and move beyond. Not like this. Not earth-shattering.

Her fantasies of how sex would be with a talented lover had been soft-focus and candlelit, glittering with tints of rose and gold like love scenes in the movies. Seth had turned on all the lights and left them burning: No soft, romantic dimness for him. Every detail of him was harsh and blunt and clear, his heavy, steel-hard body, his immense strength. His big penis, probing and penetrating her. His rough commands, his restless, ravenous masculine energy.

She felt ravished, plundered. She'd had no way of knowing that it could be like this to give herself to a man. No notion of how vulnerable her helpless, writhing response to him would make her feel. And now she couldn't stop shaking, couldn't calm down. She couldn't fall in love with a man just because she went to bed with him. She barely knew him. She wasn't even sure yet if she liked him. For God's sake, she was twenty-eight years old. She knew better.

And he was waiting out there on the bed, as lean and hungry as a panther. God only knew what he was thinking. She had to go out and face him. She clutched the sides of the tub with white-knuckled hands, shaking in silent convulsions; she couldn't tell if they were laughter or tears. Both, maybe. She had never felt so intensely alive. Seth had ripped a veil off from the world as she knew it, and every detail glittered with unnatural brilliance. The bathroom light blinded her, the white porcelain of the toilet and sink glowed as if lit from within, the plain metal faucets blazed like sunlit platinum.

She was coming unglued.

She finally managed to snag the shower nozzle, and bit her lip as she rinsed gently between her legs, wondering if it were always going to hurt that much. She had thought that Frederick had relieved her at least of the technical unpleasantness of losing her virginity, but she was not to be so lucky. Maybe there was something anatomically wrong with her. She wouldn't be at all surprised.

Granted, Seth was much more generously endowed than Frederick. But she'd been so excited. She was still shivering with unrelieved tension, despite the stinging between her thighs. The man was addictive. Even if it hurt again, she wanted more of him.

If he was still there. It was completely quiet in the room outside.

The thought slipped into her mind with the sneakiness of a cold knife between the ribs. Maybe history would repeat itself, and she would come out of the bathroom to find the room empty.

She turned off the water, held very still, and listened.

Nothing. She finished washing up with mechanical motions. Whether he was or whether he wasn't, she would know as soon as she opened the door. There was no point in working herself into a state.

Time enough for that later, her sarcastic inner voice commented.

She flung her hair back over her shoulders, unlocked the door, and marched out into the room.

He was there. Oh, God, was he ever. The whole lean, dark, muscular length of him, lounging on the bed, and managing somehow to look both relaxed and dangerous. A smile of pure joy and relief took control of her face. His heavily muscled arms were folded back behind his head, showing off thick, silky tufts of dark armpit hair. His big, thick penis was flushed and erect against his flat belly, swelling and stiffening before her eyes.

“You OK?” His dark eyes were keen and watchful.

She nodded, trying to wrestle down the silly smile on her face.

“Did I hurt you?”

She hesitated, and his eyes narrowed, silently demanding the truth. “It's all right,” she said shyly. “I know you tried not to.”

He sat up, his expression darkening. “I'm sorry,” he muttered.

“No, really, it's OK,” she hastened to reassure him. “The first part was wonderful—”

“Which part?”

“What you did with your hands and, um, mouth,” she stammered.

A smile dawned slowly on his face. She blushed, and took a deep breath, forcing herself to continue. “And the rest was... intense. Exciting,” she finished, in an embarrassed little rush. “I loved it.”

The grin changed his face completely, making her realize how habitually grim his expression was. His smile lit up the room. She couldn't help but smile back at him.

He held out his hands. “Grab some condoms and get over here.”

A hot glow of anticipation pulsed between her legs “Already?”

“I just want them handy, that's all,” he said. “There’s no rush.”

Raine licked her lips nervously. “How many?” she whispered.

His eyes gleamed with amusement. “You tell me, sweetheart.”

Hah. He would learn what it meant to challenge a pirate queen. She scooped up a double handful of condoms and stalked towards him. She flung the condoms onto the bed and looked down at him with what she hoped was a cool, challenging expression.

“No, Seth. You tell me,” she said softly.

His grin faded and was replaced by a look of total concentration. She drew herself up, resisting the urge to cover her body with her hands, and quietly bore the weight of his scrutiny.

His eyes narrowed, as if he had discovered something unexpected. “You're no butterfly,” he said, almost to himself.

“What?” she asked, puzzled.

