“What’s going on?” she demanded, steeling herself as alarm flashed through her.
Mr. Montgomery removed his hat and glasses, and when she caught the intensity in those shrewd, dark eyes, a fine shiver moved through her, and much to her dismay she found it most difficult to hold his steely gaze.
“Welcome to Montgomery estate,” he said, his tone low, controlled as he opened his palm to her. “My summer home.”
Refusing to accept the offered hand, she forced herself to level him with a stare and climbed from the plane on her own volition. Even though he was dressed in a flight suit, everything about his demeanor screamed of sex, sin, seduction…long hard spankings.
Okay, where the hell had that thought come from?
Exasperated with the way he could affect her without even trying, she fished her phone out of her purse and held it high. She checked for a signal, then cursed silently. Her mind raced to her friends and their final warning last night. Truthfully, even if her phone worked here in the middle of nowhere, she knew her calls would go unanswered.
Don’t come home until you’ve had at least a dozen orgasms.
Without conscious thought her glance drifted to Mr. Montgomery’s hands, and her mind took that second to think about what they’d feel like on her skin, touching her, stroking her, bringing her to orgasm again and again. Oh God! Her entire body flushed and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do to stifle the tortured moan crawling out of her throat. Just standing next to a man who could undoubtedly divide and conquer with a simple look had her feeling edgy, out of control, completely at his mercy.
He took a measured step closer and as his presence dominated the wide expanse of island, and threw her off her game, she worked to summon a modicum of composure and asked in her best professional voice, “What do you want?”
He cocked his head, his glance leisurely moving over her face. “Relax, Ms. Andrews, you’re not in the courtroom anymore.” His smile came slow. “You don’t get to ask the questions here.”
Her towered over her, and with a stance that was both commanding and authoritative it became abundantly clear that here, on his private island, she was now playing in his territory, by his rules. No longer was she the one calling the shots.
Oddly enough, equal mixtures of excitement and apprehension trickled through her and elicited a shiver from deep within. What the hell was going on with her?
“I’m not going to hurt you if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I’m worried about a lot of things,” she countered, shading the hot, morning sun from her eyes while trying to hide her reactions from him.
The muscles along his jaw flexed. “And that is why you’re here, Ms. Andrews.” Everything in the slow, calculated way he spoke did the most peculiar things to her libido.
Tension grew in her body and her thoughts raced to catch up. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Silence hung for a long time, her flesh growing hotter with each passing second, although she suspected it had little to do with the blinding rays beating down on her. “It’s time to stop worrying and let someone take a few decisions out of your hands.”
“Someone? Let me guess, that someone would be you?” she shot back.
Anticipation moved over his eyes when he answered with, “Of course.”
She swallowed. “And how do you plan to do that?”
“You’ll see,” he said, the slow, promising way he drew out those two little words hinting at something wickedly intimate.
She sucked in a breath. “And what you’re going to see is the inside of a prison, because this––” she paused to wave her arm around the isolated island “––this is kidnapping.”
“Kidnapping?” He rocked on his feet like he was mulling that over. “I suppose if that’s how you want to look at it, then yes, it’s kidnapping.” He held his hand out. “Now shall we?”
She jerked away from him. “Now, we shall not. You can take me back home right now.” Folding her arms, she rooted her feet, refusing to budge.
The corner of his mouth twitched––twitched, like he was laughing at her. “Don’t worry, Rebecca. I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do.”
Oh God, the rich, sensual way he said her name, the leisurely way it rolled off the tip of his tongue with such heat and hunger filled her with need and excited her in ways that didn’t make sense, considering he’d just kidnapped her and planned to do God knows what to her.
I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do.
His amusement vanished. “Now why don’t you come inside, and have something cool to drink. You’re flushed.”
“It’s hot.”
He arched a brow, skepticism flashing in his black eyes. “Perhaps,” he said.