She stayed there on her knees, fuming, and losing track of how much time was passing. The sunlight moved a few inches across the floorboards as Wyatt made a handful of phone calls, never once addressing her in between conversations. She should get up, should walk out, and tell him to go to hell. But something in her refused to let her move. She remained in place, arguing with herself. But in the end, determined pride won out. She would prove she could beat him at his game. This would not break her.

After another terse phone call, Wyatt rose and left the room. She followed his footsteps with her ears, listening as they receded into the back part of the cabana and then grew loud again. His bare feet appeared in the spot on the floor she was staring a hole into. He squatted down in front of her and put a knuckle beneath her chin. She hoped her gaze conveyed her contempt.

His smile was amused. “Watch that feistiness, love. You’ll get me hard again, and I may demand a repeat performance before letting you have what you want.”

She narrowed her eyes, and he chuckled.

He reached forward and fingered the strap of her camisole before bringing it down her shoulder. Goose bumps prickled her skin at the gentle touch. He repeated the process on the other side, drawing her top downward until her breasts were fully exposed. He pinched a nipple between his thumb and forefinger, earning a gasp from her, and affixed a metal clip. Sensation shot straight downward, more wetness gathering despite her utter annoyance with him. He gave the other breast the same wicked treatment, then gave each clip a flick with his finger.

“Oh!” Her face tilted toward the ceiling, the surprising bite of pain making her dizzy.

“Maybe this will help you learn that you are not in control here. It’s Monday and I need to get some work done. I hoped to fit it in before you even woke up so that I wouldn’t have to use up any of our time, but no. Instead, you insisted on parading in here, looking like a fucking wet dream, and teasing me away from what I needed to do.

She gritted her teeth. “I’m sorry, sir. God forbid, I get on my fucking knees and suck you off first thing in the morning. Your plight is truly awful.”

“Smart mouth. Sexy but disrespectful.” He flicked her nipple again.

“Fuck!” she cried out. How could one little flick of a finger hurt so damn much? She tried to ignore the moisture beginning to leak down her thighs. “Bastard.”

He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes for a moment before meeting her gaze again. “You know, love? Your insults would probably be more effective if your scent wasn’t giving you away and telling me exactly how turned on you are right now.”

Taunting? He was taunting her? She couldn’t keep her mouth shut. “I was trying to help you this morning. You’re on vacation, Wyatt. You’re not supposed to be working. Jace told me to do whatever I could to make you relax and leave work behind. I was only trying—”

He grabbed her jaw, his tone going fierce. “So you’re taking orders from Jace now?”

“No.” She tried to shake her head, but his fingers held her firm. “I was trying to help.”

“I don’t need that kind of help, Kelsey,” he said harshly, her point apparently hitting some spot he didn’t want poked. He released her chin. “My job is—”

“Everything,” she said, looking away. “I know. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I just thought you could use a distraction, a break.”

He sighed, a sound of resigned frustration more than anger. “Kelsey.”

For some ridiculous reason she wanted to cry at the defeated way he said her name. Her temper slid away from her, replaced by the perplexing need to make it okay. “I’m sorry, sir. I tried to control things again. I’m sorry . . .”

Hands spanned the side of her head. “Shh, love. Please don’t get upset.”

She pressed her lips together, trying to fight back the knot developing in her throat.

His frown dipped deep, regret there in his eyes. “Yes, you did try to control things. That is unacceptable. But hell, I didn’t need to be an asshole about it. Come ’ere.”

She sagged into his grip and met his gaze. His eyes said everything he hadn’t. I’m sorry. It’ll be okay. I need you. His lips met hers in a soft press, his hands sliding down to her neck. The tension slowly unwound inside her belly as he sat on the floor and dragged her into his lap. Her clamped nipples brushed against his bare chest, sending snaps of now pleasure-edged pain through her. She breathed his name into their kiss.

His cock, growing hard again, pressed against the thin silk of her already soaked panties. Her body trembled, need firing anew. She’d been riding on the edge so long, any touch now ignited her. He broke away from the kiss with a panted breath and laid back on the warm wood floor, propped on bent elbows and spread out like a delicious buffet of man and muscle. “I want you, love. And since I’ve been a jerk, it’s ladies’ choice this time. Tell me how you want me to make you come.”

She briefly considered crawling up his body and straddling his face. The man was a master with his mouth. But she knew nothing else was going to satisfy her at this point except having him inside her. “I need you to fuck me.”

A feral look entered his gaze, and he reached beneath her thigh for his pocket. He pulled the condom out, and she lifted up on her knees to give him room to unbutton his pants and sheath himself. Before he even moved his hand out of the way, she was lowering herself onto him, her folds slick and ready to accept him. She let out a long sigh of satisfaction as he filled every space inside, and she sat fully against his hips. God, each time felt like the first time with him, every nerve ending standing at attention.

His eyes were closed in his own wave of enjoyment, but his smile was unrepentant. “You’re going to have to do all the work in this position, love. I’m not accustomed to being on the bottom.”

She lifted her hips in a slow drag and then plunged down again, shivering at the look of ecstasy on his face. “I think I can handle it, sir.”