“Not a flower, either.”

Raine gazed down at him, trying to interpret his cryptic remarks. “I don't understand,” she said

He shrugged, looking uncomfortable. “You're not as fragile as you look,” he said brusquely. “That's all I meant”

She felt a bright, warm stirring of pleasure. He could not have given her a compliment that would have pleased her more.

“Thank you,” she said awkwardly. “I think.”

“You're welcome,” he replied.

For a long moment, they just stared at each other, smiling. He held out his hand. “Come here.” His eyes were full of hot invitation.

She glanced down at the amazing size of his erection. He intercepted the glance and did not try to misunderstand. “Don't worry,” he said. “I'll make it better for you. I won't hurt you this time.”

She extended her hand. “If it's any better for me, I'll burst into flames on the spot.”

He seized her hand and pulled her until she sprawled across the whole length of him. The hot shock of contact made her gasp with pleasure. She pushed herself up onto her knees, straddling his muscular thighs, and studied the details with greedy eyes and hands.

He was a banquet, a treasure trove, a sensual delight. His golden body was lightly furred by silky dark hair that lay fiat and glossy against his skin. She didn't know what to touch first

He propped himself onto his elbows and watched as her hands skimmed over him. His jaw was taut and vibrating with tension, his penis jutted proudly up against his belly. She trailed her fingers over the curves and hollows of his throat. Even his neck was thick and powerful. She petted the heavy muscles of his shoulders, her hands sliding across curves and contours, dips and bulges, the delicate tracery of vein and tendon. His body was hard and wiry, perfectly proportioned, beyond her most extravagant fantasy of the ideal male body.

She could not get enough of it.

She splayed her hands against the broad expanse of his chest, leaned over and kissed his flat brown nipples, letting her hair pool across his body. He made a low, tortured sound in his throat and started to sit up, but stopped himself, falling down onto his back with a groan. He grasped her waist, almost spanning it with his long fingers which slid over her belly, her ribs, tenderly stroking the underside of her breasts with a deliciously light, tickling touch. She followed his example with her own fingertips, brushing them across his chest, smoothing the dark hair that arrowed down to a point at his navel where his penis lay, stiff and rigid. She hesitated for a long moment and then grasped his shaft with both hands. It was hot and hard, the soft skin sliding beneath her hands, as smooth and velvety as suede.

He gasped, and swiftly covered her hands with his. “Bad idea.”

“Why?” Her position, poised over him, gave her a pleasurable feeling of power, and she loved holding his penis; all that pulsing energy trapped in her two hands was wildly exciting. She gave him a bold, stroking caress, her thighs tightening instinctively around his.

His hands clamped down, immobilizing her. “Because I promised it would be better for you this time, and if you tease me, I'll lose it.”

She smiled at him. “But what if that's what I want? For you to lose it? It sounds exciting.”

Seth pried her hands away from his cock and trapped both her wrists in one big hand. “Too bad,” he said flatly.

She tugged at her hands, but they might as well have been locked in a steel manacle. “Are you always this bossy?”

“Yes “ he said, his face implacable. “Get used to it.”

She yanked ineffectually at her hands. “Give me my hands back,” she pleaded. “You're beautiful. I want to touch you some more.”

“No. I don't trust you.”

His words were light in tone, but something dark and cold suddenly yawned between them. Her teasing smile faded. She stopped tugging at her hands. They stared at each other, somber and cautious.

Raine took a deep breath, and broke the heavy silence. “You can, you know.”

“Can what?” His eyes were cool, watchful.

“Trust me “ she said.

His mouth hardened, and a tiny muscle pulsed in his jaw. His hand tightened painfully around her wrists, and she gasped in alarm.

“Don't go there,” he said flatly. “I'm having a good time. Don't ruin it.”

“Why would trust ruin it?” He did not reply, but slowly let go of her hands. She rubbed her aching wrists, and gently persisted. 'Tell me, Seth. Why can't you—”

“Drop it.” He yanked her down against his chest and rolled her over, pinning her beneath him. His face was frozen, but his eyes were like pits of fire, burning with inexplicable rage.

She gazed up at him, shocked and bewildered. “But I—”

“Let... it... go.” His voice was soft, but it sent chills through her entire body. “Right now. Or else.”

She knew this was important, dangerously important, but she dared not push it. She, of all people, knew a stone wall when she hit one. If she pushed him he was going to get furiously angry.

