He took a step closer, pinning me to the bar with his hips. I could feel him against me as he pressed one foot between my legs.
“I’m not done yet,” he said.
“Well I am.”
The bartender set down my drink. “Here ya go. Do you have a tab?”
Dean threw a few bills down on the bar and reached for the drink. I twisted around and watched as he swallowed down my alcohol. He handed the glass over and met my gaze as I brought the drink to my lips. I tasted him on the glass; the martini was nothing compared to him.
He jutted his chin up. “Prove it.”
“Prove what?” I asked.
“If it was just sex, then let me take you back to the villa. No harm in round two, right?”
I took another sip of the drink and his fingers skimmed beneath the hem of my dress. He bent low, bringing his mouth parallel to mine.
“Answer me,” he demanded as his brown eyes searched my face, landing on my lips with a plea.
He wanted to test me? He thought he could handle round two?
Fine.
I reached down, gripped his hand on my thigh, and yanked it away. Hard.
“Let’s go,” I said, dropping my forgotten drink back on the bar. I didn’t want it any more. Dean had ruined it, just like he’d ruined me.
He mirrored my steps, keeping control of my body. I may have been leading us out of the bar, but it was clear that I was the puppet on his strings. He reached forward and pushed the door open, skimming a kiss along my neck as he stood back to his full height. The goose bumps that bloomed beneath his kiss betrayed my attraction to him. I straightened my shoulders as the doors opened and I took a step out, righting the mission in my head.
Once again, he was trying to wrest the steering wheel out of my hands. I had to do something. I had to get the upper hand.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Dean
Our villa was tucked into a quiet corner of the property. To access it, we had to take a private path that snaked past the pools and the ballrooms. I held Lily’s hand as I led her down the path, and I could feel her body humming like a live wire. When we were nearly at the entrance to our villa, I paused and turned toward her.
“I was harsh earlier. After the meeting—”
She didn’t let me finish my apology. She took two steps to close the gap between us and threw her body against mine. I wasn’t expecting her assault and my body fell back against the wall before I could stop it. I caught her waist, steadying the two of us before we toppled over. She gripped my face and kissed me like her life depended on it.
“Christ,” I hissed as she bit down on my bottom lip. I gripped her arms and tried to pull back, but she didn’t let me. She wanted to draw blood.
I growled and pivoted, pushing her back against the wall. I wedged her against the concrete and wiped the blood from my lip. “You want to play rough, Lily?”
Her eyes looked wicked in the moonlight. Bright and feral and angry.
“I hate you,” she said through clenched teeth.
I smiled sardonically. “You bring out the worst in me, you know that? I’m only an asshole around you.”
Before she could answer, I gripped her chin and kissed her. My tongue slipped into her mouth and she didn’t fight me. Her body was fighting me, her words were fighting me, but that mouth? She was so receptive that for a moment I thought we’d have sex right there against the wall of the private path. That is, until she nearly kneed me in the balls.
“Fuck, Lily,” I gasped, narrowly blocking her attack.
She narrowed her eyes and yanked out of my hold. Her keycard was out and she was pushing through the door to the villa before I could catch up to her. The lights were off and the curtains were drawn. For a moment, I didn’t want to step in after her. Nothing good would come from us fighting when we were both heated, but she held the door open. Her body was silhouetted by the lights on the path. Her body was an invitation. That neck, the slender dip of her waist, her long legs propped against the door.
“I thought you said there was no harm in round two?” she asked from the doorway.
She was like a villain, leaving a trail of blood and hints meant to lure me into a trap. A man with a mind for self-preservation would have turned and run. Instead, I pushed through the door and locked it behind me. She reached for the light switch and I caught her hand, holding it steady. The darkness fit us. This thing between us was meant for the shadows.
“You told me to go home,” she said, stepping forward and pressing her body against mine.
“It’s easier when you aren’t around,” I whispered, cupping the back of her neck.
“Why? Because you’ve never been with a woman like me?”
I smiled, but she couldn’t see it in the darkness. “I've never wanted a woman like you.”
“Why’s that?”
I kissed her cheek. “I want a woman that makes me feel important. I want someone that appreciates what I do.”
“Nobody can make you feel important, Dean. That’s why you’ll never be satisfied. You want me to tell you how successful you are? You want me to compliment you?”