His expected verbal retaliation came in the form of an erotic, physical assault on her body and senses. His mouth fell back to hers and he began kissing her like a madman. He stroked inside her mouth, taking what she was refusing to give. He punished her with his tongue, he retaliated with his lips and his teeth, his kiss animalistic. Lifting his head, his eyes almost hypnotized her with their intensity. “I don’t care for smart-ass little girls like you.”
“Fuck y—”
Her insult was silenced by his lips on hers. He kissed her as if she were his. He kissed her as if he had every right to proceed any damn way he pleased. And damn him, even his anger was addictive. His scent was masculine, musky, crisp and infinitely appealing to her. And if she allowed it, it could do things to her that she wouldn’t be able to control.
Her pulse went spinning. It was damn hard to stay coherent when her body wanted nothing more than to let go. But she couldn’t do it. She wouldn’t. There was something about Garrett Rule, something that had told her from the very beginning that he wasn’t safe. If she slept with him, he’d either toss her aside or . . . or he’d take her over completely, and she’d be pulled along for the ride with him in full control, whether she wanted to be or not.
And that wasn’t going to happen. She could probably deal with being tossed aside, but there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that she was going to stand still and let him run roughshod all over her. Wasn’t. Going. To. Happen.
With every ounce of physical and mental strength she possessed, she ripped her mouth from his and turned her head away from him. Her eyes flew open and she stared at the wall, listening to her heartbeat in her ears while she was vaguely aware of his own fight for oxygen. She could tell he was staring at her profile, and she closed her eyes in denial.
This couldn’t be happening. She’d fought for too hard and for too long for her place in this hotel; she wasn’t going to give it all up just because this man waltzed inside, bought the place, and then tried to not only take it over, but her as well.
What the hell was he doing? Garrett released Maria’s hands and her arms immediately came down and crossed over her chest, her face held rigidly averted from him, as she turned away so that he was left to study her profile.
It was a beautiful profile, but then he’d known that for every hour of every day for the last four weeks.
But that was no excuse. He’d had beautiful women before so why did she matter so much? Women were expendable. And he’d yet to find one who was worthy of his trust. He’d almost been burned in college. He’d found out quick-fast that when a woman wanted a man’s money, or his future, as had been his case, then said woman could lie like there was no tomorrow.
And he’d been lied to. Once upon a time, in his dark past, a woman had claimed he’d impregnated her, to force his hand. But he hadn’t been that naïve. He’d demanded a DNA test, and of course, she’d been found out.
No, he had no reason to trust women, and certainly not the conniving little femme fatale who stood in front of him now, no matter how angelic she looked.
He’d had her number from the beginning. She’d been a bitch to Courtney, and that kind of attitude didn’t simply disappear . . . although until today, it hadn’t been anywhere on the surface for him to see.
There was no question that he needed to focus on getting her out of his mind . . . he just hadn’t been concentrating hard enough. He’d let the last four weeks pass by, hoping against blind hope that she’d do something that would be so off-putting that his lust for her would evaporate into thin air.
But it hadn’t happened. All she’d been was a model employee, smart, hard working, dependable.
But then that shit earlier today had pushed him over the edge. He took in a breath and tightened his abs. His fault. Touching her this morning had been a mistake. Touching her now had been a monumental screw-up, one he didn’t know if he’d be able to recover from. The feel of her slick, wet heat had almost driven him out of his mind, and it was a damn miracle he’d been able to release her when she’d demanded it. Something had to come to a damn head. And soon. Very soon.
With an amount of effort he couldn’t believe it took, he released her and turned away, pressing the button that would allow the elevator to start moving again.
When the doors opened on the gym-floor level, he held the door and glanced back at her. She was still leaning against the corner, her face ashen, her hands gripping the rails. “Are you coming?”
Antagonism lit her features, a brilliant sparkle of ice shining from her eyes. She stayed exactly where she was, shaking her head and clenching the railing so hard that her knuckles lost color. When she spoke, she spit defiant words out that were meant to hit their mark, “Not with you. Never with you.”