Tatum stayed silent aside from the chattering of her teeth as we ascended the hill and I carried her all the way to the gym with the rain still hammering down. I managed to hook the key from my bag as we arrived and I unlocked the building before carrying her inside and locking it again to make sure we weren’t disturbed.
The scent of chlorine assaulted me as I walked down the dark corridors towards the pool.
Tatum peeled herself away from my chest as she looked around with a frown.
“W-why are we here?” she asked and I was pleased to hear her voice.
“Gotta warm you up,” I said. “And I thought it would be nice for us to get better acquainted. Seeing as you’re mine now and all.”
She didn’t dignify that with a response, but I felt her posture tighten at my words. Better get used to it, baby.
I knocked open the door to the pool room and the low, blue lights they left on in here overnight filled the space.
Tatum was still shivering in my arms, but it was already less than it had been.
I skirted the pool and headed for the hot tub and sauna on the far side of it. They shut the sauna down overnight so it was gonna have to be the tub.
I set her down on the tiles beside the huge round tub and casually flipped the lid off of it. I hit it a little too hard and the damn thing fell into the pool beyond it. But never mind, that was someone else’s problem now.
“Do you need me to undress you too?” I asked, cocking a head at our girl as she shivered in her homemade puddle.
“No. You can just go,” she said firmly, folding her arms over her chest and pushing out those lips like that might make me more likely to leave.
“Naw, I’m good here,” I replied, bathing in the hatred that flared in her eyes. There she was. That wild thing I’d spotted the first time I’d laid eyes on her. “Take your clothes off and get in the tub.”
She scowled at me and I stalked forward to stand over her, making her tip her head back to look up at me.
“I thought the deal was no sex?” she demanded.
I coughed out a laugh at the balls on her. “No worries, baby, I like my women hot, not cold. We can keep our underwear on if you think you can’t contain yourself if we skinny dip.”
“We?” She arched an eyebrow at me and I offered her a taunting grin as I kicked my socks and shoes off before dropping my sweatpants and getting into the hot water.
It felt fucking amazing and I’d only been out in that storm for fifteen minutes. She was going to come when she got in here. No question.
I moved to the far side of the ten seater tub, setting the bubbles running and sank down onto one of the seats, resting my arms on the backs of the chairs either side of me as I waited for her.
Tatum was still sitting in her puddle and I blew out a breath as I fought against my anger.
“Look, I get that you’re all cold and shit,” I said. “But you agreed to our terms. We give the orders, you get the fuck on with it. Eagerly. Though in all honesty, I’m down with you speaking your mind just as much as you like to me. Call me any and every name under the sun, I thrive on that shit. But...” I levelled her with my darkest look and was satisfied when she recoiled a little. “Don’t. Keep. Me. Waiting.”
I beckoned to her and though her eyes flared with fury, she shrugged out of her blazer then quickly pulled the tie and shirt off. If it had been a strip show it would have been a pretty shit one, but I had to admit the end result was worth a second look as she finally stood and pushed her skirt down her thighs before stalking towards me in her lacy black underwear.
She was shooting me daggers, but frankly that only made her look hotter.
Tatum dropped into the hot water, a shiver visibly rushing along her skin as she suppressed a groan of relief. I had this shit locked down. Seriously, Blake and Saint were never getting a puppy. They had no fucking idea how to look after another living thing.
“Are you satisfied now, asshole?” she hissed and I offered her a wide smile.
“Perfectly.”
She didn’t seem to think that deserved a response and instead sank right down into the hot water until she was completely submerged.
I waited way longer than a full minute for her to emerge again and I surveyed her with interest as she blinked the water from her lashes and drew in a deep breath.
The bubbles fell still as the timer on them ran out and I was gifted a view of her near naked body through the clear water. I couldn’t deny that I wanted her. There was something seriously fuckable about that girl and it wasn’t just her looks either. She had the kind of smart mouth that made me want to silence it and the kind of wilful spirit that had me imagining up all kinds of ways I’d like to tie her up and punish her.
“All warmed up?” I asked, my voice rough around the edges as my slightly drunken brain got all excitable.
“I’m frozen through, douchebag,” she snarled, clearly taking my permission for insults seriously and I had to say I liked that.
“I could warm you up real good,” I offered, eyeing her hungrily for a moment as I wondered if she’d take the bait.
“How?” she asked, mistrust in her big blue eyes.
“Just spread your legs and say the word,” I growled because I was an asshole and I could.
Her thighs clamped together like she thought I’d force them apart, but I’d never take a girl by force. That wasn’t my style. Yeah, I wanted to dominate her, own her body and make her ache in every possible way. But I wanted her screams to be those of pleasure and to hear her begging for every inch I gave.
“Don’t worry, rich girl,” I said, my gaze skimming over her perfectly fuckable curves dismissively. I loved that I could wear my mask so tightly. No fucker ever got a read on what I was thinking unless I let them. Not even Saint. “I don’t hunger for uptight pussy. You’re not even half wild enough for me.”
“I’m wilder than you could ever imagine, you self-obsessed fuckboy,” she snarled and I wondered if she was hoping to make me hard with that statement or if it was just a pleasant side effect.
“Don’t give it to me softly, baby, go all in,” I dared her.
Her lips pouted with uncertainty and I reached out to start the bubbles up again.
“Come on, don’t pull any punches, tell me exactly what you think of me,” I challenged.
My armour was platinum-made and my insides were dead and empty anyway, so I wasn’t worried about getting my feelings hurt, but I was interested in what my new pet thought of me as an owner.
“Honestly?” she asked, sensing a trap.
“Give it to me. Every deep, dark, sordid thought you’ve had about me and the conclusions you’ve come to.”
She licked her lips like she was savouring the taste of those words and I watched her unblinkingly, captivated by this creature I now owned and wondering if she might just continue to surprise me.
“Well, on first impression, I would have assumed that you were some kind of low rent gang banger from the shittier side of town,” she began, eyeing me for a long moment to check I wasn’t going to lose my shit and I arched an eyebrow at her as I waited for her to get to the good bit. “You wear everything with a superior kind of I-don’t-give-a-shit attitude, but that’s actually the complete opposite of your feelings. Everything about the way you look and dress actually screams look at me, especially considering the company you keep and the money you have. You dress and act the part of a delinquent, choosing the role of the dangerous bad boy but when push comes to shove, you’re just riding through life on your multimillion dollar trust fund. You may act like you’re so dark and dangerous and empty on the inside, but the only reason you’re empty is because you’ve had everything in life so fucking easy that it just got plain old boring. And now you’ve been wearing that empty, dark, mask for so long that you don’t even know how to take it off anymore and you’re not sure who you are without it, or if you’re even anyone at all. Which I’d wager you aren’t.”