Raine did not know this man at all. And he was very big and strong, and fully aroused, and she was lying underneath him, stark naked

She did not want him furiously angry with her.

“All right,” she whispered.

The coiled tension in his body relaxed, almost imperceptibly. He shifted against her, lifting off enough of his weight so that she could breathe. They stared at each other, afraid to speak.

He was hiding something behind the rigid mask of his face. She read it in his eyes. An aching loneliness that spoke directly to her own.

Something turned over in her chest, sweetly painful. She pried her arms out from where they were pinned between their bodies. She cradled his face in her hands, stroking the harsh, angular lines of his jaw and cheekbone. She slid her fingers through the silky black brush of his hair and pulled his face to hers in a burst of tenderness, covering it with soft kisses; his cheek, his jaw, the corner of his mourn.

Her impulse was to soothe and comfort, but it had the opposite effect. Heat flared inside him, like a flame leaping when gasoline was thrown upon it. His arms tightened, and his mouth slanted hungrily across hers, his tongue thrust into her mouth. The hot brand of his penis swelled against her stomach, prodding her. She responded, softening and opening even as she braced herself for the stinging discomfort of penetration.

He wrenched himself suddenly up and off of her with a low curse, turning his back and sitting on the edge of the bed. “God, you are dangerous,” he muttered hoarsely. “You keep driving me to the brink.”

Raine pulled herself up onto her knees. “Sorry,” she said, in a small, careful voice.

He twisted around and looked at her, his eyes sweeping the length of her body. He shook his head, passing his hand roughly over his face. “Listen carefully,” he said. “Ground rules for the next round are, you keep your hands to yourself, and make believe my cock doesn't exist until I tell you otherwise. Got it?”

She gazed at him, bewildered. “What am I supposed to do, then?”

His grin flashed, brief and ironic. “Nothing,” he said. “You let me keep my promise. You let me touch you and pet you and go down on you and make you come, over and over.”

“Oh,” she said in a tiny voice.

He reached out and cupped one of her breasts. “Yeah,” he went on softly. “And then when you're liquid and shivering and boiling hot—” his hand slid down over her belly, then lower, “—when you're writhing and begging me, when you've forgotten your own name, then we'll try this again. Then you'll see how well we fit together.”

“Oh,” she said inanely. Her heart thudded heavily in her chest

His fingers tangled themselves tenderly into the curls between her legs. He slid his hand lower and pushed her thighs apart. “Put your arms around my neck,” he breathed into her ear.

She did as he asked, quivering. She already knew how this would play. He would strip her bare, and watch her with that calculating glitter in his dark eyes as he pushed her over the cliff, utterly in command of himself and of her.

Her arms tightened around his neck as his hands roved expertly over her body. She wanted him to lose control, too. She wanted him to follow her over the brink. The defiant thought took form on a deep, hidden level of her mind, even as she ostensibly yielded to him. He would never willingly let her push him so far, but she would find a way inside his defenses.

Seth buried his face against her neck, biting her just hard enough to make her gasp, and parted the soft folds of her sex with exquisite care as he licked the tender place on her throat that he had just bitten. “I'm going to make you come while I'm inside you,” he told her, his voice rough with excitement “I can't wait to feel your orgasm when I'm shoved as deep inside you as I can go, and you're clenched around me.”

She moaned, her legs opening, seduced by his words and his tender, ravenous kisses. His teeth sank into her shoulder, tasting, licking her while he spread her own hot, silky juices tenderly over her labia. “That's right, baby, that's perfect,” he crooned. “You're already getting ready for me, soft and wet for me.”

He thrust a finger inside of her, a hiss of excitement rasping through his teeth. “Move against my hand,” he demanded. “Show me how you'll move when my cock is inside you. Move!”

His voice cracked like a whip across her naked nerve endings, making her jerk in his grasp. She clutched his neck for support and tentatively rose up on her knees, acutely conscious of the blunt presence of his long ringer invading her body. She sank down onto him with a shuddering moan, pushing him deep inside herself. She could barely hear his low, rough encouragement as her sheath tightened and clutched around him. She slowly found a rhythm, working herself against his clever, thrusting fingers with increasing urgency until her hips were moving sensually against his hand, craving more of the sweet, gliding friction, straining for release.

He grasped her hips with his other hand, forcing her to stop, and she struggled against him, shaking with confusion as his words penetrated her consciousness. “Not yet. Not yet, sweetheart,” he was repeating. “If you wait a little longer, I can take you higher.”

