to master her.
Unless—she could be feigning her desire?
No, he thought coldly. He would make sure she did not. That would be one insult he’d not allow her to pay. He would make sure every bit of her pleasure was real.
He stroked her soft body, taking his time, caressing her, until, slowly, she started kissing him back.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling his weight back down on her. He shifted his hips, testing her ability to accept him, still rock hard and huge inside her. She whimpered, then exhaled, swaying her hips.
He moved expertly, drawing back slowly, then pushing inside her a second time. She gripped his shoulders, closing her eyes. He suckled a nipple, watching her face carefully. It wasn’t until he saw the glow of ecstasy return to her face, and felt her muscles start to tighten around him, that he knew he’d succeeded. Triumph filled him as he began to ride her.
Filling her so deeply, this woman he’d desired for almost a third of his life, he felt light-headed. His body started to shake with pleasure so intense that it was almost like pain. They were so intertwined it was hard to know where one ended and the other began.
Pleasure and pain.
Hatred and desire.
As he thrust into her, sweat covered his body with the effort of keeping control. Her breasts swayed as he thrust inside her, all the way to the hilt. Gasping, she put her hands against the headboard, bracing against the force of his thrust. Her breathing became shallow as her body twisted beneath him with building need.
Her eyes were closed, her head tilted back, as she panted for breath. She moved her hands to his shoulders. He barely noticed her fingernails digging into his skin. He was lost in the sensation of possessing her, filling her, owning her, the glory of her flesh, the sweetness of her skin.
He felt simultaneously lost and found. Every corner of his soul that had ever felt hollow was miraculously filled. His body was pure light.
From a distance, he heard a low ragged shout and realized the sound was coming from his own mouth, releasing emotion he’d kept locked up for a decade. Her voice joined his as she cried out her own joy and grief and pain.
His body spasmed with a final, violent thrust and he poured himself into her, collapsing over her on the bed, their bodies slick with sweat, fused together.
It was much later when he opened his eyes and discovered Letty was sleeping in his arms. He stared down at her in wonder.
He wondered how he’d ever been satisfied by those pallid, skinny supermodels who had filled his bed till now. Those affairs had been insipid, hollow, dull compared to this fire. Tasting her, feeling her shake, hearing her cry of pleasure had pushed him to the limit.
It’s hatred, he realized.
Hatred had made him utterly lose self-control in a way he’d never done before, in a way he’d never imagined possible. As he’d taken possession of her body, after ten years of frustrated desire, he’d slaked his ache in a dark, twisted fantasy of vengeance.
It had been the single best sexual experience of his life.
But as he pulled away from her, he sucked in his breath.
The condom had broken.
He’d worn one, of course. No matter how he might fantasize about revenge, no matter how much he hated her, the last thing he would want was to actually get her pregnant and drag an innocent child into this.
Now he stared down, unable to believe his own eyes. How could the condom have broken?
Had he been too rough, forgetting everything in his need to possess her, to relieve the savage, unrequited desire of ten years?
He’d wanted to brand her forever with the deepest mark of his possession. Had he actually wanted to fill her with his child?
A curse filled his heart.
Unraveling himself from her, he pulled away, rising naked from the bed.
He walked to the window and looked down at the bright skyscrapers of this dark city. His throat was tight as he pressed his hand against the cold glass. Catching his own reflection in the window, he was startled by the cold rage in his eyes.
Disaster. He hadn’t done anything like he’d planned. He’d actually slept with Letty. And now...it might be so much worse. His hand tightened against the window. He looked back, and his jaw tightened.
Her fault, he thought. All hers.
“Are you up?” Letty murmured. “Come back to bed.”
She was beneath the blankets now, looking sleepy and adorable with her dark hair tumbling over his pillows. She’d covered herself with the comforter. As if he hadn’t seen everything, touched everything, tasted everything already.
His body hardened against his will, already desiring her again. He’d just had her, and he already wanted more. He wanted to take her on the bed. Against the wall. Against the window. Again and again. He stared at her in bewildered fury. Truly she was poison.
But did he really imagine after everything that had gone wrong tonight, the gold digger couldn’t achieve her ultimate goal—marriage and total command, not just of his fortune, but of his body and soul?
He clawed a hand through his hair.
“Darius, what’s wrong?”
He repeated flatly, “You love me?”
“It’s true,” she whispered.
He took a step toward the bed.
“What is it, Letty?” he said in a low voice. “Did you plan all along to renegotiate the deal? One night isn’t enough, is that it? You don’t want to be a rental, but a permanent sale?”
She frowned. “What are you talking about?”
Darius’s jaw felt so tight it ached. Grabbing gray sweatpants from a sleek built-in drawer, he pulled them up over his naked body. He forced his shoulders to relax, forced himself to face her. When he spoke, his voice was like ice.
“You don’t love me. You don’t even know what the word means. When I think of how I once adored you, it sickens me. Especially now—now we both know what you really are.”
Her forehead creased. “What are you talking about?”
“This night. This whole night. Don’t pretend you don’t know.”
“I don’t!”
“Don’t play the outraged innocent. You sold your virginity to me for the price of a hundred thousand dollars.”
For a moment, his hard words echoed in the shadowy bedroom. The two of them stared at each other in silence.
“What are you talking about?”
“Your email,” he said impatiently. “Claiming you needed to pay off some mobster who’d broken your
