LegallyBinding Page 4

  Getting longer by the second, and try as she might, she couldn’t get the question out of her mind, the longing to know what it would be like to feel his touch on her skin, to have his lips brush hers, so very strong and uncompromising.

  And he was so bloody hot. That cock of his must be magnificent.

  And that imagination of his. What must it take to really reach into a woman’s soul and fulfill her dreams as well as his own?

  Julian Morrell was the sort of man who wasn’t afraid to tie a woman, to defy all convention and dominate her, making her feel utterly feminine and surrendered.

  He would take command, like Giorgio had with Gina.

  And he would make her love it. He would make it a drug.

  See, that was the scary part. Addiction.

  Kat did ache though and maybe it was too late. She tried to anesthetize herself with more wine, a quickly finished glass but there was no denying, no turning back.

  She wanted to come with silk rope on her body. She wanted to be teased. Blindfolded. And what about a spanking?

  Oh god, this was not good.

  Curse Julian Morrell. Couldn’t he have let her be with Dryer vs. Standard Chemicals. Or was it Jones vs. Lust Chemicals?

  Yep. She was losing it. Officially going around the bend.

  And Julian was going to hear about it. He owed her an explanation. A frigging apology.

  I’m going up to his suite, she told herself. But not to be seduced. I am going to let him know how I feel so he will never, ever do this to another woman.

  Consider it a public service.

  Only one problem.

  She didn’t know his suite number.

  Oh well. The man would never have listened to reason as it was.

  Of course there was another way to look at things. Wasn’t there always?

  If she let him off scott free he would get the satisfaction of having won whatever game he had been playing.

  Imagine the surprise if she called his obvious bluff.

  He hadn’t wanted her to show up because he hadn’t told her what room he was in. But that was exactly why she intended to find out. At any price.

  Chapter Three

  Julian caught his reflection in the shine of the elevator wall as it made its way floor by floor up to his suite. There was no mistaking the self-questioning in his eye.

  Why exactly had he given up so easily?

  He had had Kat Cartwell on the ropes, nearly in his clutches and he’d let her go.

  Was she not the most gorgeous, maddening creature he’d seen in ages? Or ever for that matter? And wasn’t she clearly turned on by his dominance? Yes, yes and yes.

  I have a suite upstairs, otherwise this is goodbye.

  Wow, Julian, there’s a great line. Better write that one down for posterity. Didn’t even tell her which suite it was, did you genius?

  One could make a stretch and call it playing hard to get, a nice bit of reverse psychology. But the truth was Julian didn’t play games like that.

  He went after what and who he wanted. And he did it whenever and wherever. Kat Cartwell ought to have been eating out of his hand right now.

  She should have been begging him for that list of references so they could get on with things.

  Instead something had changed. What should have been easy sport became…awkward. Was that the word?

  Blast it.

  In a heartbeat it had all fallen apart. She had told him she wanted to be alone and he found it impossible to press any further. Not even a little bit when he’d known she would have cracked.

  He wasn’t having feelings for the woman was he? That would be crazy. Impossible.

  He had just met her. Picked her out pretty much at random.

  It was random wasn’t it? He hated to think of fate, in fact he usually laughed at it, but there was something spooky about this turn of events, going up to his room alone feeling as if something else was in control.

  He should have seduced her.

  She was primed and ready, curious and sweet, funny too and more than a little clever, able to match him in a conversation.

  Oh well, nothing to do now but take a nice cold shower and watch a pay per view, preferably something boring and unsexy.

  You didn’t want to hurt her, Julian. You didn’t want to risk her feelings by pulling your usual routine.

  The thought sobered him.

  That would be a new precedent.

  The elevator stopped at last chiming his destination. The top floor. He was more than a little relieved to get out of the tight confines of the metal box.

  It was like this weird judgment cube. A not-so-fun house where his own reflection stared him down, distorted on every side, into…what exactly?

  A nice guy?

  Screw that.

  “Evening, Mr. Morrell,” said the concierge as he passed him in the hallway. “Will you be requiring anything else for the evening?”

  Just my head examined.

  “No, thank you, Rainaldo. You have a good night. I think I will turn in a bit early.”

  Rainaldo gave a crisp bow. “Very well sir and I do hope you are enjoying your stay.”

  “Couldn’t be better.”

  Saying all that with a straight face, Julian made a safe retreat to the elegantly decorated door marked Presidential Suite.

  It was supposed to be his own lover’s castaway, his island of BDSM pleasure with Kat.

  Instead it was a torture chamber of isolation. The sound of the lock behind him tore at his gut.

  In disgust he stripped off his jacket and shirt. Really he was being dramatic.

  Tomorrow was another day.

  Bare-chested he went to the liquor cabinet. A quick scotch later and he was good to go.

  He had the shower on and was ready to take off his pants when he heard the knock at the door. Must be Rainaldo wanting some precious piece of information for the morrow, his preference for juice or a newspaper.

  The last thing he expected of course was to find her in his doorway.

  “Katherine Cartwell of all people.”

