“Then I’m not scrubbing hard enough.” I put more umph into the strokes of my arm, rocking my whole body back and forth just slightly. Without looking, I could feel Darius’s gaze glued to my every movement.
He came around the island so he was closer to me. I shuffled forward as if I needed to anyway to get to the next tiles, giving him an even more direct view of my ass. The door was still open—this wasn’t exactly the most dignified position for someone to look in and see me in. But I didn’t really give a shit what any of the Hell Kickers thought of me.
“Such a natural,” Darius teased, but his tone was turning heated. I smiled inwardly.
And now, while he was distracted, I could do a different sort of prying of my own. “What’s the deal with that Griffin guy?” I asked in an offhand way, giving my hips another sway.
Darius took a second to answer. “What about him?”
“I met him when I arrived. He seemed tight with your dad.Reallytight. Is he collaborating with you and your brothers on the second tier of leadership or something?”
The oldest Rosano brother scoffed. “Not likely. He’s just a suck-up who cares more about impressing people than actually getting a job done properly.”
It seemed like Griffin’s efforts had been succeeding, from what I’d seen. Darius obviously didn’t consider him a threat, though. He didn’t sound like he had any clue the guy had been lying about him to Marcel, but I didn’t see any reason to inform him. Why should I lend this asshole a hand?
“If you think that dork is going to be your Prince Charming and get you out of this, you’re sniffing around the wrong tree,” Darius went on. “While you’re here,weown you, and no one else is staking any claim.”
Oh, really. I owned myself just fine. I restrained the urge to roll my eyes and decided it was time to up my game.
“I’m getting my dress dirty on this floor,” I grumbled, and paused to tuck folds of the fabric right into my panties to hold it off the ground. The gesture exposed most of my thighs. Then I went back to scrubbing and swaying away, subtly shaking my ass in Darius’s direction.
He sucked in a breath. Then the rasp of a zipper startled me. He reached right into his jeans and fisted the erection that’d been enclosed beneath.
“You know what I’m going to do?” he said, his voice going even lower and darker—and, to my annoyance, sending a shiver straight to my sex. “I’m going to jack off to the sight of you on your hands and knees doing my bidding, and then I’m going to come right on your ass.”
I chose not to answer. Partly because the rubbing sound of his palm pumping over his rigid cock was setting off a deeper wave of heat inside me. It was a good thing I hadn’t totally exposed my panties, because the crotch had just dampened. Fuck.
He shouldn’t affect me like this. And maybe it was time I taught him a thing or two about messing with Anthea Noble.
The new idea that sparked in my head brought me up short, but only for a moment. A slight smile curled my lips. It would serve him fucking right. Let’s see if he bared that dick anywhere near me ever again.
I wiggled my ass and wiped at the floor, giving him a good show. “You obviously don’t find enough women who can put out if you’re that desperate.”
He chuckled, his breath getting rough. “I just take my opportunities as they come, and this is a fantastic one. You don’t seem to mind all that much, Lady Noble.”
“Guess I’m not that much of a lady, then.” The pace of his strokes was speeding up. I might not have a lot of time. But then I heard what I’d been waiting for to solidify my plan: distant voices down the hall, getting a little louder as they moved closer.
I peeked coyly over at Darius, getting an eyeful of his admittedly impressive cock clenched in his pumping hand. I might have salivated a little, but I held my focus.
“You could come on my ass,” I said, “but wouldn’t you like my mouth even more?”
Darius’s eyes grew heavy-lidded. “You want this, do you? Or maybe you just want to keep your pretty dress clean. Either way, it works for me. Come and get it.”
I crawled over to him, knowing that would turn him on even more. Better if he didn’t think too hard about my momentary obedience.
As I rose up on my knees, his breath caught. He gripped the base of his erection, offering his cock to me. I wrapped my lips around the head, the musky flavor provoking a flash of desire I tuned out. He thrust forward to drive farther into my mouth—
And I chomped down.
I didn’t bitehard. I wasn’t looking to tear his dick right off, as much as he might have deserved it. But I dug my teeth into the sensitive flesh just below the head of his cock firmly enough that he yelped loud enough to wake the dead.
As I yanked back from him—and he heaved himself away from me—a shout of alarm sounded down the hall. Darius swore through his teeth, pained and furious, and stuffed himself back into his pants. Making sure his underlings didn’t find out what’d happened to him was his first priority over payback.
Which gave me time to shoot him a sunny smirk, scramble to my feet, and dash out of the room just before his defenders hustled in.
I jogged back upstairs, deciding I was going to hole up in my bedroom after all—once I’d barricaded the door. Because I didn’t for one second believe that payback wouldn’t be coming. I’d only ensured it’d be delayed for a little while.
I shoved a chair under the doorknob. Then, unable to help myself, I flopped down on my bed, shoved my hand under my skirt, and fingered myself until I was coming with a gasp and doing my best not to fixate on the taste of Darius lingering on my tongue.