Only it didn’t happen. I dipped my fingers down between her legs, which parted to give me more room, urging me to touch her. Holy shit, she was hot and already wet. There was a reaction from him finally.
He inhaled sharply. “You’re touching her.”
I am, Captain Obvious. “Yes.”
“Do you like doing that?”
His question gave me pause. No one had ever asked me that before. I’d done it enough times there’d become a disconnect—I no longer thought about the sexual act I was performing on another woman. Did I like this? The woman on the table at my mercy? “Yes,” I whispered. “I do.”
“What if,” Silas said in a deep, slow voice, “I purchased the wine . . . so I could watch you drink it?”
I froze, my entire body locking up. We’d volleyed bluffs back and forth, but he’d just upped the ante. Was he testing me, or was this something he actually wanted? My fingers withdrew from her, and my head churned with thoughts. Did I want this? To let Silas purchase a night with Tara, so he could watch us together?
She didn’t have an issue with it, and he’d said Joseph would cover the cost . . . No, this was a bluff. He was trying to see how far he could push me.
“Ten thousand.” My tone was firm, although inside I was quivering. What if he said yes? God, his expression was hard to read. I watched his body language, trying to pick up on the subtle cues to how he was feeling, but he wasn’t giving me anything to go on.
“Three.” His tone was also firm.
His gaze didn’t waver from mine and it was stifling under his intense stare. Shit, what now? I’d started negotiations with Silas, hadn’t given Tara any information about him, and now I needed to give her a signal on whether or not I thought we could bargain higher. Only I had no clue. Was it a side effect of him negotiating with someone else’s money, or the fact that Silas could walk away from the sale easily? He wasn’t like the other clients. His interest was focused on me.
“The ball’s in your court,” I said and brushed my hand on Tara’s hip. The sports reference should help, but I was taking the coward’s way out, letting her gamble on trying to get him to increase the bid.
“Yes,” she said instantly, like she couldn’t get the word out fast enough.
Oh my God.
What the fuck just happened? When the deal was struck, this was typically when I made my exit, but now? I stared at Silas, wide-eyed, my bluff called. My gaze dropped to the floor as my mind raced.
Fuck it. The dirtiest part of me was excited. I hadn’t messed around with her for a bunch of reasons, one of which was I hadn’t been single. Everything was different. The woman before me was now mine. Silas wanted a show? I’d give him a fucking show. My attention went to the corner.
“Pick that chair up,” I ordered, casting a hand in the opposite direction, right by the door. “I want it moved there.”
Silas was rooted in place, as if the last thing he’d expected was for me to go along with the insane deal. “What? Why?”
“There’s a camera in here. You’re going to turn it off.”
Heavy footfalls rang out as he went. His hands wrapped around the heavy chair and it screeched and shuddered across the floor as it went. My hands were already sweaty when I pressed the button on my receiver.
“Julius, come in.”
“I got you. What’s wrong?”
“I need a favor.” Could he hear I was almost breathless? “I’ve reached a deal, but it’s unusual, and I need to turn off the camera.”
“Fuck no, Regan. That white boy is huge.” Of course he was worried about Tara’s safety.
My nerves rattled in my chest as I stared at Silas, speaking to both the man in the room and the one upstairs simultaneously. “He’s not going to touch her. I’ll stay in the room and keep my earpiece in, so if he does anything he shouldn’t, you’ll be the first to know about it.”
“What the fuck is going on? He ain’t gonna touch her?”
“No. I am.”
There was silence on
the other end of the comm. Was it still working?
“Julius?”