For Her Protection(22)

“That good, huh?”

Charlize glanced up at Connor and shook her head. She couldn’t deal with him right now. Not unless he planned to do something about the sexual frustration he’d seen fit to add to her long list of aggravations.

He placed a paper bag on the table. “Come eat.”

She stared down at the papers covering her desk. Her head pounded. If she ate something, the food would probably come right back up. “I’m busy.”

“Have you been sitting there since I left?”

“I’m fine.”

“Have you eaten anything at all since breakfast?”

Charlize rubbed her temples and glanced at him. “I’m a big, busy girl, Connor. I’ll decide when I need to eat.”

“I said come eat.”

She pushed back from her desk, energy surging through her sapped body. “I don’t care.” Her skin heated, her heart picked up speed. She knew she was about to unravel, lose her shit, but she couldn’t care. “I’m sick of you telling me what to do. I’m sick of you hovering over me. Get out.”

Connor gave her his caveman glare. “I’m not going anywhere, kitten. Your well-being is my responsibility so you may as well do as you’re told.”

“Do as I’m told?” she spat then picked up a mug from her desk and hurled it at him.

Connor ducked and the mug flew over his head and bounced on the carpet. He rose, rolling up slowly, his gaze taking on the predatory gleam from the first time she’d seen him. Shit. She’d gone too far again. He stalked toward her. Charlize backed away from her desk.

“You’re out of control, Charlize,” he growled, his head lowered, his strides long and smooth.

Her heart spurted frantic energy through her system. He reached her but she didn’t give him a chance to do whatever he planned to do. She slammed her palms against his chest and pushed then darted around him for the door.

She didn’t make it a step. He seized her around the middle and took her down. She hit the ground on her back. Connor shifted over her, scooping her wrists in one clean movement and pressing them above her head. The back of her hands sank into the carpet.

He panted above her, gazing into her face. She twisted against him but her movements only made her breasts brush against the solid wall of his chest. Damn him. Maybe, just maybe if he hadn’t done what he had to her that morning, she might’ve had a chance to resist him.

Charlize stilled and looked at him. A muscle pulled under the skin of his temple. She ran her gaze over his face, the deep blue of his eyes, the strong bridge of his nose, his wide lips.

Lips that drove her crazy with all the arrogant, bossy shit they said. Lips that made her want to run her tongue over them, see if maybe there was a shred of softness in this hard man. She groaned and raised her head, planting her mouth on his.

His stillness dissolved. His mouth opened, capturing her tongue and sucking deeply before pushing his own between her lips. Her body hummed, the neediness tormenting her all day racked her. He moved, his knees nudging hers apart. He settled between her thighs and she wrapped her legs around his hips, arching when his hardness ground against her.

He pressed her hands deeper into the carpet and sank his tongue farther into her mouth, leaving no crevice untasted.

She opened to him—melting—arching—desperate. She squeezed him closer with her legs, needing that hard cock against her.

Then, in one sudden movement, the heat and hardness against her were gone. Connor had leaped off her as if her panties were on fire. Charlize scrambled to her feet, tugging her skirt down, then leaned against her desk for support. Her head swam, words escaped her. She wasn’t sure what just happened. He still looked at her as if he were about to eat her alive. His gaze stalked her, stripping her, penetrating through her skin.

He cornered her against her desk, his eyes darker than she’d ever seen them.

“Let’s get something clear—if losing your shit at me is code for fuck-me-now, just say so. Then the next time you hit me I’ll have my cock buried in you before you can finish the request.” He placed his arms on either side of her waist, resting his palms on the desk, his face hovering an inch from hers. “Otherwise I don’t play cat and mouse and I sure as shit don’t fuck women who pretend they don’t want it.”

Heat crept up her neck. “You don’t play games? Well what the hell was this morning?”

Connor’s eyes slitted but she continued.

“You tormented me then withheld because I wouldn’t say what you wanted. What just happened was entirely your fault. You drove me half out of my mind earlier today.”