Chapter 9 - Lev

Ever since I'd felt Parker's stare on my skin, coming into consciousness to see her raking those green eyes over my tattoos, I'd been on the brink of claiming her. I couldn't understand why I'd let her look like that, why scaring her had tickled me so much, and I wasn't about to take the time to examine myself for the answer.

There was something else, something much darker, that was ruling me right now.

Parker's skittish innocence made my mind spin, the desire to take it all for myself thickening my cock. She'd looked me over, her own arousal coloring her gaze, and it was all I could do not to throw her on the damn bed right that moment and drive myself inside her. I still didn't know her true motives in all this, however. How far would she go to escape? Would she ever play nice like I demanded from her?

I need to know. I need to…find out.

Stalking after her toward the bathroom, I couldn't stop the smirk as she refused to turn her back on me. Parker was smart, damn smart and I liked it. The calculation in her eyes mirrored my own, and watching her war against her logical mind and the part of her that enjoyed this too much was a damn treat.

Because I knew she did. I could see it in her eyes. If I reached into her panties right now, I knew I'd find her so very ready for me. I caught it all in her lidded stare as I'd held her throat.

And fuck if I wasn't hard as a damn rock because of it.

Which is a problem, Lev. Fuck ‘em and leave ‘em. That's your MO.

Arguing in my head wasn't helping me, however. It was true that I'd never had a problem keeping things short and superficial in every other circumstance. Still, none of that changed the fact that there was just something about Parker. She did…something to me, and I could scarcely control myself whenever we interacted.

As much as I wanted to know why Parker got under my skin like she did, I had another more pressing matter standing right in front of me. She'd reached the shower but sidestepped the door to sit down on the rim of the bathtub. Crossing her arms over her chest, she looked up at me defiantly, and there was that tempting flicker of brattiness behind her stare.

"You missed." I nodded at the shower. "It's over there."

Parker clenched her jaw, unblinking as she just held my glare.

"If you won't do it yourself," I stepped closer to her, looking down at her, "I'll do it for you."

She adjusted on the tub, a shiver running down her body, but Parker didn't move. She didn't even break eye contact. Oh, really? That's how you want to play this? Fine. Let's test the limits, shall we?

I didn't look away as I leaned into the shower and cranked on the water. I made it warm enough but not overly so and then reached the dual-heads to turn off the handheld sprayer. The overhead rainfall mount took over, and I came back in front of Parker.

She still just stared, but I could see the tiniest bit of a smirk tipping up the corner of her mouth. Oh, you're in for it now.

Grabbing her shoulders, I hauled Parker up onto her feet. I wasn't about to ask at this point. We'd fully established that she wasn't going to listen, and I had zero problem with taking matters into my own hands. I shoved Parker's arms open, cocking a brow to give her another chance and doing things for herself. She just stared. Little brat.

I studied her PJs for a moment, deciding to go for the pants first and draw out the eventual reveal of those tits of hers. The was no bra under there to keep her covered. I knew that for a fact, so this was me being merciful.

Yanking the fleece bottoms down, I lifted Parker's right foot out of them and then her left. The creamy glow of her alabaster skin was lovely in the soft light of the bathroom, and I was nearly salivating as I took in the gorgeous array of freckles on her legs. Without the mask of the pants, I could appreciate the curves of Parker's thighs, loving the delicious heart shape of her ass.

She had socks on as well, two pairs, in fact, and as I took off the second set, something distinctly hard grabbed my attention.

I looked up from my knee. Parker's eyes were a bit wider, and her lips were parted as she drew in a shaky breath. It was stunning.

"What's this?"

Sliding the letter opener from my desk out from her socks, I raised my brows at her. Frankly, I was impressed that she'd thought to try such as thing.

"Tsk, tsk." I set the thing on the counter, glaring at her enough to instill the threat of punishment if she went for it.

Parker swallowed hard, chewing on her lip. Such a sneaky little thing.

As I pulled myself back up to stand, I raked my eyes across her panties. It was more than obvious that she wasn't expecting anything to happen. The ruffled cotton depicted some type of anime-like character. A cat, if I wasn't mistaken, and the silly fact that it was drinking some kind of bubble tea was the cherry on top.

When I met her eyes again, Parker was breathing harder, and she instinctively squeezed her legs closer together. She hadn't bothered folding her arms again, however. She didn't kick at me or try to run either. Because she's enjoying this, no matter what she might say.

