I shuddered, unable to ignore my response to his words. But instead of fear etching through me, desire rushed to the surface. My stomach fluttered, filling with butterflies, and my thighs clenched together, warring with need and fighting for control. My nipples hardened into pebbles, and my breath hitched at the pressure of his fingers on my jaw.
He examined me, dropping his hungry gaze to my mouth, trailing his thumb over my lips, and spreading the lip gloss that coated them. My spine arched, and I sighed against the need to taste him. My teeth chattered, and the shudder turned into a violent quake that rushed through me.
“Do behave long enough for me to get dressed so that we can discuss our coming arrangements, unless you don’t mind having this conversation while riding my dick?” His words came out like gravel that scraped over every nerve ending in my body.
“Clothes are good,” I whispered, opening my eyes to peek down at his massive frame. “Holy shit.”
“Be a good girl for me, Xariana. Don’t move a fucking muscle.” He put my hands on the desktop again, brushing his heated lips against my cheek as he spoke, “Or I’ll show you how I treat bad girls that can’t fucking behave. Tell me you understand.”
“I understand.”
He was naked. Completely and utterly naked.
There wasn’t a lick of clothing on him, and he didn’t seem to be embarrassed about that fact in the slightest. Not that he needed to be. The man was made for sin, and my eyes couldn’t help but slide down his sleekly built chest, pausing at the V-line that ended in a bed of dark curls. Nestled beneath them was a thick cock that hung between his thighs, larger than life, even though it wasn’t hard. Licking my dry lips, I ripped my focus from his penis, finding him smiling cruelly while I ogled him. My mouth trembled as I tried to produce some kind of insult, but couldn’t come up with one that wouldn’t sound fabricated.
He dismissed me, walked back toward the cloud of steam still escaping the opened door of his bathroom. My greedy eyes feasted on the curve of his ass, and a groan of regret slipped from me. I quickly glanced at the artwork, forcing me to look anywhere other than where he’d vanished.
The man had ink everywhere, and it was perfectly placed to lure the eye to each tattoo. The ones on his hips curled up his sides, flowing onto his chest beneath his pectoral muscles. His shoulder blades were also covered in markings that I wanted to taste with my tongue.
Kieran reappeared, pulling on a crisp white shirt over the wealth of bronze flesh. My stomach tightened, and I blinked slowly to dispel the heat rushing to my face. I’d stared at the man’s cock like some hussy that hadn’t been raised well, and now I was molesting the rest of him with my eyes.
“Take a seat,” he ordered in a firm tone, nodding at the two chairs inside the office.
Pushing away from the desk, I started forward, and he watched every move I made, no matter how minuscule. Sitting in the high, wing-backed chair, I crossed my legs, fighting the pulse he’d caused between them.
“You and I know that the only reason I’m here is because you have taken away all my other resources in the search for my father. You said you know who took him and where I could find him. Just give me that information, and I’ll be on my way.”
“I don’t think I’ll be telling you what I know just yet. Consider it part of your punishment for making me wait after I graciously invited you to my home. How the remainder of your reprimand unfolds depends on you, hunter. You fucked with me, and I fully intend to fuck you in return.”
My lady bits jolted at the statement, thoroughly agreeable to volunteer for that to happen. Swallowing audibly, I nervously played with my fingers, biting my lip while staring at the pictures on his wall to avoid peering at him. I wasn’t admitting that I might like being beneath his massive body, but it had merit as a punishment.
I needed to find someone, and end the ache he’d created between my thighs on them. My entire body was taut with the need to feel him against me, punishing me in a dirty, wicked way that would leave a painful ache between my thighs.
“How would you suggest we handle your disobedience?” he asked in a raspy tone. I narrowed my gaze on him while his back was to me as ice clinking against glass met my ears.
“You could spank me,” I offered breathlessly, watching his head shake.
“Like a disobedient child?” he queried, turning to stare at me with one dark brow raised in his question.
I shrugged, not bothering to elaborate. But then I did, even as I attempted to swallow the words that blurted out. “Some people are into that type of thing. I don’t kink shame. Everyone has needs, and what they do is their business.”
“I asked you how you’d prefer to be disciplined. Not how you think others want to be tortured before they’re fucked, Xariana.”
“And I asked you where I could find my father. I guess neither one of us is getting a direct answer today. But if I had to choose right this minute, I’d take a time out. I don’t mind that option, and I could really use a break. In fact, I read three books when I was last there.”
Kieran made a strangled noise deep in his chest before walking over with a drink in his hand. Offering it to me, I silently accepted the glass, bringing it up to my nose. I took a sip, and the taste of cedar and oak danced enticingly inside my mouth with a trace of something else. I took another sip, swirling it around my tongue to get the full flavor of the drink. My father had taught me how to appreciate things that most people didn’t. Whisky had been our thing, something he’d enjoyed sampling with me once I’d been old enough to drink.
“What is this?” I questioned, shifting my attention to find him fixated on my mouth.
“Scotch whisky,” he grunted, joining me in the chairs.
“I knew that, but it doesn’t taste like Macallan,” I pointed out, fully aware I sounded like a whisky critic.
His eyebrows pushed together, and a smile played on his lips. “Glenfiddich Vintage Reserve. It’s also made and distilled in Scotland. The bitterness you taste is a hint of dark chocolate. It sells for roughly one hundred thousand dollars, because only sixty-seven bottles were ever filled.”
“My father would love this shit,” I blurted, hating the pang of regret that swelled in my chest, recalling that he may have betrayed us.
Kieran didn’t respond, choosing to ignore me. “I was thinking I would kill your people.”
The blood left my face as I turned to stare at him. “Kill me. I did it. They’re innocent.”
His expression danced with amusement, like a predator knowing he’d drawn blood. “Too easy. You’d feel it briefly, and then the pain I want you to feel would end. There would be no enjoyment at watching you suffer.”
“What do you want from me?” I asked, narrowing my eyes on him as the whisky turned sour in my mouth.
“I want a lot of things from you,” he admitted, letting his gaze roam down my body before returning to my face. “I wish to own you.”
I exhaled, setting the glass down before standing to let him have it. “You are insane. I am not something you can own, asshole. I am a person. You cannot own another being.”
“Everyone has a price, Xariana. There is always that one thing they would sacrifice their life to protect. You just offered me yours in exchange for your hunters. I intend to have you one way or another. I’m offering you an easier option than I would anyone else.”