The Dare Collection January 2019. JC Harroway

concerned about the promise you made to your father, then don’t be. We’re fine.’

      ‘So fine you apparently don’t have any money to buy work clothes.’

      My cheeks heated.

      ‘Why do you keep lying, Poppy?’ he asked, seeing through me as easily as if I was made of glass. ‘And, more to the point, why do you keep arguing with me? Because you know I won’t tolerate it. This job won’t work if you can’t follow orders.’

      ‘Oh, no, I’d forgotten,’ I shot back before I could think better of it. ‘You wanted a slave not an employee.’

      His expression hardened. ‘I wanted someone who does what I ask them to and who can handle things while I work, not a sulky brat who can’t deal with authority.’

      The words pulsed down my spine like an electric shock, lighting something up inside me that I’d had no idea was there.

      You want him to show you how to deal with authority. His authority.

      The thoughts made me flush with heat, my breath catching. Why did I want that? Why was that always at the forefront of my brain whenever I saw him? And what was it about him that made me feel that way?

      I’d never played dominance games with other guys, never wanted to, and yet one hard word from Xander and I was weak at the knees.

      God, he could never find that out about me. Never.

       Perhaps it’s time to start being your mother?

      I clutched at the thought. Yes, I was sick of the way he kept putting me on the back foot. Time to take back the power.

      ‘A brat, huh?’ I took a couple of slow steps forward, making sure my hips had a sexy sway to them, getting right up close to him. Then I looked up at him from beneath my lashes. ‘I suppose that means I’d better start being a good girl.’ I reached out and hooked a finger around the knot of his tie, pulling at it gently. ‘Perhaps you could give me a few pointers?’

       CHAPTER SEVEN

      Xander

      I STOOD VERY still as Poppy tugged on my tie, the slight pressure of it as tantalising as if she was tugging lightly on my cock.

      I had no idea what had made her suddenly step forward and get close, but whatever it was she had to understand that she was playing with fire.

      Her pretty eyes were glowing as she looked up at me through silky black lashes, and I could see the sheen of golden-bronze skin through the sheer fabric of her blouse.

      Give her a few pointers? Christ, she had no idea of all the pointers I wanted to give her. Or how I wanted to give them. Because if she had, she wouldn’t be doing something as stupid as getting in my face and pulling on my tie.

      What did she think she was doing? Was this a way to get back at me for how I’d made her go out and buy some decent clothing? And what did she think would happen? That I’d back away, stammering apologies like one of those earnest, intellectual university students she’d no doubt spent a few years dominating?

      I was a goddamn King. I didn’t back down and I sure as hell never apologised. And if she thought that a sexy hip-sway and tie-tweak would give her the last word, then she had another think coming.

      I was a patient man, but it wasn’t limitless.

      It was time to show Poppy bloody Valentine just who she was playing with.

      I reached out and slid my fingers gently around her throat.

      She stopped pulling on my tie, her eyes widening.

      Her skin was soft and warm beneath my fingers and I shifted my grip so my thumb was resting in the hollow between her collarbones, measuring her pulse.

      ‘You don’t touch me unless I give you permission,’ I said softly, letting an edge of warning bleed into my voice. ‘And I haven’t given you permission.’

      Those beautiful golden-brown eyes went even wider.

      I wasn’t holding her hard, just firmly enough to show her who was in charge, and it wasn’t my imagination that her pulse was getting faster. I could feel it against my thumb.

      ‘Take your hand off my tie,’ I ordered. ‘And if you’re thinking you’re going to spend all day teasing me with those perky little tits and that tight little ass, you need to think again. I’m not a man you want to play with, Poppy. Because the kinds of games I play, you’re not going to like one bit.’

      I should have known that challenging her was a mistake. I should have damn well known. But she’d scrambled my thinking processes so thoroughly that I’d thought getting tough with her would make her back off.

      It didn’t.

      Her expression changed in that moment, going from wide-eyed to determined in the space of a second. And instead of letting go of my tie she tightened her grip and pulled hard on it, tugging my head down at the same time as she rose on her toes, bringing her mouth to mine.

      Electricity crackled the length of my body, so strong that for a second I couldn’t move. Then desire swamped me, drowning me, the last shreds of my control burning to ash where I stood.

      Her lips were velvet-soft and warm, and I could feel her go rigid in the same moment that I did. As if she’d realised what a mistake she’d made.

      But it was too late. Too late for both of us.

      She’d started it and now it was up to me to end it.

      I shoved one hand into that soft cloud of black hair, twisting my fingers in it the way I’d so often imagined and yes, it was as soft as it looked, as soft as that beautiful mouth moving under mine.

      Pulling her head back, I took charge of the kiss, letting go my hold on her throat to push my thumb against her lower lip, getting her to open for me. And she did, making a soft sound as I slid my tongue into her mouth, tasting heat and sweetness. Hot chocolate on a cold day.

      She gave another moan, her grip on my tie getting stronger, her body arching into mine. I could feel the soft press of her breasts against my chest, the pressure of her hips pushing insistently against me.

      Desire wrapped its hands around my throat.

       You shouldn’t be doing this and you know it.

      Any second now I was going to turn her around and shove her over my desk, jerk that tight skirt up and pull her knickers down. Make her beg for me. Make her scream for me. Teach her that she couldn’t tease me, couldn’t manipulate me and expect me to take it like a good boy.

       You know how wrong this is.

      I did. Which meant I had to stop.

      It took everything I had to pull away from the kiss, but I managed to do it, keeping my fingers twisted tight in her hair to hold her still.

      She was panting, her eyes glazed with heat as she looked up at me, her mouth full and red, and abruptly I was so furious I could hardly speak.

      ‘What the fuck do you think you’re doing?’ I demanded thickly, trying to ignore how the fury inside me was twining with the lust, turning into something dark and potent and volatile as gelignite. ‘You think you can challenge me like that and get away with it? You think there won’t be any goddamn consequences?’

      ‘Sure. Why not?’ Her voice was husky and breathless. ‘You think I can’t handle those games? Maybe I can.’

      More electricity. More lightning. Flames in my blood, getting close to that fucking explosion. Getting too close.

      No, I couldn’t let it go off. I couldn’t let her do this to me.

      I’d made