expression on her face gave nothing away, but that shake of her hands told me all I needed to know.
Of course she was here for the Red Queen.
The only question now was what to do about it.
She was good—she was very good; that was for sure—then again, she’d have had to be in order to get into my apartment.
But I couldn’t have thieves thinking they could just waltz into my place and take whatever the fuck they liked. Everything I had I’d worked hard for, and what was mine stayed mine. It was something this pretty little thief needed a lesson in.
I stared at her, the taste of her lingering on my tongue and the scent of her in my nostrils. Sweet, musky and delicious.
What the hell made her think she could steal from me? And why did she want the necklace? She must have known this would be a dangerous job, that the risk of getting caught was high. Was this for herself or was she a contract thief, stealing on behalf of someone else? I had my share of enemies and there had been a fair few anonymous bids on the Red Queen at the private auction where I’d finally bought it.
Whatever her story was, there was an air of vulnerability to her. The thieves I’d come into contact with in my previous life were generally tough and harder than bulletproof glass. But she looked neither tough nor hard, not with her lashes lying all silky and black on the fragile curve of her cheekbone.
I hadn’t thought I’d be into vulnerable, but right now I wanted to run my fingers along that curve, feel the fine grain of her skin.
Curiosity shifted inside me. Letting her leave wasn’t an option, not now she knew the layout of my place and how to get into my office, not to mention how to bypass Everett’s security measures. No, I had to keep her here, find out more about her before I did anything else.
Sure you do. You just want to fuck her.
That was true also, though that could wait. I needed a few answers first.
‘I suppose there’s no point in telling you I couldn’t find the bathroom?’ Her voice was cool and guarded.
‘Like you couldn’t find the kitchen?’ I didn’t move from where I sat, my hands resting on the desktop on either side of her hips, ready to grab her if she ran, because she sure as hell wasn’t going anywhere, not now. ‘No, we’ve been through that, and I didn’t believe you the first time around. And a blow job, no matter how good it is, isn’t going to make me change my mind.’
She gave an irritated sigh.
I pushed myself up out of the chair and reached forward, putting one finger beneath her pointed chin and tipping her head back, making her meet my gaze. ‘I want answers.’ I let a hint of authority edge my voice to show her I meant business. ‘And I want them now.’
The look in her eyes was impossible to read. Normally I had no problems figuring someone out; the years spent in boardrooms across the globe had only sharpened those skills. But I couldn’t get a bead on her, not one.
And that made me want to get beneath that dark, watchful gaze, see what lay beneath the surface.
‘And if I don’t give them to you?’ Her tone was level and she sounded only mildly interested, not at all concerned.
Well, shit. Normally people fell over themselves to give me what I wanted. They certainly didn’t argue or ask what would happen if they didn’t, and I didn’t like punishing people. Sure, I was firm when I had to be, I had no problems with that, but making threats to a pretty little thief? A vulnerable pretty little thief?
Yeah, I was reluctant. I preferred to make women feel good, not frighten them.
So I did what I always did when faced with a potential conflict of interest: I smiled my usual smile, the one that made both men and women blush and fall at my feet, ready to do my bidding. ‘Let’s just say I have ways of making you talk.’ I released her chin and let my fingers trail lightly down her neck, enjoying the way her pupils dilated as I did so and noting the goose bumps that scattered all over her skin.
She swallowed and for a second I thought I had her. Then her straight dark brows lowered and I caught a glimpse of something steely and stubborn in the depths of her eyes. ‘I don’t have to tell you a thing. You’ll get rid of me either way.’
Damn it.
She shouldn’t push me, not when she had no idea what I was capable of when I was pushed.
I took my hand away then put both palms flat on the desk top and leaned forward, my face inches from hers. She didn’t flinch, not even a flicker, staring back at me as if daring me to do something.
Beautiful little witch.
Clearly the ball was in my court.
‘What’s your fee?’ I asked casually. ‘For the necklace.’
‘You’re assuming a lot.’
‘I have to when I have a thief in my office, sitting on my desk, not giving me a straight answer.’
She only stared and didn’t say a word.
Heat began to gather in my gut, along with a healthy dose of adrenaline, making my cock even harder, and my heart beat like a fucking drum. It was my hunter’s instincts kicking in again.
Except this time it wasn’t a jewel I wanted to hunt.
It was a woman.
‘What?’ I raised a brow. ‘Got nothing to say?’
She didn’t even blink. ‘If you’re going to call the police, then do it. Don’t keep me waiting, hotshot.’
Ah, so she was going to go down the full-on challenge route. Excellent. My dick fucking loved that and so did I.
‘Who said anything about the police?’ I searched her face, looking deep into her dark eyes, trying to see what was going on behind them.
And just for a second I saw surprise flicker through them.
So, she’d expected me to call the cops on her, which was a fair enough assumption. That was what most people catching an intruder in their house would do.
Not me, though. I hadn’t finished with her yet.
The surprise had vanished as if it had never been, her gaze as reflective as it had been before. Then she suddenly leaned forward, closing the small gap between us, her fingers threading into my hair and her mouth pressed against mine.
Now it was my turn to be surprised. So much so that for a second I couldn’t move. Her tongue touched my lower lip and pushed gently, demanding entry, and I didn’t even think about denying her, opening my mouth and allowing her to explore. She did so, hesitantly at first then with more confidence. She tasted sweet, as if she’d been eating strawberries, and I bet she could taste herself on me because she gave a little shudder, a soft moan escaping with it.
There was desperation in the sound, her fingers tightening in my hair, and I was rock-hard. My hands were on her thighs, sliding beneath the hem of her uniform,
