A tingling sensation of warmth went through her flesh. She couldn’t believe he was saying this. She found herself at another crossroads. He was giving her an “out” she hadn’t expected. She stared into his aquamarine eyes, experiencing the sharp focus and depth of his character.

“Are you forgetting that I admitted to being aroused, despite it all?”

“No,” he said starkly. “And I’m no fool. I knew you were very responsive to being restrained. I consider myself a pretty good judge of this, and in my opinion, if you trusted enough, you would be a natural sexual submissive.”

His eyebrows arched, and Emma realized she’d flinched at the last two words.

“It’s not demeaning, Emma. I said sexual submissive. It’s just a natural dynamic for some people during sex, not others. I’m just saying that I think you have the tendencies, if you trusted your lover enough. If you trusted yourself, you would reap a great deal of pleasure by letting go. From my experience of you so far, I’d hardly call you a submissive in any other aspect of life,” he added with a raised brow.

She smiled at that.

“I don’t know yet how you’ll respond to more stringent measures, especially now that you’ve labeled it in your mind as a perversity.” She made a sound of protest at the word. “Don’t deny it. I saw the disgust on your face when you described to me what you saw that night. You definitely thought it perverse. But you’re here, and it’s your decision to explore whatever territory you prefer. Leave whatever you choose in the darkness. I’ll respect whatever you decide.”

Emma glanced around the office uneasily, finding it difficult to concentrate with his steady stare on her. It was necessary for her to steel herself, at least until she’d made herself clear to him. She realized she must have replayed the moments being trapped in his study so much that it actually looked familiar to her, despite the fact that it’d only been fleeting seconds that she stood there.

Or maybe she’d dreamed about it so much.

She swallowed thickly. “I choose not to prohibit anything . . . until I’m faced with the situation,” she said. “You can . . . introduce me to whatever you like, but—”

“You have the right to say no. Always,” he finished for her. He raised his dark eyebrows. “Are we in agreement then?”

“Yes. But there is one other thing.”

“What?”

“I heard what you said to Astrid that night about having nothing to offer a woman but sex.” He opened his mouth to speak, but she halted him this time by shaking her head. “I’m not upset about it. At least you’re honest. I can appreciate that. But I’m different than you are, I think. I’m not sure I can have an affair indefinitely and not give away too much of myself.”

His brow furrowed. “So what are you saying?”

“I need to know I control something, so I’ll control the end. I’ll give you four weeks. And then it’s over. We both walk away, but on my terms.”

Chapter 15

His expression darkened. “Four weeks?”

“Is that too long?” she asked anxiously.

He looked nonplussed. “No . . . maybe. I don’t know. I’ve never had a woman put it quite that way before. I didn’t expect you, of all people, to be so calculating.”

She gave him an apologetic glance. “I’m just protecting myself. This will keep my expectations in check.”

His brow knitted tighter together. “Does this have to do with what that asshole boyfriend of yours pulled on you?”

“No,” she said honestly.

“Why did you pick four weeks?”

“I remember my mother saying once that it took all of five weeks for the fire to leave my father’s eyes. I wouldn’t want to be around to witness yours going out,” she said simply.

“Jesus,” he muttered, his jaw going hard. He looked at the wall behind his desk. She could almost hear his mind churning. “I’ll be away a lot in the next few weeks. It won’t be enough time. Give me eight,” he finally said in a hard tone.

“No,” she whispered. “I’d get lost with that much time.”

He nostrils flared as he met her stare. “Six weeks then.”

She felt the pull of his powerful personality. She wanted to give in. “Five,” she bargained shakily. “Starting now. Today.”

His handsome mouth curled slightly in dissatisfaction. “All right, five. If you agree to spend some of the time with me in the South of France.”

“I don’t think I can. I have work—”

“We can make it happen,” he interrupted. Looking at his determined, rigid expression, she didn’t want to argue. Not now. “Just say yes,” he said.

“Yes,” Emma agreed, trying to ignore her uncertainties. It seemed so improbable, her being with him in the glamorous, gilded playground of the French Riviera. At the moment, all she could think about was how tense he looked. Was he upset by her proposal? She couldn’t tell for sure. She leaned down and kissed his lips, like she thought he was a statue she could magically bring to life. He became the aggressor, his hand sliding up to the back of her head, his mouth molding hers boldly. A thrill went through her at sensing all the frothing, repressed emotion in him, all the friction and heat.

He pulled her closer. It was wonderful to sink into the delight of his embrace, freeing somehow, now that they’d both spoken their minds.

Now that she’d set some parameters.

Five weeks, to touch him and luxuriate in his touch, to explore him . . . and herself.

“I want to do this. I want to take the risk,” she whispered next to his mouth a moment later. She felt him quicken and harden beneath her. He scored her with his stare.

“I’m going to make it five weeks you’ll never forget, starting now,” he promised before he pulled her against him, and covered her mouth with his own.

His kiss deepened and Emma drowned in its decadence, letting the heat of it wash away her anxieties and insecurities. He touched her while he made free with her mouth, his large hands running along her arms and squeezing her shoulders lightly. She felt his cock lurch beneath her bottom when he molded her flesh to his. One hand played along her spine. The other fisted the hem of her dress. He drew it up her thighs.

Despite his matter-of-fact manner, she started slightly, breaking their kiss, at the feeling of cool air and his warm knuckles sliding against the skin of her naked thighs.

“It’s all right,” he said thickly. The way he stared at her mouth, heavy-lidded, and trailed his blunt fingertips along the tender skin of her inner thigh made her heart jump into overtime. “I’m just going to keep kissing you,” he explained as he slipped his fingers beneath the elastic band of her panties. He tugged on them, and she lifted her bottom instinctively. He slipped the underwear down her thighs and over her knees. His hand returned, cupping her sex. She gasped.

“You’ve made out before, haven’t you?” he asked, his deep, seductive tone and small smile melting her almost as much as his hand warmly cupping her pussy.

She nodded, speechless.

One hand returned to the back of her head. He pulled her to him until their breaths mingled. “That’s all this is. Kissing. And I’m going to play with you a little. Just relax,” he growled before he kissed her coaxingly and moved his hand, slipping a thick finger between her labia.

She moaned into his mouth. How could she possibly relax when he was pressing and sliding his finger along her clit and melting her with his kiss? She tensed in his arms.

“Relax your muscles, Emma,” he ordered against her lips. “Let go. Just kissing. There’s nothing to get all worked up about.”

“Easy for you to say,” she mumbled incoherently because he’d continued to play with her pussy while he spoke. Masterfully. His touch was shockingly deft. He lifted his finger and then slid back into the cleft between her labia, pressing and rubbing against her clit. She bit her lip to stop her sharp cry and flexed her hips against the divine pressure. He pressed his lap upward slightly at her wiggling. She felt his cock press tighter to her and moaned.