The fierce, cresting thrill abruptly faded, spiraled away.
The vibrator had been turned off.
Her eyes snapped open, and, looking up, she saw Rafe standing by the chair. “You got a problem?” Her voice could have cut steel.
“More than one, but that’s beside the point. You’re going too fast, racing for the finish line as usual. You should slow down.”
“Thanks for the advice.” She lifted her chin, a small, imperious gesture. “Now, let’s stop playing games. I want to come.”
He’d stiffened at that small lift of her chin, and her unequivocal demand. Not that either altered his plans.
Reaching out, he took her chin firmly between his thumb and fingers and, ignoring her resistance, turned her face to him. “I need your help.”
“And I need yours.”
Leaning over, he flipped the vibrator switch back on. As her eyes began to shut at the immediate revival of the rich, gluttonous sensations in every pleasure center in her body, he spread his fingers over her cheeks, tightened his grip. “Nicole, open your eyes.” His fingers were leaving marks, forcing her to respond. When she slowly opened her eyes and recognition lit her gaze, Rafe smiled. “Thank you,” he said gently. “Now, look—here.” He tipped her face slightly so she’d see what he was holding in his other hand. “Open your mouth.”
Momentarily lost to a vibrator jolt of spiking pleasure slamming through her body, it took her a second to respond. Even half-stunned, and breathless, she instinctively said, “Me first.”
“Jesus, you never quit. But under the circumstances”—he indicated her trussed body with a lift of his fingers—“here’s the deal. If I don’t get off, you don’t get off.” He hit the Off switch on the vibrator.
“Jesus fucking Christ, you’re a control freak.”
“No argument there. So—you want to get off or not?”
In the end, he held her head firmly, waited for her to open her mouth, and eased in his dick cautiously because she was glaring at him. “Be nice now, and I might give your pussy a workout with that vibrator. It’s up to you. But then everything always is, isn’t it tiger?” he finished sardonically. “Don’t bite. You do, you get punished.”
With Nicole’s insurgent temper, however, his warning might go unheeded. There was a certain sense of danger in having his dick in the mouth of a woman who was scowling at him. Then again, a little risk always made fucking that much better. Not to mention that his fiery, all-in-a-huff pussycat knew how to suck dick. If it didn’t feel so good, he might take the time to be pissed.
He came in record time, thanks to her proficiency and his aching dick, which had been ready to explode since he’d walked into the bedroom.
Then, as predictable as clockwork, even before he’d wiped himself off, she tilted her head, rubbed the come off her mouth on her upper arm, and said, “Now me.”
The synthesis of incivility and bland acceptance in her casual swipe of her mouth, along with her brusque demand, meant his nervy little princess was back in form. But when it came to insolence, he had the market cornered. “Not yet, tiger. By the way, you give good head,” he said, tossing his T-shirt aside. “I needed that.”
“Obviously you’re not welcome.” Each word chill as a mouthful of ice.
“Maybe you’ll thank me later,” he said pleasantly, kneeling between her legs, beginning to untie the ropes binding her wrists to her ankles.
“Nope, ’cause once you’re done with your little games, I’ll be on the next flight out.”
His gaze snapped up. “You’re leaving?”
“This was a day-by-day arrangement. You knew that,” she said with a little sniff. “I have other plans.”
“With anyone special?” His voice had dropped in volume, the query delicate as the air at twilight.
“I have lots of friends in Monaco,” she drawled in a flawless fuck-you tone. “You met one of them at your club.”
A veil dropped over Rafe’s eyes, hiding the raw chill. “I remember.” He untied the last knot holding her legs. “There you go.” He lifted her from the chair. “Steady,” he said, as she sucked in a breath, the jolt to her clit imploding through her body like a battering ram, the shocking pleasure immune to her censure. Her arms and legs were free, but her torso was still restricted by the ropes, captive to the sensual pressure points under the knots; she remained physically and sexually helpless, suspended between fury and a ravenous hysteria.
Aware of her hot-blooded passions and the erratic rhythm of her breathing, Rafe said, “Maybe you could accommodate me one more time before you go. If you don’t mind,” he added offhandedly. “One last fuck for old times’ sake. What do you say?” He stopped her answer with a finger over her mouth. “That’s not really a question.” Picking her up easily, his hands spanning her waist, he pretended not to hear her hard gasp as the ropes went taut, nor her throaty groan.