By the time she screamed out his name, sending them both into oblivion, the floor was shiny with their sweat and the noonday sun beamed through the windows.

But as she lay across his chest afterward, their heavy breaths intermingling, she was all too aware that being on top meant nothing. In those few hours of that Monday morning, she realized exactly who had surrendered.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Kelsey lay stretched out in the late-afternoon sun as content as a turtle on a log. The rays had heated her skin to the perfect warmth, and the sound of the crashing waves smoothed out the anxieties knocking around in her head. She gave a languid stretch and a yawn.

Kade shifted on the lounger next to her, turning onto his side and peering at her through his dark sunglasses. He’d joined her about a half hour ago, but both of them had been happy to keep each other silent company. He smirked as she lowered her arms from her stretch.

“What?” she asked, glancing down at her tankini bathing suit. The top had ridden up from her stretch, revealing a fresh expanse of skin.

He nodded at the faint finger-length bruises on her hip. “You’re suddenly making me bereft that I decided to come on this vacation with my assistant and not a date.”

She laughed and tugged the bottom of the tank down again to hide the marks. “Well, that’s your own fault. I see the submissives falling all over themselves at The Ranch to get into your dungeon. I’m sure you would’ve had a harem of them to accompany you if you’d asked.”

“Nah, no one’s really captured my interest in months. Well, at least no one who was available. I seem to have a thing for wanting women who already have owners . . . or husbands.” He sighed and rolled onto his back, his restlessness palpable. “Last girl I thought could be the answer turned out to be Wyatt and Jace’s very married sister. Either of them would probably punch me in the throat if they knew I’d made a pass at her.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah.”

She turned to face him, propping her head on her hand. “Your problem is you have a hard-on for vanilla girls. You want an innocent who you can mold exactly how you like.”

He peeked over at her, his forehead lined with thought. “That’s what you think?”

She lifted her eyebrow in challenge. “I don’t think. I know. I’ve heard the subs whining behind your back. Those beautiful, well-trained girls are willing to let you do anything to them, and you’re not interested.”

“Fuck,” he said, turning his face toward the sky again. “You’re right. And isn’t that just a fucking fantastic kink to have? Because how the hell am I supposed to find that kind of woman? Date a bunch of vanilla girls and see who gets all soft-eyed when I get rough? Good way to get a restraining order.”

She reached out and gave his hand a squeeze. “Maybe talk to Grant. He’s the one who admits the newbies. Maybe he can connect you with a girl who’s curious but not experienced.”

He laced his fingers with hers and brought her hand to his mouth for a quick, friendly kiss. “Thanks, dollface. Maybe I will.”

“Ahem.”

Kade released her hand, and Kelsey sat up to find Wyatt standing behind their lounge chairs, jaw tight, eyes glaring in Kade’s direction. Kelsey offered a bright smile. “Hey, you.”

“Am I interrupting?” Wyatt asked, his tone cool.

Kade turned in his chair, sitting upright and planting his feet in the sand. “Nah, man. Your girl was just giving me sage advice about my piss poor dating life.” He slapped the tops of this thighs and stood. “And now that I’m thoroughly depressed, I think I’m going to go find Carmichael and see what he has to say about the hotel deal.”

Wyatt crossed his arms, nodding. “Good luck with that.”

Kade sent Kelsey an oops look from behind Wyatt and then gave a little wave. “See y’all later.”

Wyatt waited until Kade was a good distance away before sitting on the lounger Kade had vacated. He leveled a stare at her.

Oh, shit.

* * *

Wyatt was working damn hard to keep his expression placid. The wave of Mine! that had flooded his system at the sight of Kade kissing Kelsey’s hand was strong enough to make his hands vibrate. Pure adrenaline.

“How’d the meeting go?” Kelsey asked, her tone higher-pitched than normal.

“I’m about ninety-five percent sure she and her husband will go with A&A.”

Kelsey’s smile lit her face. “That’s fantastic.”

“Enjoyed your afternoon?”

She wet her lips. “Kade and I are friends, Wyatt. That’s it.”

He leaned back in the chair. “Did I suggest anything different?”

She crossed her arms over her chest, and he almost smiled at the petulant child expression on her face. “No, but you might as well have drawn a circle around me in the sand and mounted a Keep Out sign with the way you looked at Kade.”

He reached out and unfurled her arms, then brought both her hands to his mouth for a kiss. “Seeing any man touch you makes me jealous and protective. I can’t help that. It doesn’t mean I don’t trust you or that I suspect anything is going on.”

She blinked at him. “So you’re not mad?”

“Of course not. Plus, I think I used up my daily allotment of being an asshole this morning.”

She laughed and lay back down in her lounger, facing him, “I’ll be on the lookout tomorrow then.”

He let his eyes travel over her. Her curves were all glossy with sunscreen, and he could see the barest of bruises peeking out near the bottom of her bathing suit. The sight nearly had him climbing on top of her out here where anyone could see. But he had to get shit off his chest first.

“I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier,” he said, peering over his shoulder to make sure no one else on the beach was in earshot. “You deserved to be left kneeling and wanting. That part I don’t apologize for. I’m your dom and you tried to control the situation again. But what you said about work was right, and I shouldn’t have gotten mean about it.”