Finally, he stepped around her only to pull the item from the closet and unzip it quickly exposing a relic from a shopping trip Marcy forced her to take a few months ago. She had tried the electric blue dress on and felt simultaneously sexy and uncomfortable. She had never worn anything like it. The short, skintight dress appeared to have a modest neckline until she had turned around revealing the entirety of her exposed back. She watched in muted horror as Falon’s eyes lit up and he thrust the garment into her hands.

“This one.”

Great. She looked down at the scrap of blue then back up at the infuriating man in front of her.

“Can I have a minute to get dressed or would you like to supervise my underwear selection too?” As soon as the words were out she realized her mistake. What she hadn’t expected was the flare of heat that blazed in his eyes. When he took a step toward her, she felt her mouth go dry and retreated a step.

“Door’s that way.” She nodded its direction. Her voice sounded husky to her own ears, and she was under no illusion that Falon had missed its harsh tones. After a tense moment, Falon seemed to pull himself together. With a barely discernible nod, he was out the door before she could react.

Glaring down at the dress, Sarah momentarily thought about throwing on the rattiest pair of sweats she owned and teasing a few knots into her hair for good measure. Wouldn’t Falon flip his lid if she came sauntering down the stairs looking like a bag lady? Just as she was reaching for her holey Northwestern sweats another thought struck. While she was sure he would be upset about sweats, he would probably force her to play hostess all night. Looking back down at the dress, she had a better punishment in mind for the man who thought he could control her.

Twenty minutes later she was standing in front of the full-length mirror she kept in the corner of her room, examining her handy work. While she didn’t normally dress for sex appeal, it didn’t mean that she didn’t know how to make the most of her petite, curvy frame. Turning to the side once more, she took satisfaction in the way the tight dress molded to the curve of her hip and displayed the trimness of her waist. The smoky shadow and freshly tousled hair rounded out the sex kitten look she was going for.

All she needed now were those do-me heels Marcy talked her into buying along with the dress. If she remembered right, she stashed them under the bed. Finding them still in the bag from the store, she nearly let out a yelp of joy. Slipping the patent leather peep-toe stilettos on her feet Sarah felt more powerful than she had in a very long time. Looking back in the mirror she thought maybe there was something to Marcy’s theory of sexual politics. Heading out of the room with one last look at her reflection, Sarah reveled in her newly awakened sexual power. She planned to use it to her advantage that night.

Falon was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. She paused on the landing to watch him pace. His powerful legs carried him with a grace that shouldn’t have been possible for a man his size. She couldn’t help but follow the line of his broad shoulders under the black dress shirt and down the muscular arms encased in the form-fitting sleeves he had rolled up to the elbow. Her eyes landed on the sleek line of the leather belt that circled his trim waist when she realized he had stopped moving. Her eyes shot to his and she stood frozen as her heart beat wildly in her chest and her insides melted under the onslaught of heat simmering in the Earl Gray depths of his eyes.

She only took a moment to second-guess her plan before squaring her shoulders and pasting what she hoped was a seductive smile on her lips. She was going to get Falon to loosen his control if it was the last thing she did.

“Does this meet your approval?” she asked, doing a quick turn on the landing.

Stopping with her exposed back to him she peeked over her shoulder and raised a brow. She nearly lost her composure at the slack-jawed look on his face at her display. After a moment, he pulled himself together and cleared his throat.

“It’ll do.” Was it her imagination or was his voice rougher than usual?

Smiling to herself, Sarah continued down the stairs to stop directly in front of him. Even with the four-inch heels she still had to crane her neck to look into his eyes. He seemed to have banked the fire to a low smolder that Sarah felt the sudden urge to unleash. Wouldn’t it do him some good to be denied something he wanted so badly? She wouldn’t like that the idea of driving him crazy held its own appeal. She wanted to give him a taste of what she had been experiencing the past nine years.

“Ready?” she whispered, maintaining eye contact. Her tongue reflexively licked her dry lips as her stomach leaped into her throat. She was determined she wouldn’t be the first to back down. The air seemed to change as he looked down at her. She could nearly feel the tension simmering between them and thought that if either of them moved, just a fraction of an inch in the direction of the other, all bets were off. She was sure they would never make it out of the house.

“Right.” Falon took a step back and the overwhelming feelings were gone in a flash. For the first time, Sarah was grateful for his control. While she wanted to see him crazy with desire, she wanted to be in control when it happened. He extended an arm for her to precede him out the door and she was careful to brush by him close enough yet not touch him. The whole point of this night was to tease him mercilessly, not to end up in bed with him. At least that’s what she kept telling herself.

Walking down the front steps, she couldn’t help noticing that he was also keeping a distance between them. She smiled when the idea that perhaps he wasn’t as controlled as he thought crossed her mind. This may be easier than she thought. Sliding into the sleek car he led her to, Sarah tried to formulate a plan of attack. She needed to do this and still keep her wits about her which if judging by the earlier sparks flying between them, she was going to have to dig deep for a fortitude she wasn’t sure she possessed.

Chapter Five

The flashing lights from the dance floor lit up the artificial smoke floating around the club obscuring Falon’s view of Sarah yet again. He had to talk himself out of fighting his way through the sea of bodies and pulling her from whatever man’s arms she was now in. Gritting his teeth, he choked down the last of his drink, tempted to ask for another.

When he found that little blue dress in the back of her closet, he knew she would look great in it. What he hadn’t planned on was her looking like every man’s wet dream. And that’s the exact thought that slammed into his brain the moment he spotted her on the landing of the stairs. He wanted to take them three at a time and carry her Cro-Magnon style back up to her room and show her the best way he knew how just how much that dress affected him.

It was the calculating look that entered her eyes that stopped him from taking that first step. Her sudden willingness to go along with him suddenly made sense in that moment she turned on the landing showcasing the sexy backless dress. She was trying to push him. In that moment, Falon realized the game just got a little more interesting. If she thought she could tease him out of his control, she had another thing coming. Altering his plans to simply seduce the fiery little redhead he would now do so and prove to her just how strong his control truly was. And a part of that plan was to keep his ass planted on the bar stool instead of punching the next man who looked in Sarah’s direction.

“Another drink?” Frank shouted over the house music blasting into the building. That was another thing grating on his nerves. When Frank told him about the club he had pictured a low-key affair not this barely legal grind session that seemed to be taking place on the dance floor.