  “I am not staying,” she said.

  “No?”

  “I’m just here with a message. You won’t like it. It’s a dose of your own medicine.”

  “I see. In that case might I be allowed to wash it down with a bit of scotch?”

  She frowned, looking at his empty glass. “I suppose. But you’ll put a shirt on. I insist.”

  Julian did his best to contain his smile.

  Damn if he hadn’t won after all.

  She had sex written all over her face.

  Now if he could make it with her as far as the bed.

  “Whatever you say, Katherine Cartwell,” he crooned as he ushered her into his den of iniquity, at least for the night. “Your wish…is my command.”

  “I mean it,” Kat said as she watched him close the door behind her. “I’m not staying.”

  The lock clicked automatically and her heart skipped a beat. She had seen Julian Morrell’s chest before and his legs to boot so why did she feel the effect only now, his proximity, his sheer male power.

  Because you have just walked into his lair, that’s why.

  Could she have made a dumber move?

  As far as scoring legal or moral points or whatever, a strongly worded text or email would have been done the trick. Not this, showing up in person in his bedroom for all intents and purposes just minutes after receiving an invitation to seduction from the man.

  “Would you care for wine or something stronger?”

  “I wouldn’t care for anything, except that you understand what it’s like for a woman to have a man throw his weight around like you do, making her uncomfortable and ruining her entire vacation.”

  He handed her a glass of wine anyway. He had a scotch and water for himself.

  “I told you I didn’t want any and where’s your shirt?”

  “Katherine, I propose a toast.”

  Did this man have any li
mit to his gall?

  “Don’t you even dare toast us.”

  “To Gina and Giorgio then, finding each other and giving each other what they need.”

  She refused to touch her glass. “I’m not like Gina,” she said, though he hadn’t actually said she was. “I’m in control. I can be alone. I prefer it actually. And I would never allow a man to manipulate me.”

  Julian went silent, which made her more nervous than when he was talking.

  “Now what?”

  “I was just thinking.”

  She ached to know about what but she put her nose in the air instead and flipped her hair. “And I couldn’t care less.”

  He retrieved her wine, plucking it from her fingers. “We don’t need this, do we?”

  “Obviously not, I already told you—”

  His lips silenced her. The kiss was quick on her lips, barely there and gone, but it left her stunned and burning for more. She could do little but stand there and watch as he walked back to the bar and set down the glasses.

  What a perfect time to have run out, screamed, yelled, objected, anything, but there she stood, utterly passive and transfixed.

  She moaned softly as he returned, taking her into his arms as if she belonged there, as if there was no question at all.

  The thoughts raced through her mind.

  I shouldn’t be here, shouldn’t be doing this.

  Not with a man like Julian Morrell.

  We’re not compatible.

  I’m normal, he’s…a freak.

  But it felt so good. He felt so good.

  His hand grazed her shoulder.

  Damn. It was always the first touch that told a woman the most. What it would be like. What he had to offer.

  Only Julian wasn’t simply offering. He was taking command.

  If she didn’t stop him now…

  “I shouldn’t have come.”

  “On the contrary, it was the best thing you could have done.”

  His lips claimed her throat and she moaned a second time, neck arched.

  Was it time to beg yet? But for what? To be allowed to go?

  Something she had perfect freedom to do at any point on her own.

  His grazing fingers touched her waist, her thigh.

  “I would like to see you nude, Katherine Cartwell.”

  The explosions inside her were microscopic, little tingling sensations from her head down to her toes.

  This was what she got for not staying in her room. Seduction by a stranger.

  “No, Julian. It’s not what I want.”

  “Your body appears to disagree,” he said.

  She drew a sharp breath as he offered proof, finding her swollen nipple through the material of her dress.

  “Let’s have this off, shall we?”

  It was the sorriest excuse for a question as his hands moved behind her undoing the zipper. Next thing she knew she was lifting her arms for him. She did a quick, panicked assessment, trying to recall what she’d worn underneath.

  Fortunately or unfortunately she’d worn something new and soft and quite stunning in her opinion.

  It was a hobby of hers, collecting pretty under things. When she was in the mood she would wear them. But not for anyone else, just for her own satisfaction.

  His low growl, one of pure desire and male need, made her ache all over again as he took a look at the bra and panties.

  “Woman, you shouldn’t be allowed in public like that.”

  “This is…private, just for me.” she managed to breathe.

  “Not anymore.” He caressed her breasts boldly taking both in his hands, the swollen globes of flesh so perfectly and enticingly contained by the lace and silk, midnight black.

  She tried not to move against him but it was impossible.

  No man had ever taken her this way, so wanton, so bold and yet with a promise of tenderness too as if he would never betray her pleasure not for an ounce of her own.

  “Your body sings for me, Katherine Cartwell.”

  Oh god, he was moving lower, down her rib cage to her panty-clad waist.

  “Please.” Her mouth was dry as a desert as she spoke but the same could not be said of the flesh between her thighs.

  Embarrassed and humiliated and aroused beyond belief, she smelled her own heat, the liquid moisture, the sheer roiling need.

