But if she didn’t have him, right then, Sophie was afraid she’d lose her mind. She had too much pain ripping her apart on the inside. Too much fear and too many memories. She needed Lex and his passion to wipe everything else away.
“Fuck me now, Lex,” she told him. “Now.”
His fingers slid under the edge of her panties. She heard the rip of the material, and then his fingers were pushing into her sex.
“Sweetheart, you’re so tight. I have to make you ready.”
She kissed his neck. Bit him lightly and loved the growl he made. “I am ready. I want you.” He had her pinned against that wall. His fingers were in her, but it wasn’t enough. She wanted—
He stroked her clit. “You have to be ready. Always…ready.”
Her breath choked out. Her thighs quivered around him.
“Not just…fucking…” Lex bit out. He kissed her. Deep. Almost angry. “Not with you.”
Her heart seemed to stop. What had he meant by that? “Lex?”
“You are so perfect to me. Perfect for me.” He kept stroking her, and she was wet now, her sex opening and slickening with his every touch. Sophie could feel her orgasm building. They were both fully dressed—well, okay, except for her ripped panties. Being with him like that, right there in his office, it made her feel even wilder. Turned her on even more.
They weren’t in the dark. The lights were bright. She could see every expression on his face. So much desire filled his gaze.
“When you come, don’t cry out,” Lex said gruffly. “They’re too close…”
His fingers slid into her—two big, callused fingers. Her own hands clamped down even harder on his shoulders. In and out…stroking, stretching…while his thumb pressed over her clit.
“You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” Lex said, “and when you come…”
She was about to come. She’d wanted his cock in her. Wanted him to fuck her hard, but he was bringing her to careful release, holding her tight, caressing her so intimately and—
His fingers thrust into her once more. Lex was working her sex faster now, a little harder, and still strumming her clit with his thumb as her breath heaved out. Tension tightened her body, driving up the need inside of her. Pushing her right to the edge—
He strummed her clit, and Sophie exploded.
“When you come, you’re fucking gorgeous,” Lex rasped. He kissed her again. Lex thrust his tongue deep even as his fingers kept stroking inside of her. She knew her sex was clamping tightly around him. She could feel the trembling contractions of her inner muscles. The pleasure came in rolling waves, knocking out her fear and her pain until he was all that she knew. Only Lex.
“Lex.” She’d whispered his name because his fingers were sliding out of her. Because he was carrying her now. Slowly sitting her on the edge of his desk. Then he lowered her skirt. And stepped back.
He hadn’t come. “Lex?” Now his name was a question. She squeezed her thighs together because she was still quivering inside and she wanted that delicious quiver to last as long as possible.
“That was for you.” But the desire was there, nearly burning out of control in his gaze. “Because I need you to know that I can be more than a selfish bastard. With you, I can be so much more.”
Just like that, her heart was racing again. The tension between her and Lex shot up even more. His cheeks were stained red, his features harder, rougher with his need. A need he wasn’t filling because…he only wanted her pleasure?
Sophie shook her head. “I want you.”
“You need to want me more.”
She didn’t think that was possible.
“More than breath, Sophie. More than life. More than any man you’ve desired before—”
“I do.” A stark confession.
“And more than any who will come again.”
She didn’t want to think of another lover. Only Lex.
“I need you to want me so much that the rest of the world can just fuck off because they don’t matter. The lies and the games and the pain…none of it matters because you want me so much.” His hands flew out and slapped down on the desk, caging her. “Because that’s how I want you. I want you so much that I feel like I might just rip apart.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. Kissed his cheek. His mouth. Sophie lightly slid her tongue over his lips. “Then take me. I’m right here…”
“I won’t be a bastard, not with you.” She felt the shudder that shook him. “You matter.”
Her heart hurt.
“Think about what you truly want, sweetheart. Because if you break your one night rule with me…”
Her lips parted. She had been about to break her rule! That stupid rule—the rule that never let a lover get too close. He’s already close.
“I won’t let you go. If I have you again, you’re mine.”
The look in his eyes…the intensity of his voice…Sophie swallowed over the lump in her throat. He meant exactly what he was saying.
“A man could get addicted to a woman like you. Hell, I think I already am. So caught up that I’d be willing to do just about anything to have you again.” Then he shoved away from the desk and from her. “But before I cross that line, you need to be sure. Be sure I’m the man you want, because there will be no going back.”
Those words seemed like a dark warning.
Was she ready for that step? Was she ready for Lex?
“Then I’ll know all of your secrets,” Lex promised.
Instinctively, Sophie shook her head. No one knew them all.
“And you’ll know mine. And I’ll keep you safe, from anyone and everything that might try to harm y
ou.”
There seemed to be another layer in his words, a meaning that she wasn’t getting. “I don’t understand.”
“Then let me be very clear. I don’t care what you’ve done, Sophie. I don’t care if you’ve had to attack in order to survive. I will protect you, and no one will ever take you from me.”
I don’t care if you’ve had to attack in order to survive.
She knew, then. The understanding pierced Sophie to her soul. He thought she’d killed her parents. And he was saying what—that he didn’t care? That he’d still stand by her? No, not him. Not a protector like him, he wouldn’t—
“I will protect you,” Lex said again.
She jumped off the desk. “I have to go to my office.” Her knees did a jiggle, but she didn’t fall. Thankfully. “I have clients waiting. They need me.” She ran for the door. Desperate, yes, she was a very desperate woman in that instant.
“I need you, Sophie.”
His low words froze her as she was reaching for the doorknob.
“I think I need you more than I’ve ever needed anyone, but you need me, too, don’t you?”
She looked back. “Yes.” A faint whisper. She did need him. She needed him to banish her pain and her fear. Needed him to accept her just as she was.
And he is. He just said he doesn’t care about my past. He just wants me. “Why?” Sophie asked.
“Don’t you know? A smart woman like you, haven’t you figured it out yet?”
She shook her head.
“You will.”
Sophie shivered at the hot promise in his voice. Hurriedly, she bent and picked up the handbag she’d dropped in the, ah, heat of the moment.
“When you come to me again, sweetheart, I’ll take you. You’ll take me. And there will be no going back.”
She opened the door. Hurried out. Made herself not look back. Get to the elevator. Get to the elevator. Get—
She was in the elevator. The doors were closing. She could breathe again.
A strong, tanned hand flew out, stopping those doors as the sensors immediately reacted. The doors slid back open. “Lex, no,” Sophie began, “I told you, I’m going to my office—”
“And I’m making sure that you get there safely.” Only it wasn’t Lex standing there. It was Dev. His bright blue eyes met her gaze. “When I saw you run out, I figured it would be better if I came along, instead of Lex.”