“You’ll have control over what we do together.”
Polly swayed toward him, appearing dumbstruck by what he’d offered. No taking it back now. For someone who orchestrated the outcome of every situation, handing over the reins to another wasn’t easy, but seeing her pupils dilate, feel her pulse kick with excitement, told him this was right. It was right to want what she needed. And damn, nothing compared to having her parted lips so close, her tits grazing his chest. Austin massaged her waist in slow circles, slipping closer toward her navel with each lap.
“Every encounter. On your terms. I want to be…directed by you. I want you to demand I satisfy your body, in any and every way you decide.”
As he spoke, passion glazed Polly’s eyes, but it was tempered by uncertainty. “Are you making fun of me, because of last night…what I did…”
“What you did,” Austin repeated, his thumb dipping into her belly button and sliding down, where his fingers toyed with the button of her pants. “Shoving my shirt into my mouth and perusing my body like it was for sale?” The already-scorching heat between them turned blistering. He’d never seen her eyelids flutter before, and the involuntary show of want had Austin dropping a bit more of his armor. “I…liked that treatment from you. I want more of it.”
“Oh,” she whispered, her breath hitching as he unsnapped the button of her jeans. “More. More…now?”
Austin gave a single nod, noting the color climbing her neck, wondering if she turned red elsewhere. Impatient to find out. Watching her closely for a reaction, he let his index finger trace the elastic of her underwear, but when he tried to breach the silk barrier, she gripped his wrist to stay him. Time suspended itself as they breathed into each other’s space. “Do you need me to humble myself further, Polly?”
Her swallow was audible. “It wouldn’t hurt.”
“Very well.” He clutched her panties in a turned fist and leaned down to speak just above her ear. “This is a rare instance where I’m not 100 percent sure what I’m doing. It might even be the first time in my life. I only know that when I think of you mistreating me, then making up for it rather vigorously, my cock gets stiff in a way that demands we fuck until our bodies give out. Is it still unclear what I’m asking?”
“No.” He could hear the creak of denim as she squeezed her thighs together. “I’m accepting help from a man I don’t trust. And in exchange I—” She broke off with a head shake. “How did…how do you know I even want to mistreat you?”
“Don’t you, sweet? I saw you last night.” He trailed his lips down her neck and back up. “You’ll have free rein to neglect me. Strap me to a chair and give me a naughty striptease until I’m begging. Give me a hand job beneath the table in a restaurant and leave me on the verge of coming. Make me crazy. Make me pay for everything I’ve done. Everything you hate.” He nipped at her earlobe. “Or simply prop your sweet arse up in the air and ask for a rough bang. I’ll peel those little low-rider panties down to your ankles and orgasm you until you can’t go anymore. I’ll keep myself hard until you’ve finished on me—again and again—and I’m dripping with the evidence.”
“Stop. Stop talking.” Polly’s belly shuddered almost violently against his palm. “Jesus. I have to think. I can’t think when you’re—”
For once in his life, Austin didn’t think. He shot forward and cut Polly off with his mouth. Not kissing her, but keeping their lips interlocked. One joint breath. Two. If she needed a push, he’d give her one. “You sound like a coward.”
She slapped him across the face. The bite of her palm echoed below his belt, making his erection bulge against his fly. Goddamn. The disapproval in her expression was fleeting before it transformed into shock, but something in him had already been germinated. His cheek throbbed in time with a telltale erotic pulse.
Polly looked down at her hand and started to back away, but Austin followed. “Don’t. In this one thing, Polly, we’re not playing a game. Look what you do to me.”
She pressed a fist to her mouth, closing her eyes for a beat. Then he let her hand drop and took a deep breath. “You’ll give me anything I need?”
“Yes.”
“Show me what’s in the locked room.”
Chapter Seven