King's Rule. Jackie Ashenden

the door, dragging her jeans down and getting inside her.

      Shutting that smart, beautiful mouth with my palm. Getting her smoky voice screaming into it with pleasure. Or maybe putting her on her knees and making her beg. Or even turning her over my knee and spanking that perfect ass red.

       You’re supposed to take care of her.

      Yes, I’d made that promise. And I wouldn’t break it, no matter how hard she pushed me. My control might be in shreds, but I would never lose it completely. I kept my promises. I always told the truth.

       Except when you lied about not wanting her anywhere near your dick.

      I ignored that thought.

      ‘So basically I have to do whatever you say.’ She came to a stop and folded her arms, giving me a belligerent look. ‘Sounds to me like you have all the power.’

      ‘No one is forcing you to take the job.’

      ‘But I have to if I want to get the internship.’

      ‘Of course not.’ Did she really need this explained to her? ‘You could call the firm yourself and ask for one. You don’t have to have a reference from me.’

      ‘Yeah, but it’s not like they’re going to pay any attention to some nobody from Australia asking for an internship.’

      ‘No, they won’t.’ The truth had to be said, even if it made her uncomfortable. ‘Internships there are incredibly sought after.’

      ‘How convenient.’ She glared at me.

      ‘Don’t take the job then.’ I was getting more and more irritated. By her proximity. By that maddeningly soft-looking cloud of black hair. By her delicious scent. By the pulse at the base of her throat that I was somehow becoming acutely aware of with every passing second.

      Jesus, I had to get her out of here. Ajax was going to arrive at any moment and the last thing I wanted was to have a meeting with my brother with an inconvenient hard-on.

      She scowled. ‘You could just give me the reference.’

      ‘You could just take the job.’

      ‘You promised your dad you’d look after my mother and me,’ she shot back. ‘Wasn’t that what you told me?’

      She wasn’t wrong. I had told her that.

      Over the past five years, after Dad had gone to prison, I hadn’t seen much of her, though not for want of trying. I’d wanted to keep that promise I’d made him, but almost the very second the prison doors had closed, both Lily and Poppy had disappeared. I’d tracked them down eventually to a very upmarket apartment in Bondi, which was a surprise given that the few assets in Lily’s name had been frozen along with Dad’s. Poppy had some kind of waitressing job which only paid meagrely, so it wasn’t as if she was supporting her mother.

      I had my suspicions about how they managed to afford such an expensive place, but it wasn’t my job to interfere in my father’s ill-conceived marriage, so I decided not to ask her any questions. Instead, I told them about my promise to Dad, offering them some monetary help. Naturally Lily instantly accepted, which didn’t surprise me. My stepmother never let an opportunity go to waste.

      However, that promise had been between Dad and me, a private agreement, and it was what set me apart from him. He had no honour, but I did. I kept my promises.

      It meant something to me, that promise, and it wasn’t Poppy’s to use now. Especially not if she was using it to manipulate me.

      The days of people using me were over.

      Simmering anger in my veins burned hot, my patience slipping from my control no matter how hard I tried to keep hold of it.

      ‘That promise was one I made to my father,’ I said icily. ‘Are you seriously thinking you can use that to get me to do what you want?’

      The smooth golden skin of her cheeks reddened. ‘That’s...not what I meant.’

      I took a step towards her, unable to stop myself. ‘Or perhaps you expect me to give you something for nothing. Is that how you think life works?’

      She blinked and stepped back. ‘No, I don’t think—’

      ‘Perhaps you expect me to hand it to you on a plate?’ I took yet another step, forcing her back again. ‘That after years of treating me like your worst enemy, suddenly I have something you want and you think I’m just going to give it to you?’ My voice had got colder, deadlier as I kept walking forward, something inside me taking immense pleasure in her hurried retreat. ‘No, Poppy. That’s not how this is going to work.’

      I didn’t stop, answering only to the fury that burned hot inside me, continuing to pace forward, forcing her backward until her spine hit the door, leaving her with nowhere to go.

      She made a soft sound, her eyes wide as they looked up into mine, her full red lips parting. Something was glowing in her gaze, a golden spark, and the pulse at the base of her throat was beating fast and getting faster.

      Was she scared? Had I frightened her? Or was it something else?

      Mesmerised despite myself, I stepped even closer, looking down into her beautiful eyes.

      Jesus. Was that—?

      I never got a chance to complete the thought because Poppy raised her hands, her palms connecting with my chest, and I found myself being shoved back hard.

      A tense silence fell.

      She’d never touched me before and I’d certainly never touched her. And that had clearly been a good thing, because the heat of her palms and the pressure of them on my chest was echoing throughout my entire body, stealing my breath. Stealing my control. Making my cock get even harder.

      Her expression was tight with anger, her shoulders rigid, eyes glittering, delicate fingers curled into fists.

      I’d crossed the line by getting close to her and I knew it, and suddenly I was even more furious than I’d been a second ago.

      This was her fault. How dare she touch me? How dare she get me hard? In my own goddamned boardroom. How dare she drive me to the edge of my control so that I made stupid decisions? Such as forcing her up against that fucking door.

      ‘What?’ I snapped before I could stop myself. ‘You don’t like being cornered? Well, neither do I. You want that reference then working for me is the only way you’ll get it, understood?’

      The fury in her expression burned hotter.

      ‘You bastard.’ Her cheeks were a deep red, her eyes molten. ‘Next time you pull a move like that one, I won’t just shove you, I’ll call the damn police and have you arrested for harassment.’

      ‘And next time you use the promise I made to my father purely to push me, I’ll make sure to tell Liz that under no circumstances should she employ you in any capacity whatsoever.’

      The look in her eyes blazed and she took a couple of steps towards me. And for a second I thought she was going to come at me, and I honestly didn’t know what I would have done if she had. Whether I would have taken her down onto the floor and had her right then and there or called Security to have her thrown out. It was a toss-up.

      Luckily I was saved from finding out because right at that moment the door of the boardroom opened and Ajax, my oldest brother, walked in.

      He stopped dead as soon as he noticed Poppy, looking from me to her and then back again. ‘Am I interrupting?’

      ‘No,’ I snarled.

      ‘Yes,’ Poppy snapped. ‘Your brother was in the process of harassing me.’

      Ajax’s light blue eyes—disturbing in contrast to his black hair and eyebrows—narrowed. At me.

      Furious, I simply stared back, not even bothering to speak. Ajax knew