She slid a finger into the juicy cleft and moaned in pleasure.
Was he suffering? God, she hoped so.
Her eyes popped open a few seconds later when she felt a hand wrap around her wrist. He’d moved so quietly, and she’d been so involved in her little game, she’d never heard his tread on the dock.
“What—?”
“Surely you’re not going to ask me what I’m doing, Madeline.” She saw his clamped jaw and her shocked reflection in the mirrored lenses of his sunglasses. “Because I would have thought that was obvious. I’m giving you what you’ve been asking for.”
She gasped in surprise when he slid his forearm beneath her thighs and lifted. The next thing she knew she was flying down the dock in Walker Gray’s arms.
She sputtered, furious at his audacity . . . and more than a little thrilled by it. “Put me down, Walker.”
His long stride never broke.
Walker had been lean and beautiful in his teens and early twenties, as tawny and sleek as a young lion. He’d only grown more powerful as he aged. His hips and waist were still narrow, but he’d added some serious muscle in his shoulders and chest. She wriggled in his arms, her breath coming choppy and fast, trying to get him to release her, but it was useless. Those muscles were granite-solid. Her left nipple rubbed against the soft cotton of his shirt. She saw the line of his jaw harden.
“Put me down,” she fumed as he stalked toward the beach house changing room. “Believe me, I haven’t been asking for anything from you. I was minding my own business, sunbathing like I always do. Do you want me to scream for help?”
He plunged inside the air-conditioned dim interior of the women’s changing room and showers. Tony owned Hallas Technologies, the largest computer security company in the country. When he entertained in Lake Tahoe, he tended to do it on a big scale. The changing rooms in close proximity to the beach had been built to make guests comfortable. When he invited a large party there, he even staffed the luxurious rooms with maids, towel boys and masseuses.
Madeline squawked when Walker abruptly plunked her down on the tile floor in front of one of the steam showers. The next thing she knew, he was pulling her arms above her head. She felt cool metal around her wrists and heard a clicking sound. He twisted his hand and slid something into his pocket.
She stared up at him, her mouth gaping open.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she demanded, outraged and bewildered in equal measure. He’d just handcuffed her to the top of the metal structure of the shower surround. She stretched on her tiptoes, back arched, her long hair swishing just above her bikini panties, trying like mad to move the chain between the cuffs up one inch over the top of the metal.
Just. One. Inch.
She growled in pure frustration when she came up short.
“Let me go.”
Her heart charged like an out of control locomotive in her ears. She couldn’t believe this was happening to her. She was in the shadowed changing room alone with Walker. He’d handcuffed her wrists above her head and he was staring down at her. He’d removed his glasses, but his eyes were cast in shadow.
He spread a large, sun-warmed hand on her hip as if to remind her of her naked vulnerability. She went utterly still while her heart continued to race like it thought she was running for her life. She had to lean her head back to look into his face. He topped six feet by several inches, making him nearly a foot taller than her.
She shivered when he caressed the sensitive side of her body from the waist to just below her armpit. It had always excited her to feel how much of her body he could span with his hand, his stark masculinity making her feel exponentially more feminine by contrast.
“All you had to do was ask. I would have been more than happy to oblige you, Madeline.”
She sensed the depth of his fury for the first time. Walker was typically so cool, so controlled. He didn’t lose his temper often, but when he did, he could be fearsome. She licked her upper lip in nervous excitement. What sort of inferno had she started with her little game of tease and torture?
“I don’t know what you mean,” she replied, her voice sounding haughty and hushed in the cool, dim room. “I sunbathe topless all the time.”
His eyebrows arched. “And you typically masturbate while Tony’s employees watch?”
“What I do is none of your business. You’re being paid to make sure I’m safe.”
“I thought you said you didn’t need any protection.”
“I don’t. This whole thing you’ve set up with Tony is ridiculous. That man who shot at me was a random lunatic. Why would someone want to hurt me?”
“Why indeed?”
She jumped when he moved his hand and touched the side of a breast. Her nipples pulled tight.
“Is this how they taught you to protect a client?” she seethed quietly.