"Are you going to make me take off the top as well?" Her lip trembled just enough to be noticeable, and Parker's eyes widened. "Or are you going to stop being a brat and do it yourself?"

Something interesting took over her expression as the words hit her, a resolve to be just that kicking in and making Parker hold her arms closer to her sides.

I sighed, not hiding the grin as I locked eyes with her. "Fine."

It was only a few seconds to grip the hem of Parker's shirt and tear the thing in half. Parker gasped as the fabric ripped, her little yelp blending with the lovely sound of her shirt being destroyed. Her hands quickly went to her chest, shielding herself as the remnants of her shirt fell to the floor.

The shock on her face was obvious as I continued to hold Parker's stare. She clearly hadn't thought I'd do that, and it was delicious to watch her utterly lose this battle between us.

"There."

I hadn't broken my stare with her, and I watched Parker's cheeks turn a brighter red. Her eyes flicked up to the ceiling, and I could tell she was just waiting for me to finally take a glimpse at her. Seeing her flush with embarrassment was amusing, but I was never one to wait. She knew this all too well, and I wanted her to obey my command and get in the shower.

And I wanted her to obey.

"Scoot."

She hesitated. Still, not only did she get moving, but Parker also fought briefly against the smirk that wanted to break free. Perfect.

She slipped past me and stepped under the spray of the shower. The water quickly soaked her hair and then her panties. Parker didn't move beyond that, staring at me from beneath the faucet with her arms still crossed over her chest.

"So, I have to do everything, huh? Very well."

I stepped up to the shower, reaching inside, and past her to the shelf. I pulled down the bottle of body wash I usually used. As I flipped the lid open, pouring a generous amount into my hands, I held her fiery stare. Parker wasn't smiling but she also wasn't completely stoic. There was that tiny flicker begging to go free, and I really wanted to see how long she could keep it all locked up.

As I set the soap back on the ledge, closer to me this time, I sunk down on the balls of my feet. Lathering the stuff up between my hands, I smoothed the suds over Parker's legs, moving up, up, up to the juncture of her thighs. By the time I reached those tempting little panties, my hands were clean of bubbles.

"You typically sport cartoon cats?"

I switched my gaze to Parker's eyes, and the pink behind her cheeks was too damn beautiful. I loved to see her embarrassed for me. She looked away, and as I stood back up, I dragged my fingers across the wet fabric lightly, just enough to make goosebumps skitter across Parker's flesh.

I was having way too much fun.

Reaching for more soap, an idea suddenly took root in my mind, and instead of squirting it into my hands, I dripped the body wash across Parker's chest, where she was covering herself. Her eyes flared, the mixture of cooler liquid and intense realization making her suck in a shallow breath.

When her hands were good and coated, I tipped my head at her. "Scrub up, little one."

Parker's eyes darted to the side for a moment, her lips parting to take another shaky breath, and then she began to rub her hands in circles over her breasts. She was careful not to reveal anything, but there was no mistaking the arousal burning behind those green irises.

Bubbles slid down her skin, and I tracked the downward trail, an evil hunger growing in the pit of my stomach. Parker stopped washing, holding herself again, and I reached a hand out to one of hers.

"You missed a spot."

She forced down a hard swallow, and my cock twitched beneath the flimsy pants restraining me. What amazed me was that she didn"t recoil or try to flee again even though I was so close to her. Sure, there was probably some fear in there, but there was a great deal more lust—more intrigue for what I was doing to her curvy body.

Moving closer, I held my hand to Parker's as I circled it around her breast. Her fingers spread as I pushed mine between them, and the feel of her silky skin against my rougher palm was intoxicating. The steam coated me, and the pound of my heart in my ears was a damn drumline at this point.

I didn't know what came over me to bring us here to the shower, but it doubled—tripled—and I reached for her pointer finger and thumb. I made Parker find the hard bud of her nipple, still holding that green stare. Her breathy gasps went right to my straining erection. I licked my lips as I forced her fingers around the pebbled flesh, my mouth practically watering at how exquisitely thick and perked it was—even if I was only getting a second-hand feel of her.

I made Parker squeeze, pinching down around her hardened nipple until she whimpered.

Fuuuck. This is… I looked into Parker's eyes. This is not what I had planned.

Yanking myself away, which was so much harder than it should have been, I turned away from her. I started for the door, my entire body aching to go back to the shower and claim her right there against the wall. As it was, I was dripping from the spray, and I could sense precum leaking from the head of my cock.

"Finish washing and stay in this room. I'll see to those clothes."