“I can't wait” she sobbed out, her thighs clenching desperately around his hand. “Please, Seth.”

“You can't wait, hmm? Do you want me to fuck you now?”

In another lifetime, his crude language would have chilled and offended her, but she was beyond pride, beyond all boundaries. “Yes. Please. I can't wait,” she pleaded, hiding her face against his shoulder.

He seized the hair at the nape of her neck and pulled her head back until she was forced to stare directly into his eyes. The full power of his forceful personality blazed out at her, and he smiled, a cool, dangerous smile, and slid his tongue slowly across her trembling lower lip. He took it tenderly between his teeth, nipping her. “You can't, but you will” he murmured, as he withdrew his finger slowly from her clinging depths. “You will, because I'm not giving you a choice.”

The dark current in his voice was threatening to pull her under, into cold, unknown depths. She writhed in his tight grasp, and the fluttering surge of fear that she had felt before returned, sharper and colder. “Why are you doing this, Seth?” she asked in a shaky voice. “You can have anything you want from me. There's no need to play power games.”

Soft laughter rumbled in his chest, and she felt his mocking smile against her mouth. “Two reasons,” he said. “One, power games the way I play them are going to make you come ... screaming.”

“Seth—”

He silenced her with another long, savage kiss. “Two,” he went on, his voice deliberate. “Two is because it's all about power in the end, angel. And if you don't know that by now, it's time you learned.”

There it was, hard and cold, a gauntlet thrown down in front of her. It chilled her melting excitement as nothing else could have.

She went very still in his hard grasp, and stared into his eyes. “I think you're wrong,” she said quietly.

Tension was building inside him like a deadly wave gathering force. She could see it in his narrowed eyes, in the muscle that twitched in his jaw, but still, she somehow found the force of will to hold his gaze.

A low, bitter laugh rumbled in his throat. He pushed her down onto her back and shoved her thighs apart, so suddenly that she didn't have time to react. “We'll see how wrong I am,” he muttered, arching over her.

Something snapped inside her at the savage, predatory look on his face. Like a wild animal suddenly realizing the trap closing around it, she jerked out of his grasp, scrambling away in a spasm of panic.

Seth lunged for her, seizing her by the waist and tossing her down onto her back again. The bed bounced as he pinned her beneath him, and he trapped her flailing arms above her head, his eyes blazing. “Where the hell do you think you're going?”

She opened her mouth to scream, but he blocked it with his hand, his breathing ragged. His mouth clenched, as if in pain, and he closed his eyes and muttered something incoherent under his breath.

He took his hand away, but before she could speak, he was kissing her with totally unexpected tenderness. His lips moved across hers, gentle and soothing, as if he were sipping sweetness from her lips. Startled tears sprang into her eyes, and her body shook with confusion.

He lifted his head and stroked her cheek. “Shhh,” he murmured. “I'm sorry, baby. I pushed too hard.”

Raine tried to speak, but her lungs were heaving beneath his weight, and her lips were trembling. Tears slid from the corners of her eyes, and he leaned over and kissed them away.

“It's OK,” he crooned, kissing her forehead, her cheeks. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you.” He let go of her wrists, stroked her damp, tangled hair off her forehead and eased off his weight.

She closed her eyes. “Seth, I think that maybe we should stop—”

“Shhh. Don't think.” He kissed her throat with seductive tenderness, nibbling her ear. “Just relax and let me do my thing.”

“But I—but you—”

“No power games,” he said soothingly. “Just pleasure. Just me driving you crazy, making you melt, making you come. Nothing scary, sweetheart, I promise.”

Her shuddering tension was subsiding under the influence of his unexpected gentleness, his soft, pleading kisses. She could sense his sincerity; it blazed out at her like the heat of a roaring fire. But she also sensed a hidden trap behind his sensual promises.

She didn't know what it was. She didn't want to know. She let her doubts sink into the depths of her unconscious mind, spiraling down until they were lost to sight and forgotten. He was dangerous and unpredictable, but his lips were so tender and sweet against her face. Her body ached for his touch. He swamped her mind with need, blotting out reason. She had been starving for years, and he was a glutton's banquet. She couldn't resist. She had to risk it

She turned her tear-streaked face to his and dropped a tiny kiss on his jaw, accepting his wordless apology. He said nothing, but his arms tightened reflexively around her, and she could feel the relief that flooded him, the way his breathing relaxed and slowed.

