“I don’t know what game you suspect me of playing, Magnus,” She responds in a measured tone, her wide eyes narrowing into slits.
“Very well, then.” I quickly unbutton my shirt and rip it off, flinging it somewhere behind me.
Now her eyes are wide once again. When I reach out and grab her ankle, dragging her across the bed back down to me, they are practically bulging. The effort has her dress sliding up her legs until they come to a rest just above her thighs, showing off the barest hint of something black and lacy.
Sloane wriggles on the bed, both to escape me and try to return her dress to a decent length.
“Don’t even bother,” I growl as I take hold of both her knees, dragging her closer even as I spread them wide enough for me to stand between them.
“Magnus, this is crazy,” she seethes.
“Being lied to does that to me,” I say as I lean over her. I take both hands that are still struggling to drag her skirt back down and force them up as far as my long arms will reach.
If she knew how turned on I am watching and feeling her struggle underneath me, she would go as dead as a fish floating in the water. Instead, she’s like one that’s freshly caught, bucking and flailing as much as I’ll allow, struggling for that last bit of life.
Which makes this catch so much sweeter.
This was only meant to scare her into speaking. Now, I feel another desire coming on, something that supersedes wanting the truth.
When Sloane feels the effect of her struggle press into her thigh, she goes still. She stares up at me, as though she’s now trying to read me for the truth.
“Is this how you respond when you don’t get the answer you like? Would it be better for me to make something up to satisfy whatever narrative is going on in your head?”
“Try me and see,” I reply, pressing my hard dick into her thigh even more.
A sly smile curls her lips, but I see the effect I’m having on her. The dilated pupils and hard nipples stretching the fabric of her dress, which rises and falls with heavy breaths, tells me she isn’t as opposed to this game as she would have me believe.
“Insider trading.”
My brow lowers in consternation.
“Why take you on as a client when I can just find out what you’re up to and trade on it?”
Now, I’m the one with the sly smile. “Nice try, Sloane. We both know you’re far too ethical to even contemplate such a thing.”
Her eyes flash with defiance. “Maybe I’m done being good. Like you said, it hasn’t paid off yet. Why not try being bad? Maybe that’s the reason I’m here in the vice capital of the world? All the better to get a taste of it.”
“For the woman who doesn’t even gamble?” I say, pushing her arms together so I can hold both wrists above her head with one hand. I drag the other down her arm, slithering down to her neck, where I take hold of it again.
“For the woman who wouldn’t even contemplate representing someone for murder?” I squeeze lightly. “Let alone commit it?”
Her eyes remain defiant, even as my palm presses into her throat. Her pulse is viciously rapid under my thumb.
God, this woman!
Any other would be back to struggling again, telling me anything to escape this near-death position. Sloane seems to be encouraging it, as though she suspects she can push me past the edge of murder and straight to lust. As if to prove my suspicions, the thigh currently falling victim to my erection presses against it, sending the blood surging there.
“Is that what you want, Magnus? To kill me?” Her voice practically purrs as though she knows exactly what she’s doing to me.
I should kill her just for daring me in this way. A part of me even wonders if being Gabriel’s little operative is not entirely against her will.
“Oh, Sloane, don’t you remember anything from how the mako hunts?” I lean down so that she can feel my hot breath against her face. “This is just the first bite.”
Something in her eyes glimmers with excitement, challenging me even as I hold her neck. Her back arches slightly and her body snakes beneath me, just like bait being dangled before me.
“What are you waiting for then?”
“So be it,” I growl.
With that, I release her neck and rake my fingers down until they hook into the top of her dress. In one fierce move, I drag it down the front, ripping the fabric enough to expose her all the way to the top of that black lacy thing hiding the tastiest part of her.
And I’m suddenly ravenous.
Chapter Thirty-One Sloane
Anyone who says danger isn’t an aphrodisiac, especially when it comes in the form of one Magnus Reinhardt, is a damn liar.
Still, I gasp in shock.
The slinky, torn fabric of the dress pools at my sides, leaving me completely naked save for the skirts puddled around my hips and the thong underwear underneath. My hands forced above my head and my legs pried apart by his massive body have me feeling even more vulnerable. The strappy heels still on my feet somehow make this seem more salacious.
I pushed Magnus past the point of threatening me and right into action. I can still feel the phantom pressure of his large hand surrounding my neck. The near-death experience only has the effect of heating my body in a way that belies any damn biological imperative to stay alive.
The look in his eyes is pure danger.
When his hand comes up to cup one bare breast, I involuntarily moan with pleasure.
“You’re not the only one full of surprises, Sloane. Keep lying to me. If I can’t choke the truth out of you, maybe I can fuck it out.”
A wild rush of heat seizes me, reaching even the deepest, darkest parts of my mind. A soft mewl vibrates in the back