  If he should touch her now…

  There…

  He cupped her buttocks cheeks instead.

  “So tell me, Katherine, what excites you most? My ropes? The blindfold? Or have you imagined a little dose of this…”

  She gasped as he pinched her behind.

  The mild sting drove her forward, her pelvis against his, her pussy grinding against his cock.

  He was hard. Very hard.

  “Look at me.”

  She was trying to do everything but.

  “Would you like me to tie you, darling?”

  “I-I don’t know.”

  His smile was devilish but not without mercy. “Let’s find out, shall we?”

  Julian reached behind her back. Kat offered no resistance as he undid her bra. He did so expertly without hesitation as though permission were not even a question.

  It made her feel…complicated.

  Like a whore, a slave…and a princess.

  He tugged the straps forward, eyes never leaving hers.

  She flushed. He wanted everything from her, her reactions, emotions, her every expression, he read them all, consumed them.

  Fool, she thought. This is a master of women.

  Like Giorgio.

  He won’t just take a quick orgasm. Won’t even be content to make love. This will be… What exactly?

  “I don’t even know you.”

  What a foolish thing to say now of all times.

  He laughed accordingly.

  “What a darling creature, my little Kat.”

  She felt herself go weak all over. He pulled the bra straps forward, claiming his prize as the cups shed like petals to the floor.

  One hand at her waist, he bent to take a single breast in his mouth.

  Her toes curled and her back arched.

  She writhed for him, wanting, needing.

  “Let’s get you to bed.”

  Julian scooped her up and she scarcely knew where she was.

  This had not been the plan. Being carried in her panties to the mammoth bed of a stranger on her forced vacation. Where were the law books? Where was the cheesy cable movie?

  He laid her down so gently she wanted to cry. How could a man who wished to tie and blindfold and maybe even spank her be so…polite?

  No, polite was a very poor word for it. He was the most caring lover she had ever met. Or heard of for that matter. None of her girlfriends talked of men like this.

  “Put your hands over your head for me,” he said, the words so intimate she could not dream of disobeying, any more than she could deny her lungs the air they needed.

  She laid them palms up. Her nipples were so hard they hurt. Each wanted attention, the feel of his lips to their rubbery surface. Would he lick or nibble? Or had he something more wicked in mind?

  “Lift,” he said and he went for her panties, sliding them down her cooperative thighs and legs.

  Her last little bit of protection.

  He pulled them down over her ankles, the delicate material, and then he did something that made her stomach tighten and her loins roil.

  Very slowly and without shame he inhaled the scent, the moist garment at his nostrils, which flared.

  Most men couldn’t stand a woman’s sex, she marveled. Not really. They wanted in, for sure, a quick dip for their cocks. But as far as really appreciating…

  She hung on his next words, his next action.

  “You’re aroused for me. Good girl.”

  Kat bit her lip. This was wrong. She wasn’t a girl but a woman.

  This was dominant talk.

  And she was not submissive.

  So why d
id it make her need more? Why did it feel like an aphrodisiac?

  He traced a line down her belly.

  “You know what I need from you now?”

  “No.” She shook her head though she had a pretty good idea.

  He bent to kiss her. Under the circumstances it felt like punishment.

  Roiling her, making her needy and hungry. Only to deny her.

  He whispered the command in her ear. His first true command.

  She whimpered and made the mistake of looking in his eyes for mercy. What she saw was sheer will. Of a kind she had only ever dreamed of. By god, he was strong enough for the both of them.

  Slowly, inexorably, her legs parted.

  He moved to her ankles to tie them. One by one, he had the silk ropes already prepared.

  Julian took his time, touching her ankle, grazing her instep as he worked. The rope felt luxurious, decadent, but the confinement was real. Very real. Now his fingers worked his way up her left leg as if testing his work, testing her.

  She clenched her toes and arched her back. Her body pulled against the silk.

  She was beyond naked and way past vulnerable. Julian stopped just shy of her pussy. He would not touch it, pulsing and needy as it was.

  He was after her wrists. He wanted them separated like her legs. He had ropes for them as well.

  In the next few moments, with swift and easy motions, he rendered her completely unable to move.

  She would not rise from this bed, would not operate her own limbs without his permission.

  “You are so fucking beautiful,” Julian growled and she flushed head to toe, though he was likely referring to his work as much as he was to her.

  Another test. His lips to her belly as he bent over for a kiss. She felt the spasms instantly explosions rippling up and down her spine.

  “Oh…god,” she cried sucking in her breath.

  Julian knew exactly what to do, methodically, mercilessly, creating itches only he could scratch, making her feel the sex from the inside, as if she’d never been touched and never would be again not by another.

  It was clear what he wanted. And she tried not to give it. But it was going to be so hard, impossible really.

  The math was not in her favor.

  The handwriting on the wall.

  When he got to her nipples she was done. He used his teeth. His tongue.

  “Please,” she rasped, barely audible the sound of her voice alien to her own ears. “Take me.”