Her legs were still clamped together, and he caressed her, coaxing them apart. “Let me in, sweetheart,” he urged. “I can give you so much more pleasure if you'll just relax and let me in.”

He caressed the swell of her backside, pushing his knee between hers, and let out a soft growl of satisfaction as she yielded and opened to him. He slid down her body and cupped her breasts, pressing them together and rubbing his face against them with hungry appreciation. “God, these are so sexy,” he said, his voice a rasp of pleasure. “I've wanted to nuzzle you and kiss you and suck your breasts since the first moment I saw you.”

The shaky giggle that shook her felt alarmingly similar to a sob. “Um, thanks “ she murmured.

His teeth flashed in a brief, reassuring grin, and he lowered his head and began loving her breasts. Slow, dragging kisses pulled her into a whirlpool of chaotic, melting sweetness. He licked her as if she were an exotic fruit dripping with syrup, soft and succulent. His tongue swirled in sensual circles against her plump curves, as if he could never get enough. She fell back against the pillows with a gasp, arching herself, offering him everything.

He took her nipple tenderly in his mourn and dragged at it gently with his teeth, and she cried out at the searing, bright silver wire of sensation, perilously close to pain and yet a million miles away from it She clutched his head against her chest, shaking with pleasure as he pressed her breasts together and licked the deep valley between them. The bright overhead light came through her closed eyelids, coloring her universe a glowing, endless red. Red was the color of the wet, pulling heat of his mouth, the swollen, pulsing ache between her thighs.

She was so sensitized that the faintest touch of his hand between her thighs almost made her climax then and there. Her eyes flew open as he slid his long finger inside her. He murmured softly in approval, and slid in another one alongside it, stretching her tenderly.

His clever hand caressed her sensitive folds and furrows with tender skill, petting and coaxing her tirelessly until she crested and came, long and liquid, a wave of shimmering pleasure.

When Raine opened her eyes again, Seth was studying her, his face thoughtful. He pushed a lock of her hair gently out of her mouth and smoothed it behind her ears, and she smelled her own scent against his damp hand. “You came apart right in my hands. I felt your orgasm like it was my own,” he said softly. “I love how you let yourself go.”

She waited until she had control of her voice to reply. “I never have before,” she whispered. “Not like this. It's you who does it to me.” His grin was openly triumphant. “It's not nice to gloat,” she muttered.

“Who ever said I was nice?” He slid down between her legs again, pressing them even wider.

She struggled up onto her elbows, alarmed. “Again? Already? Seth, give me a minute to rest!”

His laughter cut her off. “Forget about rest. I've barely even begun. I want more “

She clutched at his head, with the vague intention of pushing him away, but just then his tongue lashed tenderly across her most sensitive flesh, and she sagged back against the pillows with a sob of helpless pleasure.

Time ceased to have meaning. She lost count of the number of orgasms he brought her to. At a certain point, it all blended together in one endless, shuddering wave, with peaks and valleys and immense vistas. He was insatiable, ravenous; lapping at her tender flesh as if it were her pleasure that nourished him. He pushed her further than she had ever dreamed of going, until she was writhing and pleading, her hands tangled in his hair.

He gently unwound his hair, kissing each of her fingers, his eyes blazing down at her with unmistakable purpose as he rose up over her. “Now,” he said raggedly, grabbing one of the condoms scattered across the crumpled sheet. “You're ready for me now, Raine.”

It was true. He had leveled every barrier with his ruthless sensual expertise and the force of his fiery will. Her defenses

were in ruins, even the silent, secret ones she had not known that she possessed before he had breached them. And she was glad.

She held out her arms to him. “Please.”

His face was a grimace of concentration as he smoothed the condom swiftly over himself and mounted her. He pushed himself against her drenched, ravished sex with teasing thrusts that made her pant with frustration. She slid her hands down over his hips. He was slick with sweat, muscles rigid and trembling. She grasped his buttocks and pulled, inviting him into her body.

He drove himself inside her hard and deep, and she was more than ready; she was primed, silky soft and yielding and eager. All the little muscles that had resisted him before now clung to him eagerly, welcoming the intense friction of his thick shaft.

He withdrew, and thrust again with a groan of pleasure. He cupped her face in his hands. “Does it hurt now?” he demanded.

He wasn't satisfied at the mute shake of her head. 'Tell me how it feels!” he insisted.

Her hips bucked beneath him as he drove himself deeper, harder, but she could find no words to say. She clutched his shoulders, squeezing her eyes shut.

