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“What if I asked something of you that you couldn’t do?”
She looked into his eyes, openly, seemingly not afraid of that rather weighty question. The sight of her that way made him feel as if nothing else existed, except Carmen. She filled his mind, his every thought. It made him unsteady, because he was indeed possessive and greedy for her, just as she had accused him of being. But he craved clarity of meaning; he needed to understand what was happening between them, and why.
“I would say the safe word.” Her voice faltered.
“Say it,” he instructed. “I want to be sure you can.”
“Boo,” she whispered.
A quick smile flitted across her expression and then she was still, entirely focused on him, alert and poised yet palpably keen to move forward in the sexual negotiation.
“I scarcely heard you, Carmen.”
“I didn’t want to use the safe word, that’s why. You asked me to.”
Rex was torn. He wanted her, wanted this to be real, not some kinky role-play session. Was she doing it because it was in her nature, or was this just her way of fulfilling the deal that he’d set out at the beginning? He was growing more frustrated. The night before he thought they’d kicked down the barriers between them. They’d come this far; they’d peeled back so much of what was holding them apart, but there was more. Here in their nakedness and the honesty, it was time to test her.
Even if it meant he found out something he didn’t want to know.
“I’m going to ask you to do something you might find very hard. You might even want to use the safe word.”
The way she looked up at him when he said that made his blood pump hard. Like she wanted to be tested.
It frustrated him, because he did want to make her cry out in orgasm, to beg for him to fuck her, to plead with him to use her in every way—and he knew she probably would. God knows he wouldn’t turn her way. That wasn’t an option. But what he wanted even more than that right now was her honesty about why they were here at all. Even if it disappointed him.
“Are you on your knees for the keys to Burlington Manor?”
Her eyes narrowed. “This is all just a game to you, isn’t it?”
It hit him like a hammer blow. He thought that the night before was the most intensity he could be made to feel, until now. How did she do this to him?
Holding it together, he pressed on. “Not at all. I’m just trying to get to the bottom of your motivation, my dear.”
Her eyes blazed at him. “Oh, bloody hell, Rex. You set out the rules here. You made the deal.”
He clenched his jaw, took a moment to breathe. “It’s the only reason you’re doing this, isn’t it? For the keys to Burlington Manor.”
She squirmed, resistance pouring out of her.
“Yes.” It was a blurted response. “Fuck it, Rex! You know this already. You’re just burning out an old flame. We both are. You’ll walk away at the end of it, but you knew how much I wanted to take this place on, and that’s why you knew I would buckle and you could toy with me for a while.”
“I’m not toying with you.” He issued the statement from between his gritted teeth.
Her eyes flashed, as if in denial of his words.
That annoyed him immensely. She thought he was toying with her? She was the one who was performing. She was the one who was backing away. And more than that he was annoyed because he wanted her to need him now, not the bloody house. He rose to his feet. “Show me how much you want Burlington Manor,” he demanded.
She
tossed her head back and her eyes closed for a moment.
The way the light fell on her arched neck transfixed him. The pulse there beat rapidly. Was it anger, or arousal? He couldn’t be sure.
“Why?” she asked eventually as she opened her eyes again.
“Because I want to know. You said you’d do anything for me, for a month, for this place.”
“I didn’t actually say that.”
