Her ardor further ignited his. He fisted a hand through her hair, tilting her head at whatever angles suited him. But she still had moves. She shoved her hips into him. He growled as his hardness dug painfully into her belly. Their kiss became a war. Over what, she wasn’t sure. Dominance, maybe. But they were each trying to prove a point.
His other hand cupped and squeezed a buttock through her jeans. She returned by threading her fingers through his short, thick hair and yanking. He grunted and bit down on her lip. She yelped, and then he was at her throat, kissing and sucking. A shaky moan escaped her lips as the siren of desire called for her to capitulate, to give in to whatever Ben wanted to do to her.
Did you forget about the chastity belt he once made you wear?
Trying to regain the offensive, she tried to pull off his shirt, wishing she could rip it as he had once done to one of her tops, though it would probably cost her half her paycheck to replace his.
But he threw her over his shoulder, walked over to the bed, and dumped her on it. Not wanting to be pinned down just yet, she tried to scramble to her knees, but he pushed her back down. The next second, he was on top of her, his mouth smothering hers.
Just once, she wanted to lead, wanted Sadie Hawkins to apply to sex, wanted to dominate him as much as he did her.
She bit down on his lip, surprising him enough for her to slip from beneath him. Pushing against his shoulders, she tried to climb on top of him, but he grabbed her around the waist and slammed her back down on the bed.
“Trying to top?” he growled. “It doesn’t work that way, pet.”
Her ears burned at the word. She could feel his breath heavy upon her face, his hips pressing her hard into the bed. She was going to lose a battle that had never been hers to win in the first place. The only thing she might have succeeded in doing was making him mad.
Chapter Fourteen
His pulse pounded everywhere in his body, in his bottom lip where she had bit him, and especially in his erection. Ben couldn’t recall ever feeling as aroused as he did now. Every nerve inside him screamed for him to tear her clothes off and fuck her harder than he had ever fucked before. He’d fuck her through her clothes if he could.
He was a little out of breath from the kissing and her amusing little wrestling game. He liked that she was strong enough to present an interesting challenge, but she had to know she didn’t stand a chance against him.
And there was no bloody way he was going to let her be the top. He had been far too lenient with her before, and he wasn’t going to make that mistake again.
She glared at him, but her eyes swam with lust, and that made his cock throb even more.
“I’m not your fucking pet,” she spat.
“That’s too bad,” he said, meeting her gaze and trying his best not to become too pulled into the depths of her large brown eyes. “Well-behaved pets get rewarded. Guess you’re just going to get a fucking.”
Her eyes widened, and she started shoving him, her hips bucking beneath him as if she could throw him off her body, but the motions only made his cock harder. And he would have thought he couldn’t get any harder.
Damn this woman.
While his attention was fixed on the way her body brushed and pushed against his while she wriggled, she clocked him on the side of the head.
Refocusing himself, he grasped her by the throat beneath her jaw, his hand pushing up her chin. She immediately stilled.
“I’m going to give you a second chance,” he told her. “I suggest you take it because there isn’t going to be a third. You understand, pet?”
When she didn’t respond, he squeezed her throat a little, and her hands flew to his wrist. There was no way she could pull his hand away, no way she could prevent him from breaking her neck if he were so inclined.
But he would never harm her. Punish her, yes. Scare her a little, yes. Show her who was in charge, definitely.
Her eyes said what her mouth could not because of his hold on her throat: fuck you, asshole.
It was the same look she had given him when he’d first beheld her, kneeling naked beside an equally naked Claire in Jake’s cabin.
He loosened his hold a little so she could respond. “Understand?”
Despite the defiance shining in her eyes, she gave a small nod. Some men wouldn’t have paused to affirm a woman’s consent. They got off on being able to overpower a woman even though they knew full well biology favored testosterone in a physical struggle.
But Ben found consent from women just as sexy. Especially when a small part of them didn’t actually want to. Intellectual women like Kimani could overthink things, take too many things into account, overanalyze and care too much about taking the wiser course of action. Her consent meant she couldn’t resist him. It meant she wanted him. Had to acknowledge she wanted him despite her better judgment. And that sent his arousal soaring.
He pushed his pelvis into her, making her lashes flutter. He could feel her chest heaving beneath him, but he stayed his desire to pound her into oblivion.
He ran a thumb over her bottom lip before dipping into the wetness of her mouth. “So what is it my pet wants?”