Love and Let Die (Masters and Mercenaries #5)(33)

Oh, he was going to try her limits, it seemed. She knew she should agree, but the bratty words just flowed from her mouth. “I think I can find my way to the bathroom, Ian.”

“That’s ten.”

She had to take a deep breath. Oh, f*ck, he was going there. “I thought you weren’t my Master.”

His hands were on her shoulders, lightly tracing the lines of her body. His voice had softened as though he was thinking of something else, something sweeter. “I’m your Dom for now because it’s the only way I can trust you to do what I tell you. You’re dangerous and someone has to keep you in line. I’m viewing myself as a rattlesnake handler. We’re in high protocol, Charlie. You will speak when spoken to. You will obey my every directive or you will take your punishment. If you do not follow my rules, I’ll contact the Agency and let them handle you.”

He wanted her in a corner with no way out. He didn’t seem to understand she didn’t want out. He needed to be in charge. She was willing to spend a boring day so that he got what he needed. “Yes, Master…I mean, Sir.”

Master meant they had a special relationship. She’d f*cked that up. A Sir could be any Dom. It was a politeness. Despite the fact that he was definitely acting like her Master, he needed to be Sir for now. She could play that way.

“I mean it, Charlie. This is all you’re going to get out of me.” He pressed his cock against her, bringing his forehead to hers. “I’m not the man you knew. I’m a bastard, and I won’t feel a moment’s regret f*cking you and leaving you to your fate when I’m done. When I have what I need out of you, I’ll walk away and I won’t look back. I buried you a long time ago. There’s nothing left but a little bit of lust and a whole lot of business between us.”

But the lust was so building. She could practically feel it rolling off him. “If we’re laying all our cards on the table, I should tell you that I intend to find my way into your bed and I intend to stay there. I don’t care how long it takes. You loved me once. I’ll make you love me again.”

“I never loved you, Charlie.” He breathed the words against her skin. His hands moved from her shoulders to her chest, his eyes trailing down. He let his palms rest over her mounds and sighed a little.

God, if he didn’t love her, she would take the connection she felt with him anyway. “Again, a risk I’m willing to take. You want me.”

He took a long step back, but his eyes remained on her chest. “Yes, but it’s not the same. It’s sexual chemistry. I’m willing to admit that I have it with you. I have more sexual chemistry with you than most other women. But lust is all there is between us. Show me your breasts.”

Lust felt so good. She ignored his line about most other women because it was just sheer stubborn stupidity. In the last several years she’d learned to shove the bad crap aside and revel in the rare sweet times. She didn’t hesitate, didn’t tease and taunt him. She simply pulled the shirt over her head and tossed it aside before going to work on her bra.

Cool air hit her skin. Her nipples were still puckered from the feel of his hands on her body. She let the bra slip out of her fingers before assuming the position she was sure he wanted. Hands clasped behind her back, chest thrust out.

Ian stared. Charlie waited. He liked to spend long, agonizing moments just looking at her.

Your body belongs to me. Your breasts, your *, your ass are all my property. He’d said the words to her so long ago, but she could still hear his dark voice claiming her.

What do I get in return? She’d asked, her voice breathless.

I’m yours. Only yours, Charlie. Everything I am. Everything I have. Everything I will be. All yours. Past. Present. Future. I’ll give them to you.

She’d screwed up the past. Needed the present. Longed for a future. So she stood there, offering him everything she had.

He reached out and placed a hand on her breast, lightly at first, his fingers skimming her skin. His eyes were down, watching the place where they connected. He traced the round disc surrounding her nipple, watching it tighten and peak for him. He brushed the nipple, making her want to beg him to tug it into his mouth. Her body was softening in all the right places. She could feel her * getting wet and ready. All he had to do was touch her and she was ready to spread her legs and welcome him home.

Instead, she stood perfectly still. He didn’t seem to be taunting her. There was a bland look on his face, but his fingertips were tender as they explored her, running along the blue veins that crossed her chest. He skimmed the puckered scar where the bullet had gone into her shoulder, just under her clavicle bone. He spent time there, circling it with his thumb, staring as though memorizing the place.

His fingers moved again, this time to her throat. She remembered when she’d worn his collar. It had been leather at first, but he’d bought a Cartier gold collar that circled her neck, reminding her always that she was his.

“Where did it go?” Ian asked as though reading her mind.

Tears sparked against her eyes. “I don’t know. It was gone when I woke up. They had taken my ring off, too.”

She’d lost her collar and the platinum and diamond ring he’d bought for her. She’d felt naked for so long without them. It had taken her almost a year to stop reaching for the collar. She’d worn it for so short a period of time, but it had become a habit to touch it when she was nervous.