Free On His Terms by Jenika Snow Page A

Having her work so close
with him, knowing all of his personal details, made him do an extensive
background check on her. It might not have been legal, not with the men he had
used, but he had gotten the information he needed. How would she feel if she
knew he knew about her credit history, her family life, that she had no one
else anymore, and that she had slept with three men? Would she slap him, spit
in his face, or quit once the week was over with?
    He
moved toward her, stepped out onto the balcony, and leaned his forearms on the
railing. They were twenty stories up, not exactly a skyscraper, but this
building was exclusive and only held twenty apartments. Rian looked over at her, saw that she had her eyes closed, and wondered what she was
thinking about. He had never cared about what a woman thought, not when his
ultimate goal was to have her in his bed. But this situation was different.
Sorcha’s case was different. Her hair was down, and the dark strands moved
along her shoulders as the wind picked up. The thought of reaching out and
touching the strands that were brushing along her cheek rode him hard, and he
was stunned at the intensity with which he actually wanted to do just that. He
lifted his hand, brushed the strands away from her cheek, and watched as she
straightened and looked at him, as if surprised. He pulled his hand away,
knowing he could do what he wanted to her, but also knowing she needed some
time to get adjusted to everything.
    She
turned her head back toward the sight in front of them and closed her eyes. For
several seconds neither spoke, but he continued to stare at her.
    “If
you close your eyes it feels like you are on top of the world.” She slowly
opened her eyes, and this almost relaxed expression crossed her face.
    It
had him picturing her looking drowsy like that right after he had been deep
inside of her, making her come for him.
    “Although you’re probably used to
the sight.” She was staring at Central Park. “The window in my apartment has a brick wall
for a view.” She smiled, but it looked rather depressing. “I would love to have
this view, to just wake up and walk out here whenever I wanted to.” She glanced
down, and he noticed she tightened her hold on the banister. “On second
thought, maybe not this high up.” She sounded like she was talking to herself,
and then she took several steps back and ran her hands up and down her thighs.
    “Come
on, let’s go eat.” Rian was itchy just standing here
staring at her. He wanted to go slow, because scaring her on the first night
she was his certainly wasn’t what he wanted, but then again he also didn’t want
to wait. He had been known to have patience that rivaled all others’, but right
now he didn’t have any. Rian wanted to take her up
against the wall, not caring that they were so high up, and that if someone
looked out their window from one of the other buildings they would know what he
was doing to Sorcha. He didn’t want patience with her, didn’t want to have to
wait for anything. She was his for the next week, and he could do whatever the
fuck he wanted. She’d want it, there was no doubt
about that. He could see it in her eyes when she looked at him.
    She
glanced over at him, and the long black fall of her hair had this seductive
quality to it. With the lights of New York and Central Park as a backdrop, she
was stunning, and for the first time in his life he wanted to know what it was
like to be slow and easy with a woman, to let her see that if he tried hard
enough he wasn’t the bastard that she thought he was. Well, not all the time at
least. He moved back toward her, grabbed the back of her hair, tilted her head
back, and claimed her mouth. For long seconds all he did was kiss her, long,
drugging moments of rubbing his tongue along hers. Sorcha held onto him, but
she was still stiff and unsure. He could taste it on her, smell it in the air
around her, and feel it in the way she held herself.
    Rian