Untamed: (Heath & Violet) (Beg For It) (39 page)

He leaned in so close
to me I could smell him, all musky aftershave and man. And his hand
was so large, hovering right there over my breast. I couldn’t help
it. My pulse, my breathing picked right up. I felt that pull and a
low, slow flip in my stomach that made me press my thighs together.
And damn if my nipples didn’t pebble, pushing out against what now
seemed like a horribly poor choice in T-shirt, as thin as tissue
paper. Of course I hadn’t realized I’d be needing to hide my
arousal from a demanding alpha CEO.

As it was, nothing hid
the fact that his large, commanding hand so close to my breast got me
hot. So hot that my nipples pushed out in two stiff tips, aching for
his touch, wantonly begging him for more. And he saw it. There was no
way he could miss it, trapped as I was with my hands bound above my
head, practically offering myself up for him. Sheltering me with his
large body, he brought his hand against me for the briefest fraction
of a moment, brushing his warm finger so teasingly, so lightly
against my hardened tip.

I gave a sharp intake
of breath, a gasp, and he actually told me he was going to enjoy
fighting with me before he chuckled and pulled away. For the briefest
of moments, I have to admit, I missed his closeness. Until I
remembered who I was and who he was and why I very much wanted him
the hell out of my life.

“We don’t want your
development on our coast!” I mustered up my energy to snap at him.
This was the man who wanted to tear down my shop. And not even to
make the hotel. The land where I had my bakery was where they wanted
to put parking. Somehow that added insult to injury.

“What do you want,
then?” He smiled at me suggestively, giving me another admiring
glance that sparked up all sorts of warm tinglies down below.

When I’d heard that
the CEO of Kavanaugh Industries was coming out to our little town to
visit the construction site, I’d pictured an old, mean, miserly
man. Kind of like the Monopoly guy with the top hat and the monocle.
This long, tall, cool drink of water was inspiring all sorts of wrong
thoughts clashing with my righteousness.

“I’ll set you free,
Carrie.” Tom, our local arm of the law, came sauntering down to
rescue me.

“No, Tom!” I told
him, hating that I sounded sort of whiney. This was supposed to be a
protest and now it was turning into something much less serious.

“Come on now. Be
reasonable.” He reached up with some sort of a metal pin and broke
the cuffs open in seconds flat.

It did feel good to get
my hands free. I rubbed my wrists. They’d started to ache like
that.

“Are you all right?”
Mr. CEO asked me, all smirk and sophistication.

“No!” I replied,
drawing myself up to my full 5’4” height, still almost a foot
shorter than him. I needed to start wearing heels. Today I just had
on my sneakers, good for baking and protesting. Not so good for
standing toe-to-toe with big, intimidating men.

“Don’t worry.” He
leaned in to whisper to me again. “Next time I’ll use silk
restraints. Much easier on your soft skin.”

I pulled away, mouth
open in shock. What nerve! But also, kind of hot. I turned away,
feeling like he could read me all too well. He seemed to know exactly
what effect he was having on me, and he was enjoying every minute of
it. I needed to watch myself around him. Winning this battle wouldn’t
be easy. Good thing I was tough as nails.

“Can we talk this
through?” he asked, his voice low and seductive as velvet. “Let
me buy you a drink.” He rested his hand lightly on my lower back,
moving his thumb ever so slightly along my curve.

What was that I had
just been thinking? Flushed, looking up at him, I couldn’t
remember. But then I did. Tough. As. Nails.

“No!” I yelled,
proud of myself for how tough I sounded.

I’d known battling this powerful
man would be hard. I just hadn’t known how hard. I hadn’t counted
on having to fight myself at the same time.

Unbelievable
(Colt & Caroline)
will be released June 27th and is available for preorder now:

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