Chapter 10

Ten

Moore

I woke first.

Not entirely surprising, as I got out of bed every morning at dawn. An old habit from my father that I inherited. The soft weight next to me, however, did startle me. I hadn't expected to find myself tangled up with Rose like a ball of string, but our limbs intertwined at some point in the night, our bodies holding fast to each other as we slept.

You don't seem cold to me, darling.

I stared at the ceiling. This woman—this feisty, dazzling actress—was slowly working her way under my skin, down into the parts I never shared with anyone. I wanted to protect her and ravish her and hear every word that comes out of her blasted mouth.

More than anything, though, I didn't wish to leave her.

I needed to make my way home to ready myself for the office. In the last eight years of running Emerson Holdings I hadn't been late once. In fact, I was often the first one to arrive and the last one to depart at night.

So, why couldn't I move?

I dipped my head and buried my nose in her hair, inhaling deeply. Roses.

"Are you sniffing me?"

Her voice was rough with sleep, but laced with amusement. I smiled into the soft red strands. "Is that a problem?"

She burrowed deeper into my side, her feet rubbing along my calf. "No, as long as you don't move and let me sleep another four or five hours."

"I'm afraid that's not possible. I have work today."

"But don't you own the company?"

"I am the president, but I answer to the Board of Directors." As Whitney-Dunn was so helpful to point out last night.

"Then stay with me." She pressed her lips to my chest, gifting me with gentle kisses. "We can have breakfast together. After, of course."

"After?"

"After you screw me."

My cock, already stiff from her presence, grew even harder at her words. "Is that what you think will happen?"

Rose's hand slid along my stomach, over my union suit, and cupped my erection. "Yes, I rather do."

I rolled her onto her back and leaned over her, pinning her hands to the mattress. "You seem quite confident about this."

She wrapped one leg around me, grinding her bare pussy against my thigh. "I feel very confident."

I captured her mouth kissing her roughly. I wanted to fuck her. Desperately. The need was always under my skin, scratching and clawing, demanding to be satisfied. But I wouldn't. Not yet.

This was a battle of wills between Rose and me, except I was far more stubborn. I was a numbers man, someone who understood probability. If I fucked her right now, the likelihood that I would never see her again was too high. She had to trust me first. So I wasn't fucking her until she agreed to many nights together.

I slid down her body, brushing kisses over her soft skin as I went, until I reached her pussy. I knew how much she loved this, as did I, so I licked her, sucked on her clitoris—even bit her gently—until she was nearly sobbing for a climax.

"Moore, please . Put yourself inside me."

Climbing up the bed, I braced my back against the headboard, but didn't take off my union suit. I grabbed her waist, lifted her, and helped her straddle my hips. "Ride me, kitten. Make us both come."

She started to reach for the buttons of my undergarment, but I stopped her hand. "Grind down. Use my cock to climax."

Her creamy skin flushed as she began rocking her hips. "I want you naked."

"There's no time," I lied. "I'm too close." Her tits bounced in my face, so I suckled on her nipple, running my tongue and lips over the velvety tip. Rose didn't waste time. Instead, she used her legs to work up a rhythm, lifting, sliding, and each drag of her center along my shaft caused me to see stars. I held onto her hips and tried to hold off the orgasm building in my lower back. "It feels so good," I groaned against her breast. " Goddamn , woman. Hurry."

Sweat turned her skin slick, the morning light streaking across her limbs like she'd been dipped in gold. Rose threw her head back, eyes closed as she sought her peak. She was the most beautiful woman I'd ever encountered and I would fight like hell to keep her in my bed as long as possible.

"Oh, god. Moore. Yes, yes, yes!"

Thank Christ .

As Rose started to climax, I let myself go. Pleasure stole through my veins, the force of it causing my vision to go white behind my eyelids. Spend shot out the tip of my cock, soaking the cloth that separated us. It went on and on, my muscles convulsing as the pulses rocked my frame.

She collapsed atop me, appearing not to mind the wet linen between us. Her head nestled into the crook of my neck and I wrapped my arms around her back, holding her.

"That felt amazing," she whispered.

"Yes, it did." I closed my eyes and let my head fall back. My body hummed with bone-deep satisfaction.

"You're avoiding bedding me."

"Why would I do something so foolish?"

"Because you know I won't agree to see you again."

Clever woman.

I decided to be honest with her. "Here is the truth, then. I want to fuck you more than my next breath. But I won't, not until you agree to whatever this is between us."

"Become your mistress, you mean."

"Lover, paramour, bed partner, friends who occasionally screw . . . There are several names by which I may refer to you that are not mistress ." I held the back of her head and forced her to look at me. "I have money, sweetheart. I want to use it to spoil you, shower you with trinkets and baubles, if only to make you smile. I want you safe, here in this town house, not struggling with streetcars and crowded apartments. I want to feast on your pussy until I can't see straight, then fuck you every which way I know how. The arrangement between us is our decision alone and no one else's concern."

I could see emotion in her green depths, but it was tempered. As if she were smothering the feeling with ruthless intention. "You make it sound so easy," she finally said.

"Because it is. Money makes things easy, sweetheart, and I have loads of it. We'll have our fun and both walk away the better for it."

For a split second I thought I had her convinced. But then the stubborn woman eased out of my grip and off my lap. She rubbed her bare arms, her chin high. "Tonight, Moore. We both return here and finish this."

Sighing, I watched as she grabbed the dressing gown from the wardrobe and disappeared into the washroom. I wasn't so easily defeated.

Rose and I weren't finished, not by a long shot.