Read On His Terms Online

Authors: Rachel Masters

On His Terms (8 page)

BOOK: On His Terms
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“Don’t you think trust has to be earned?” she asked, meeting his eyes.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“I’m not asking for your trust,
Ally
. It’s your faith that I’m after,” he said. Hale’s eyes were burning as he placed
his hand on her thigh. Ally took in a quick gulp of air. His hand sent a thousand
waves of pleasure throughout every fiber in her body.

But her head tried to ignore the pleasure that his touch caused her to feel. “I guess
I still don’t get what you want out of me,” she said.

“Charles will be meeting with you to go over the details of our arrangement.”

“Charles? Why can’t you give me an explanation right now?” she asked.

“In time, Ally—all in good time.” He handed her a glass of wine from the limo’s mini
bar. “How about we get some food?”

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
* * *
 
 
 

They arrived at Il
Formagi’s
,
the
most upscale Italian restaurant in southern California. Anyone within a thousand
miles of San Diego had eaten at Il
Formagi’s
.

“Mr. Westbrook, so nice to see you again,” an important-looking dark-haired man in
a black tuxedo escorted the billionaire and his date to a private table in the back
end of the restaurant.

Hale placed his warm hand on the small of Ally’s back as he helped her into the private
booth. The table was lined with white cotton linen, and the velvety seating enveloped
Ally’s petite frame. Hale slid into the booth, landing right by her side.

He raised his glass of pinot noir. “Here’s to new beginnings,” he said. She smiled,
almost distrustfully, as she raised her glass to meet his. She fought hard to not
fall for his undeniable charm and allure, but she could feel herself slipping into
the comfort and safety of his world.

“What made you run for office? Haven’t you accomplished enough?” She asked, raising
an eyebrow.

Hale wasn’t offended.
 
“I thought I explained this to you, Ally. My success in business has been beyond noteworthy
..
But I want to do more, much more. And when I imagine myself in the future, looking
back on my life, I know I’ll have regrets if I don’t do more than simply make boat
loads of money.” He sipped from his glass.

“And why me?” she asked. He put down his glass of wine and looked into her eyes for
what seemed like forever.

“I feel different when I’m around you, Ally.” He softly lifted her chin with his large
finger. She could feel a thousand butterflies dancing around in her belly. “And that’s
a good enough place to start for me,” he said. Her face turned the color of their
wine.

“What about you? I can’t understand why you don’t have a boyfriend already,” he said.

She smiled, devouring his compliment but not wanting to head in this direction. “I’ve
been too caught up in my own life to even think about having a boyfriend.”

She hardly even fooled herself with her own explanation. But she needed him off her
back, quickly. “And besides, it’s even stranger that you don’t have a girlfriend.
Or a wife.”

“I guess I’ve been a little caught up myself,” he paused. “It’s amazing how easy it
is to get off track in life. All it takes is one unexpected moment to throw you,”
he said, letting his eyes wander towards the Giorgio
Morando
still life painting above the restaurant’s gas fireplace.

“Well, I think you’ve done a good job staying on the right track,” she said.

“Thank you, Ally,” he smiled. He started to speak and then stopped himself, turning
towards her eyes. “I hope you don’t take this the wrong way,” he paused, sipping his
wine, “but I find you to be incredibly attractive.”

Her cheeks, ears, and neck caught on flames at the sound of his words. He gently caressed
the side of her jaw line with his large hand. Heat began to fill the depths of her
entire body.

“Easy governor, I have a job to do,” she teased. But she loved the attention, especially
from him.

The truth was, it had been so long since she let her guard down with another man.
In fact, she’d never surrendered to another man’s desires in all of her adult life.
But she couldn’t deny that he made her feel good, really good.

“But thank you,” she added, blushing. She wanted more of what he had to offer, no
matter how hard the rational part of her tried to fight it.

Her body temperature rose steadily. And there was no place she wanted to be more than
right there, right by his side.

By dinner’s end, the two of them made their way through two bottles of wine. “Going
home right after dinner is not an option for you,” he said with a wryly grin. “I’m
going to need to make a pit stop.”

“Says who?” she asked.

He pressed his lips together and tilted her head back with his hand, “Says me.
 
Are you arguing with me?” he asked.

“And what if I was?” she replied.

