Page 89 of Pure Recklessness

God, she was breathtaking. I couldn’t bear the thought of her returning to her table and letting that Joe touch her again.

If anyone should be touching Eleanor, it should be me.

I needed to get her alone.

Now.

‘Follow me,’ I growled. ‘There’s something we need to discuss before the ceremony starts.’

35

ELLIE

As I followed Mr Devlin down a corridor away from the crowd of people gathered in the foyer, my heart hammered against my chest.

I had no idea why he needed to speak to me so urgently.

If I let my imagination run wild, I’d hope that he wanted to have his wicked way with me.

But judging by how angry he looked (not to mention how spectacularly he’d rejected me last week), that couldn’t be the case.

He stopped outside a set of double doors, then scanned the corridor to check the coast was clear.

‘Let’s talk in here.’ I followed him inside the empty conference room. ‘Who was that man with his arm around you at the table?’ he barked.

‘That’s Joe.’ I frowned. ‘I told you earlier. He’s my friend who got me a ticket.’

‘How nice of him,’ he said sarcastically.

‘Yes, it was. He’s been really kind to me.’

‘Of course he has. Are you together?’ he growled.

‘Together? What, you mean⁠—’

‘Stop playing games!’ Mr Devlin ground his jaw. ‘One minute you’re in my office, spreading your legs, showing how wet you are for me and the next you’re cosying up with this Joe!’

‘Why do you care?’ I threw my hands up in the air. He was acting jealous, but that made no sense. ‘You don’t want me, so what does it matter?’

‘Don’t fuck with me, Eleanor.’ He stepped forward.

‘How am I fucking with you?’ I put my hands on my hips.

‘You know how. You know full well that I want you,’ he shot back.

‘Do I?’ My eyes popped and my pulse raced. He wants me? That’s news. ‘I offered myself to you and you rejected me!’

‘Not because I wanted to, but because I had to!’ His nostrils flared. ‘I can’t cross the line.’

‘So why am I here? Why did you bring me to this room, alone, if you don’t want to kiss me?’ I stepped forward, my pulse racing. ‘If you don’t want to fuck me?’

My sassy alter ego had returned and I welcomed her back with open arms.

Mr Devlin stepped forward, then pinned me against the wall.

Before I could even catch my breath, his mouth crashed onto mine.

The kiss was so feral, my knees instantly buckled and my head tipped back.