The Dare Collection: August 2018. Avril Tremayne

my butt and nudged me closer until somehow, I was in his lap. Was that the slow grind of the thick erection against my thigh? Holy...God. He felt even bigger than this morning in the elevator.

      The thought of all that power and girth inside me freaked me out a little. Okay, a lot.

      Until I reminded myself that I had the power. I could stop anytime I wanted. By simply pulling back. Letting go.

       Let go!

      I dragged my hand down from where it’d ended up on his ripped chest. Down to his waist, to the solid square of his belt buckle. Any lower and I would touch his cock again. I moaned at the intense urge to do just that.

      Then I heard the faint clink of cutlery.

      We were in a restaurant. In a private booth, yes, but still a public place. And for the third time since I woke up, I was sucking face with the man I’d hired to find my stalker.

      Oh, God.

      Maybe that adrenaline kick I imagined had really been a hormone shot? Because the sensations racing through my body all craved one thing—Caleb’s cock inside me.

      I scurried backward from the hot body and the erection digging into my thigh. One hand was still buried in my hair, imprisoning me as he stared down at me with fiery eyes that promised as much filthy fucking as his lips had pledged.

      “Lily.” His voice was thick. He cleared his throat and swallowed.

      Those few precious seconds helped me put more daylight between us. I grabbed his wrists and tugged his hands from my body. He dropped them but not his searing gaze.

      I busied myself by picking up my glass of soda and taking a sip I prayed wouldn’t choke me. Thankfully, it went down smoothly, cool enough to restore a tiny bit of sanity. “So, you think this little display helped?”

      His eyes narrowed. “What?” He shifted away and dropped one hand into his lap. I forced myself not to watch him adjust the bulge behind his fly.

      “My stalker. If he’s watching. You think it helped or was it all a waste of time?” I forced out as I smoothed my hands over my hair. My scalp still tingled deliciously from when he’d grabbed and pulled my hair. Did he do that during sex, too? I slammed my thighs together before the image of him doing that added to the fire scorching my pussy.

      He exhaled sharply. “That wasn’t why you kissed me and you know it.”

      “Do I?” I challenged because, dammit, I was out of sorts in more ways than one, and this seesawing from being in total control to losing it around him was driving me nuts.

      His eyes gentled. “You don’t need to panic, Lily. I’m not going to use this against you. That’s what you’re afraid of, isn’t it?”

      My breath shuddered out as panic flared. “Stop talking as if you know me. You don’t!”

      “I know that control is important to you. Is it because of what your asshole boss did? I’d be wary, too—”

      “Tell me why you’re so hung up on your rules. Is it because of what a client did to you?” I lashed out, terrified of how effortlessly he was probing beneath my skin.

      A muscle rippled in his jaw. “We’re not talking about me.”

      I forced a laugh. “That tells me everything. Who was she?” I pressed.

      His whole face grew taut. “Nobody you need to concern yourself with,” he bit out.

      The confirmation that someone somewhere had affected him enough to drive his guard up hit me with unnerving disquiet. Nearly as much as his accurate divining of my panic.

      “Fine. Can we leave now?” I cringed at the stress in my voice.

      He inhaled slow and deep, and then pulled out his wallet.

      “I have an account here. They’ll put it on my tab,” I said.

      He scowled as he placed a couple of hundred dollar bills on the table. “I brought you to lunch. I’m paying.”

      Outside, the brilliant sunlight reminded me it was still daytime. That I had many more hours of work ahead of me.

      About to get in the SUV, I caught Caleb scanning the street, his gaze alert. I knew he had men out there but the fact that he was in fixer/protector mode despite the turbulence between us shook loose something I hadn’t felt in a long time.

      Warmth.

      The memory of it was ephemeral—the contented seven-year-old tucked in her mother’s arms with no clue that a mother’s love could be temporary like everything else.

       You’re truly losing it.

      I slammed the door and shook my head.

      Like the outbound journey, neither of us spoke as we drove back to SDM but I knew I had to say something as he pulled up into my parking space.

      I undid my seat belt, faced him and opened my mouth. He grabbed me and pulled me across the center console.

      “I know it’s insane, and we’ll both probably regret it, but fuck, I need to kiss you again,” he breathed roughly against my mouth.

      Before I could take a breath, his tongue slid into my mouth. Wet and insistent and carnal. It was the dirtiest promise of sex I’d ever known. Over and above every inappropriate sexual thing he’d said to me since we met, it was that decadent slide of his tongue against mine that did me in. My hands returned to dig into his waist, my torso straining across the small space to slide against his.

      He banded one hand around my waist and lifted me over to his side. And just like that the heat of his cock was a living thing against my ass, announcing its insistent virility. I moaned, half-ashamed at how easily I’d fallen into the kiss, half-fearful of his sensual power over me.

      Slowly, that fear built, insidiously reminding me that this was no longer my default setting. I was so close to true freedom for the first time in my life. I couldn’t become a slave to my hormones or my emotions.

      I pushed at Caleb’s chest before the hand sneaking up my waist could cup my breast. “Stop!”

      He froze immediately.

      I took a breath. “Let me go.”

      He stared at me for a full minute, his chest rising and falling in harsh pants. Then his hands dropped from my body.

      I hopped over into my seat, struggling with my own breathing.

      “Jesus,” he swore under his breath, slammed his head against the headrest and closed his eyes. After tense seconds he opened them. “I’m...” He stopped and gritted his teeth. “Hell, I suppose you want an apology?” Before I could answer, he continued, “You’re not going to get one because I’m not sorry. You, with that tight, gorgeous body and that bruised, ripe mouth, are fucking irresistible,” he growled.

      My lungs deflated in a giddy rush. Heat spiked through my blood, and my panties grew shamelessly damper. Every atom in my body strained to jump into his lap and continue where we’d left off. I curled my nails into my palms until tiny bites of pain brought a little clarity.

      “I’m afraid you’ll have to resist.”

      To my surprise, he nodded. “Understood.”

      My jaw threatened to drop. I caught myself, then shifted my gaze from his face. Now I’d successfully drawn the line, I didn’t know what to do next.

      He answered by stepping out and escorting me inside.

      In my office, he calmly returned to the sofa. While I spent the next hour rewriting the same code.

      I called it a night at six. He drove us home after stopping to pick up the takeout I’d ordered.

      Over dinner, he asked me a bunch of work-related questions, probing my routines and those of my team. Any