“I suggest you don’t test me, Ally,” he said. His voice was stern, and clearly laced
with lust. She felt the magnetic attraction between the two of them grow stronger
with each passing moment.

As they slipped back into Hale’s awaiting limo, Hale called out to his driver. “Shelley
Drive, Keith.”

“Yes, sir,” the driver said.

As the limo pulled away from Il
Formagi’s
and headed towards Hale Westbrook’s estate, Ally was grateful that she indulged in
a good amount of wine. Her nerves were frazzled as it was.

The limo pulled up to his mansion. Sensory lighting lit up the driveway and the entry
doors to the billionaire’s home. As the limo drove off, Ally took comfort in the ocean
waves lingering in the background. There was no denying the pit of fear in her belly,
but she was thrilled beyond her wildest dreams at the same time.

“After you,” he said, allowing her to enter first. She walked through his entry doors
and into the dimly lit grand foyer. She had no idea what she was doing in this man’s
house. Suddenly a sinking feeling had begun to take her over, and the thrilling sensations
seemed to escape her.

What am I doing here?

She had worked so hard for so many years. She couldn’t risk losing everything that
her efforts were leading up to. And if she did pursue things with Hale, there was
too much about her that he didn’t know. Things that almost nobody knew.

His deep, soft voice crept up from behind and made it’s way into her ear. “Make yourself
at home.”
 
It was clear from the tone in his voice that he was getting hungry for her. And she
was completely trapped.

“There are things I need you to understand before we move forward, Ms. Shore.” He
moved in behind her and gently grabbed her wrists, pulling them backwards. Her head
arched back towards him.

“I have very particular needs,” he said, slowly bringing each wrist behind her back
and pressing them into each other. She hadn’t let a man constrain her like this before.

Hell, she hadn’t even been with a man in years. And she wasn’t sure tonight was the
time to start.

Maybe it was the wine. Or maybe it was the fact that Hale Westbrook was one of the
most attractive men she had ever imagined. Regardless, she found herself unable to
move. Or at least that’s what she told herself.

“You’re an incredible woman, Ally Shore. You deserve the world,” he whispered into
her ear, still refusing to release her wrists. “And I deserve you,” he said. She let
out the quietest moan, still not ready to surrender to what she knew she wanted, but
getting weaker by the second.

It didn’t help matters knowing that Hale Westbrook was now working on taking his belt
off, from the sound of things.
 

Part of her knew exactly what she should have done—run away, fast. But the other part
of her was tired of running. Tired of ignoring her innermost desires.

At first his belt’s leather felt cold and hard as he wrapped it around her wrists,
tightly binding her hands behind her back. But the tighter he made the belt, the warmer
and softer the leather felt around her tender skin. And the warmer the leather felt,
the warmer she began to feel
below
.

“Don’t deny yourself, Ally.” His voice had become even more sinful. She was confused
and a little scared, but a bigger part of her knew that she was exactly where she
wanted to be.
 
Her nipples stiffened against her dress.

“I don’t know how much longer I can resist you,” he said, grazing the edge of her
ear with his tongue.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
One thing had become abundantly clear to her. It drove her wild inside just knowing
how badly he wanted her.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
She had always told herself she would never let herself get in a situation like this,
a situation where she was alone with a strange man…not after everything that had happened
to her.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And yet here she was, and the truth of it was that she didn’t want it to stop anytime
soon.
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hale held her from behind and worked his hand into her cleavage, massaging her breast
as he whispered into her ear, “You are such a beautiful woman. I need to make you
mine, Ally Shore.” He slid his finger under her bra and gently pinched her nipple,
sending her just the right mix of pleasure and pain.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“What are we doing?” she said, barely able to get the words out.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“I’m doing what I’ve been wanting to do since the moment I first laid eyes on you.”
His tongue worked its way down the side of her neck as he began to lift her dress
up and slide his hand over the front of her panties.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
She couldn’t believe this was happening to her, whatever
this
was. Just days ago she never even heard of Hale Westbrook. Now here she was, alone
with the billionaire himself, letting him ravage her body completely.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ally moaned despite her misgivings.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hale turned her around and then pinned her back against the wall, trapping her bound
hands between her back and the wall itself. He pushed her shoulders firmly into the
wall, diving into her mouth with his tongue. She moaned again as she tasted him, felt
his need for her growing stronger.

BOOK: On His Terms
3.2Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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