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His head snapped back, and he sucked in a sharp breath. He almost looked like I had offended him in some way. I didn’t care.

“Krystina, I’m disappointed at the fact you think I’m playing games. I thought I was being honest. A little cautious maybe, but honest.” He cocked his head to one side, waiting for me to respond.

“What do you expect me to think?” I lashed out, shaking my head in frustration. “You asked me here to discuss a job, but we have yet to do so. You want me naked, yet you don’t date. You like to be in control, and you have rules. You’ve made reference to having a variety of sexual interests—whatever the hell that means. To be perfectly honest, you’re leading me to believe you’re some sort of freak in the sheets!”

His mouth pressed into a hard line, and he looked as if he were trying to decide on his choice of words. He leaned forward in his chair, and his sapphire blues narrowed. They held a fiendish glimmer, sharp with an animal-like hunger that made me suddenly afraid.

Goosebumps traveled up my spine as I waited for him to speak again. When he finally did, his tone was direct. No-nonsense. Upfront.

“I’m not a freak. I’m a Dominant.”

Chapter Thirteen

Krystina

“You’re a what?” I almost laughed out loud.

“A Dominant,” he repeated, eyes piercing through me like knives, completely extinguishing any joke I may have wanted to make. “I like to be in control of every aspect of my life. That includes the women I choose to take to bed. I demand complete and utter power over them. That’s what I want from you, Krystina.”

My eyebrows shot up to the ceiling. I should have been seriously disturbed by his words. Given my past with Trevor, everything he was saying should have had me hightailing it out of there—and fast. Yet oddly, my skin tingled with delight at the mere thought of this man wielding total control over my body.

But the angel was jumping up and down in front of the cheering devil and screaming, “Danger, danger! Run, you stupid girl!”

“Sorry, no can do. I already gave up two years of my life for a control freak. I won’t do it again,” I told him, but my words sounded weak in my pathetic attempt to protect myself. He looked at me curiously but didn’t question what I was referring to.

“I’m not looking to control your whole life, just the sex part of it,” he said with a shrug as he settled back into his chair. The lewd way he spoke threw me off balance once again, fanning the flames that had ignited in my gut.

“Really? Then what do you call the hijacking of my cellphone?” I said, trying to maintain some sense of balance by reminding him of our argument earlier that afternoon.

“The phone was a gift,” he said impatiently. “Maybe I overstepped my bounds, but that was not my intention.”

“No matter which way you spin it, it was a very controlling and assuming thing to do.”

“Look, Krystina. I want you to remain who you are. I don’t want some mindless puppet. I think that might be the reason I’m so drawn to you.” He paused, looking thoughtful for a moment. “If you agree to this, I will own you in the bedroom alone.”

Alarms rang shrilly in my head, warning me off this unpredictable man. But my body was still betraying me, and I had to fight the overwhelming need to hurdle across the table and start tearing at his clothes.

I wanted him to control me. To own me.

Perhaps it was the two glasses of wine thinking for me, but I had unconsciously made a decision somewhere along the line. Despite my many reservations, I no longer wanted to take this slow. I wanted to have sex with Alexander Stone. Here. Now.

Absolute panic set in, as the realization scared the hell out of me. I wasn’t ready for that. For this.

“I think it’s time I go,” I announced and stood up abruptly.

“So soon? Why?”

I had obviously shocked him by my sudden need to leave.

“Because…” I hesitated.

Because you confuse me, and I can’t think when I’m around you.

But I couldn’t say the words out loud. Instead, I grabbed my purse, slung it over my shoulder, and said, “Thank you for dinner, Alex.”

Alexander stood and came over to my side of the table.

“Krystina…I…” His voice sounded strained, and I looked up, almost unwillingly, into his painstakingly beautiful blues. I waited for him to finish what he was going to say, but he just stared at me, his expression bleak with uncertainty.