Obsession (A Bad Boy's Secret Baby)(58)

Shrugging, he lowered his face until our foreheads nearly touched. He spoke quietly, each shape his lips formed making me ache to kiss him. “Was it my gun or my keys you were looking for?”

Everything around me shattered. Stumbling backwards, my jaw fell open. He saw right through me. If I'd had any doubt, his smug smirk said it all. Ronin had known it was all a ruse. Fuck, I was such an idiot.

Wrenching my robe shut tightly, I turned partially away. If I could have folded into a ball and vanished, I would have. “You knew what I was doing?”

His laugh was gritty, but brief. “Turns out you're not the first girl I've been with that had less than innocent motives. To be honest though, I didn't think you had it in you.”

“Fuck you,” I mumbled, hunching more. I didn't want him to see how red I was, my shame running into my gut and turning into hard marbles.

“Don't feel too bad, darlin'. It was a hell of a show.” He stepped around me, grabbing a pillow off of the bed. As I watched curiously, Ronin dropped it on the floor, sitting beside it to take off his shoes.

“What are you doing?”

He spared me a glance, smoothing his long hair back. “Getting comfortable. You've certainly earned the bed. At least for tonight.”

My hands slid to my hips. “You're sleeping in here?”

Pausing, Ronin gave me a pointed look. “I believe the reservation was under my name. Besides I'm not leaving you alone.”

“Because you don't trust me,” I said flatly.

“Shockingly, no.” Turning back to his shoes, he placed them in a neat pile with his vest. “However, that robe is a fantastic look on you.”

His blatant reminder had my cheeks aflame all over again. “Why won't you just let me leave? Just... god, just let me out of here!”

Scratching the back of his neck, he stretched out on the floor. Somehow, even without a blanket, he managed to look comfortable. “You'll leave when I say so.”

Hesitating by the door, I glared at him. Like he was reading my mind, he closed his eyes and mumbled, “Even if you manage to slip past me, Roach has all the doors locked, and breaking a window or something else will just trigger his alarm system. It's been a long day, I'll be in no mood to drag you back into this room.”

In defiance, I considered my options. I could attack the man on the floor, but that seemed insane. I could slip out, but if he wasn't lying—and why would he have to—then the whole building was my prison, now.

Ronin was right about one important thing—I did need sleep. Exhaustion was settling in, brought on by the rampant rush of my earlier excitement and my abrupt, crushing defeat.

For a long while, I stood by the door. The shiny knob called to me, but the promises it made were shallow. Without another word, I flicked the lights off.

Climbing onto the bed, I buried myself deep in the covers, inching to the side furthest from my captor. If I had any choice, I wanted to be as far away from him as possible.

I didn't even want to think about him.

Unfortunately, my mind was roiling with my confused emotions, and Ronin was at the forefront. The things I'd done had left me cold and small. In contradiction, in the heat of the moment, my insides had burned with a light-headed desire for the biker. How did I explain any of that?

It was naive of me to try and trick him. Somehow, during my facade, I'd opened the door to a piece of myself that had been eager to experience his body's promises. There was a fierce pull that drew me to Ronin, an impulse crafted purely from lust.

His scent, his stare, his soft looking lips and even his wicked smiles...

I'd wanted so badly to taste him. To feel him. And when I'd seen the proof of his own desire, the full, hard thickness of his erection, I'd pulsed with arousal. If Ronin hadn't spoken up, calling me out, what would I have done next?

The idea had me tingling, ankles crossing under the blanket. No! Stop it! I wasn't going to go down this road. The man was keeping me hostage, he didn't have my best interests in mind. It was reckless to desire—or even just fantasize—about someone like him.

He toyed with me, I reminded myself. But then... I toyed with him, too. My embarrassment was awful, but it did lead me to consider something. I knew how much Ronin had gotten to me, he'd made my thighs weak, my core tense.

But I'd seen his damn erection.

In spite of knowing my deceptive plan, had he desired me, too?

Was he lying there beside me, right now, just as worked up?

Gritting my teeth, I buried my face in my pillow. I was miserable here, sick with too many worries. I had to think about my sister, my escape—her escape. It didn't matter an inch if this guy had been turned on by me, or if he'd felt the same exciting static.

I had a mission... I had someone who needed me. That was all that mattered.