Owned by Fate (Serve #1)(16)

Jonah nodded toward the journalism degree from Columbia framed above her desk. “Top of your class, I’m guessing?” She merely smiled, but her expression faltered when he took that final step forward, bringing their bodies within an inch, where he could feel the heat of her through his clothes, just enough to make him hard. Jonah’s hand came up, and Caroline’s lips parted on a quick inhale. With a smirk, he changed direction and reached into his jacket to extricate his ever-present pack of Red Vines. “I order in bulk.”

She bit her lip, amusement lighting her eyes. The desire to kiss her stormed through him, but she sobered so rapidly, he forced himself to hold back. “Are you blackmailing me or not, Jonah?”

Hearing Caroline whisper his name dulled his senses momentarily, but he struggled back to the surface. “Christ, no, I’m not blackmailing you. Is it so difficult to believe I’d want to see you again?” He leaned in close, loving the way her chin tilted up on cue. “I’m a proud man, sweetheart. Yet I came here today knowing you’d like nothing better than to forget we ever met. Can you imagine how f*cking badly I’d have to want you in order to do that?”

He watched her process that, analyzing him the entire time. “Badly.”

“Correct.” Jonah tossed the Red Vines onto her desk and planted his fists on either side of her. He made a pleased sound when he pressed against her and found her pliant, as if her body knew its master, even if she wasn’t ready to admit it. “Badly enough to return to that same room twice, by myself, and f*ck my own hand to the memory.”

Caroline sucked in a breath. “That does sound bad.”

“I asked you a question when we walked in here. Answer it truthfully now.” He grasped her around the waist and boosted her up onto the desk. “Did you miss me?”

“No.”

“No?” Jonah placed his hand on her bare knee. “So if I stroked between your thighs right now, I wouldn’t find you wet?” She squeezed her legs together, and Jonah laughed under his breath. “Something tells me you’re not being truthful.”

Her chest shuddered. “If you’re not here to blackmail me, then why did you come? You couldn’t have just expected me to…give it up on my desk. On a Monday, of all days.”

Again, he had the strange urge to laugh. “But you would have on a Tuesday?”

“Of course not.” She gave a halfhearted push against his shoulders, but he could see her pupils were dilated, the pulse in her neck racing. “State your purpose. I have work to do.”

God, this woman swung from amusing to infuriating so quickly, for the first time he found himself playing catch-up with a member of the opposite sex. He didn’t know if that delighted or irked him, only knew that he needed more. She was actually trying to dismiss him. Jonah battled back the need to discipline her for such an action, barely leashing the instinct at the last minute.

“If you had to take a guess, Caroline, what would you say my purpose is?”

“At first, I thought you just wanted to get me into bed.” She stumbled over the last word, her eyes expressing something akin to disbelief that they were having this discussion in broad daylight. “But it’s more. You’re going to use what happened at Serve against me. If I don’t write the article you want. Or—”

“Let’s get something straight, Caroline. I’m here because I’m hungry for your body. No, I’m f*cking starved for it.” He tamped down on the urge to swallow her startled exhale. Instead, he took her ankles in his hands, massaging the insides with his thumbs. “If I blackmailed you, it might prevent me from giving you the rough f*cking you deserve, wouldn’t it?”

Her breath hitched when his grip tightened on her ankles. “It would, yes. But I fail to see how that would benefit your club.”

He brought her ankles to the small of his back and crossed them there, noting the red staining her smooth neck, the tempting outline of her hard nipples. God, she was magnificent. “Give me a chance to show you that what happens in my club isn’t what you’ve already perceived. You get to make an informed decision about the article, the merger…and I get you beneath me. Simple, Caroline.”

“You think you’re getting me back to that place?” Her tone was haughty, but her body’s visible response ruined it. “It’s going to take some convincing.”

Jonah’s restraint went out the window. In one swift movement, he yanked her toward the edge of the desk and pinned her there with his hips. A surge of satisfaction rose in him when she whimpered at the feel of his erection pressed intimately against her *. “That sounds like a challenge you’d prefer me to win.”

Caroline’s gaze strayed to his lips and remained there. He dragged his teeth over his bottom lip and watched her unconsciously mimic the movement, telling him she wanted a taste.

Instead of asking for his mouth like he sensed she wanted to, she murmured, “Friday night was a one-time thing, remember?”

“This isn’t over until I’ve been buried in you.”

A soft moan whooshed past her lips. “Oh, is that all?”

Jonah let his hand coast up her back to settle on the back of her head. In his fist, he twisted a handful of hair, just hard enough to get her attention. “All?” He gave one slow grind of his arousal against her heat, gritting his teeth when Caroline’s eyes went blind and her head fell back. “Sweetheart, I’m thick and unforgiving. You’re going to feel every merciless inch. There is no all about it, unless you’re referring to how much I will demand from you in return.”