The demand she wouldn't-couldn't-consent to.
But there was something about him … a reassurance … and expectation of acquiescence that made the hairs on her nape stand on end.
'What happens if I refuse this … this sleazy proposal?'
'I sign the agreement then use the company as I wish. I could dismantle it piece by piece and sell it off for a neat profit. Or I could just drive down the share price and watch the company implode from the inside out. But that's all boring business. What do you care?'
Her fists clenched. 'I care because my grandfather built that company from nothing.'
'And now your father's willing to hand it over to a complete stranger just so he can further his political career.'
She pursed her lips and fought not to react. She'd been deeply concerned when she'd first heard how her father planned to raise funds for his campaign. Concerns that had been airily brushed away with reassurances of airtight clauses.
Clauses which Theo had apparently easily loopholed.
Maybe it wasn't too late. She could tell him to go to hell and warn her father and brother about the danger their proposed business partner presented and advise them to walk away. Surely that would be better than admitting the lion into their midst and letting him wreak havoc at whim?
Light hazel eyes watched her with a predatory gleam. 'If you're thinking of warning your family, I'd think twice. Remember how easily I dispatched Delgado?'
She stiffened, recalling how a few whispered words had caused one investor in her father's campaign to walk away. 'You don't mean that,' she tried.
He slowly rose from the chair and towered over her. Every protective instinct screamed at her to step back but she stood her ground. Any show of weakness would be mercilessly pounced on.
'Do you want to test me, anjo?' The blade of steel that hovered over the endearment sent a shiver down her spine.
She slowly uncurled her fists and forced herself to breathe. 'What do you expect me to do?'
His smile was equally as predatory as the look in his eyes. 'You will inform your father and brother tomorrow that you and I are an item-our meeting last night sparked a chemistry so hot we couldn't not be together.'
A tiny sliver of relief eased her constricted chest. 'If that's all you want, I'm sure I can convince them-'
His mocking smile stopped her words.
'After you tell them that, you'll pack your bags and move in with me.'
Shock slammed her sideways. 'Are you serious?'
He gripped her chin and held her pinned under his gaze. 'I've never been more serious in my life.'
'But … why?'
'My reasons are my own. You just need to do as you're told.'
Do as you're told. Constantine had tried to blackmail her with those very words. When she'd refused he'd spread rumours about her in the newspapers.
Anger grew in her belly. But it was a helpless anger born of the knowledge that there was nothing she could do. Once again she was trapped in a hell that came from trying to do what was right for her family.
Only this time she was to truly pay with her body. In a stranger's bed. Her heart tripped before going into fierce overdrive.
She gazed at Theo's face, then his body. A body she would in the very near future become scorchingly intimate with. The horror she'd expected to feel oddly did not materialise.
'How long exactly will I be expected to do as I'm told?' she snapped.
'Until after the elections.'
A horrified gasp escaped her throat and she forcibly wrenched herself from his grip. 'But … that's … the elections are three months away!'
'Sim,' he replied simply.
'Sim? You expect me to put my life on hold for the next three months, just like that?' She clicked her fingers.
He raised an eyebrow. 'Do you want me to repeat the part about you not having a choice?'
She searched his face, trying to find meaning behind his intentions. 'What did my father do? Did he best you at a deal? Bad-mouth you to investors? Because I can't see what would make you want to go down this path of trying to get your own back.'
She watched his eyes darken, and his nostrils flare. All traces of mockery were wiped from his face as he stared down at her. Only she was sure he wasn't really seeing her.
His usual intense focus dulled for several seconds and his jaw clenched so tight she feared it could crack. Whatever memory he was reliving caused volcanic fury to bubble beneath the harsh, ragged breath he expelled and this time she did take that step back, purely for self-preservation.
Voices sounded on the deck below. In a few minutes Pietro and the skipper would return from their tour. Inez wasn't sure whether to be grateful for the disruption or frustrated that her opportunity to find out Theo's reasons for demanding her presence in his bed had been thwarted.
His gaze sharpened, flicked towards the steps and back to her.
'It's time for your answer. Do you agree to my terms?'
She shook her head. 'Not until you tell me- what are you doing?' she blurted as he snapped out an arm and tugged her close.
One large bold hand gripped her waist and the other speared through her hair. Completely captured, she couldn't move as he angled her face to his. The unsettling fury was still evident in his darkened eyes and taut mouth. Despite the heat transmitted from his grip, she shivered.
'You seem to think you can talk or question your way out of this, anjo. You can't. But perhaps it was a mistake to expect a verbal agreement. Perhaps a physical demonstration is what's best?'
Despite his rhetorical question, she tried to answer. 'No … '
'Yes!' he muttered fiercely. Then his mouth smashed down on hers.
* * *
She'd been kissed before. By casual boyfriends in her late teens who she'd felt safe enough with.
By Constantine, in the beginning, before he'd revealed his true ruthless colours.
Nothing of what had gone before prepared her for the power and expertise behind Theo's kiss. Her world tilted beneath her feet as his tongue ruthlessly breached the seam of her lips. Hot, erotically charged and savagely determined, he invaded her mouth with searing passion. Bold and brazen, he flicked his tongue against hers, tasting her once and coming back for more.
The shocked little noise she made was a cross between surprise and her body's stunned reaction to the invasion.
The hand at her waist pressed her closer to his body. Whipcord strength, sleek muscles and his own unique scent brought different sensations that attacked her flailing senses.
Fire lashed through her belly as liquid heat pooled between her thighs. Her breasts, crushed against his chest, swelled and ached, her nipples peaking into demanding points with a swiftness that made her dizzy.
Deus!
Feeling her world careen even faster out of control, she threw up her hands. Hard muscle rippled beneath her fingers. The need to explore slammed into her. Before she could question her actions, she slid her hands over his warm cotton-covered shoulders to his nape, her fingers tingling as they encountered his bare skin.
He jerked beneath her touch, pulled back with a tug on her hair. Breathing harshly, he stared into her eyes for several seconds. Hunger blazed in his, turning them a dark, mesmerising molten gold that stole what little breath she had from her lungs. Then his eyes dropped lower to her parted mouth.
A rough sound rumbled from his throat. Then he was kissing her again. Harder, more demanding, more possessively than before.
Inez pushed her fingers through his hair as arousal like she'd never experienced before bit deep. This time, when his tongue slid into her mouth, she met it with hers. Boldly, she tried to give as much as she got, although she knew she was hopelessly inadequate when it came to experience.
The hand around her waist tightened and she was lifted off her feet. Seconds later, she found herself on the bar stool, her legs splayed and Theo firmly between thighs exposed by her stance. He came at her again, the force of his sensual attack tilting the stool backwards.
She threw out her hands onto the counter to keep from toppling over. Theo growled beneath his breath, his hands moving upward from her waist to cup her breasts. He moulded her willing, aching flesh so expertly she whimpered and arched into his hold. Beneath her clothes, her tight nipples unfurled in eager anticipation when his thumbs grazed over them. The deep pleasurable shudder made him repeat the action, eliciting a soft cry of pleasure from deep inside her.