“Do you like it?” he demanded.

“I love it,” she gasped out, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and holding on for dear life. “I love it”

The breath escaped from his lungs in a long, sensual sigh of relief, and his mouth covered hers, kissing her with passionate tenderness. They rocked together, sighing and gasping with the consuming pleasure of each deep, gliding thrust. He slid his arms under her shoulders, dragging her still closer. “You want me to give it all to you?”

Her heart swelled at the vulnerability in his voice. It was low and shaky, ragged with desperate longing. She clasped her legs tightly around his hips. “Give me everything you've got,” she urged, kissing his jaw. “I'm not fragile, remember? No butterfly. I want it all.”

He stared into her eyes as he rose up onto his knees, folding her legs back against her chest. He loomed over her, his hips pulsing eagerly. His face was a taut questioning mask. She reached up and caressed his cheek, arching her back. Silently giving him leave.

He took her at her word. His control snapped, everything changed, and she was caught up in a hurricane. He shouted hoarsely as he drove into her. His slamming thrusts made her cry out, not in pain, but in savage exultation. Every part of her welcomed him, loving the slapping sounds of contact, the marvelous, sliding friction. It drove her crazy, tearing down her image of herself, releasing something deeper and fiercer, something heightened and exalted and savagely feminine.

He had lost his control and she was glad, triumphant She wanted to claw and bite him, to tear down his barriers and see him naked and helpless before her. She stared into his face and cried out with wild, exultant joy as he exploded and wild triumph triggered her own sweet, shimmering explosion.

When she opened her eyes, his face was hidden against her neck. She pulled at his hair, trying to make him look at her, but he resisted, shaking his head and pressing his face harder against her, panting.

She clasped her arms around his neck and melted into tears, but they were soft, rippling tears that cleansed and renewed her. She held onto him as the bright storm moved through her and subsided, leaving her clear and clean, like a fragrant, rain-washed sky. The feeling frightened her. It was dangerous to be this happy. Experience had taught her that it meant she had way too far to fall.

Seth looked up, alarm plain upon his face. She laughed through her tears, dashing them away with the back of her hand. “Don't worry,” she told him with a watery giggle. “I'm all right. More than all right. I'm just happy. This was wonderful. You 're wonderful.”

She was hoping that he would take her in his arms again, but he withdrew abruptly, climbing off the bed. Suddenly the air in the room felt unpleasantly chilly against her damp, flushed skin. He turned away, disposing of the condom. A vague, fearful feeling clutched at her midriff, blocking her tears at their source.

“What's the matter, Seth?” she asked.

He waited an agonizingly long time to reply, then turned to her.

“How do you let yourself go like that?” His voice was cool. Wondering.

She sat up, smoothing her hair away from her damp face, and smiled at him. “How could I not?”

“So you're like this every time, men? With everyone?”

The cold look in his eyes made her shiver, as if a cliff had appeared unexpectedly before her feet. “What do you mean, everyone?”

“Every time that Lazar sends you out to fuck one of his business associates,” he said.

Her insides turned to ice. She stared at him, half-hoping she had heard wrong, knowing she had not.

She swallowed around the jagged lump that had taken form in her throat. “You thought that I—that Victor—” Her voice trailed off, breath finished. She was unable to inhale and replenish it.

“I hope he pays you well,” he said. “You deserve it. You're amazing. I've never had sex like that in my life.”

She opened her mouth again, but nothing came out. She shook her head, wanting to cancel, to negate, to erase, the last ten seconds.

He just stared at her, eyes cold and unwavering. He believed it.

God, he had made love to her believing it.

No, not love. Not even sex. He had fucked her, believing it.

She shook her hair forward, hiding her breasts. Being naked in front of his cold gaze was unbearable. “God, Seth “ she whispered, “I'm a secretary, not a call girl.”

His expression did not change.

Raine scrambled off the bed and began searching for her scattered clothes. She yanked them on with cold, trembling fingers, not bothering to button her cuffs or to tuck in her tattered blouse. She shoved her bare feet into her pumps and lunged for the door.

He blocked her, trapping her between his powerful arms. “Wait,” he said flatly. “I'll get dressed and drive you home.”

She looked into Seth's dark eyes, inches from hers, and said, loud and clear, words she had never said aloud to anyone in her life.

“Fuck you.”

She shoved at his naked chest with all her strength, sending him stumbling back two steps. She wrenched the door open, and ran.