“I think you did,” he murmured as he stepped closer to her. She could feel his breath against her cheek, and she shivered. “Actually, I think you were frustrated that I stopped so suddenly. Isn’t that the truth, sweetheart?”
“Maybe,” she said, neither confirming nor denying.
“Mmm,” he whispered as his lips barely grazed the skin of her left cheek.
The small contact had Catherine ready to explode. Dean lifted away, and she could see that the touch affected him just as much. It helped to know that she wasn’t the only one insane with need.
“You can keep your little secret for now,” he said. “We’ll get to the riding crop soon enough.”
When he turned and left the room, leaving her to either stay seated or follow, Catherine froze. Following would be daring and not at all levelheaded, but wasn’t that at least half the reason she was here? Dean made every single one of her senses stand up and take notice. Quite possibly, he would be her ultimate adventure.
When she started to get up to follow, Dean reappeared. “You have a terrible time obeying, don’t you?” Before she could reply, he leaned down and plucked her out of the chair, then slung her over his shoulder.
“Dean!” Catherine yelled as she swatted his back. It was no use, though, because that part of his body was like the rest of him, hard as a rock. He was too big, too strong, and the arm holding her in place didn’t budge an inch. “You really need to stop carting me around. Seriously!”
“Master,” he murmured. “You keep forgetting that part, sweetheart.”
When he set her back on her feet, Catherine was once again in Dean’s bedroom. His gaze scorched a path over her body. “Master,” she said, using the word more as an insult than a sign of respect.
He chuckled. “Call me what you want. It doesn’t matter.”
Her eyes widened at that morsel of news. “It doesn’t?”
He shook his head. “All that matters is you and me,” he whispered. “I want you. Hell, I think I’ve wanted you forever. And you want me too, or you wouldn’t still be here playing this game.”
Her gaze darted away from his. She couldn’t bear for him to see how much she truly did want him. How much she loved him. She trembled as Dean stroked a finger down between her cleavage and said, “So sweet and soft. I’m on fire for you, Catherine. Only you.”
Her pulse quickened at the candid statement. He placed a clenched fist under her chin and forced her to look at him. It seemed he refused to let her hide from him. “Say it,” he murmured.
“Yes, only you,” she said, using the same words he’d used for her.
Dean groaned, then his lips pressed against hers. He didn’t caress her with tender touches. Instead he was rough and eager as he drank her in. It still wasn’t enough for Catherine. His tongue demanded entrance inside the hot cavern of her mouth, and Catherine gladly let him in. There was never any other choice. Desire warred with common sense, and desire came out the victor.
“You taste feminine, like the most delicate flower, especially when you surrender so beautifully for me,” he whispered against her mouth.
His romantic words had her heart doing backflips. Catherine wound her arms around his neck and whimpered when he pulled her body in tight against his. His hard cock pushed against her belly and passion sizzled in her veins.
Dean left her mouth and traveled kisses over her chin, then her neck, where he took his time nibbling and sucking. Catherine felt his heavy erection harden even more and she couldn’t catch her breath. “Don’t make me wait another minute, Dean,” she shamelessly begged. “Please.”
“Screw the game,” he muttered as he covered her mouth once more.
Hallelujah, Catherine thought with a satisfied smile.
> 26
Catherine dragged herself out of the pleasurable haze Dean so effortlessly wove around her and peered up at him. He looked edgy and wild. It was scary and exciting, and she wanted to feel all that untamed strength between her thighs. She shouldn’t give in to him so easily. She knew that, but she had no defenses where Dean was concerned. She hadn’t from the beginning.
“More,” she whispered against his voracious mouth.
He pulled back, and she witnessed the surprise in his eyes, and something else she couldn’t quite put a finger on. He quickly masked it and kissed her again. The second meeting of lips was every bit as urgent as the first.
Bending low, Dean picked her up and placed her on the bed. “You won’t regret a second you spend with me,” he said as he straightened. “I’m going to make you feel so damn good tonight.”
She hid her face in his chest in her hands and mumbled, “I think I already regret it.”
She felt strong fingers prying her hands away. When Catherine opened her eyes, Dean was staring down at her with a frown marring his darkly handsome features. “What did you say?”
“I figure I must need my head examined, Dean,” she said, as her frustration over their situation mounted. “I’m leaving tomorrow. What are we doing? How is this going to work? How could we possibly work? It makes no sense at all.” It mattered little to her libido, but her head and heart were beginning to thing she was certifiable.