Free Bound (Forbidden Series - Book 1) by Melody Anne

sound of his voice, and when she didn’t move immediately, he swiftly loomed over her, making her flinch.
                  Good. He liked to keep her off kilter. He wanted to shake her from the innocence she pretended to have. Damn it for its deceptiveness. It made him want to protect her, and that was ridiculous. She didn’t need protection; she knew all too well what she was doing. She could put on the innocent act all she wanted, but it wouldn’t change where they would end up, and it wouldn’t change the fact that he would cast her aside when she was no longer of any use to him.
                  “When I tell you to do something, I expect you to move immediately,” he said, reaching behind her head, tugging her hair, forcing her head up so she had no choice but to look at him.
                  “I’m not arguing with you. I was just looking for the staircase,” she said, a bit of fire in her tone.
                  Yes, he’d startled her, but she wasn’t cowering in front of him. Interesting. He debated for a moment whether that pleased him or not, then finally spoke. “We could just head straight to the bedroom if you prefer.”
                  Without giving her a chance to answer, he bent down and took her lips, then drove his tongue inside her mouth, desperate for another taste of her.
                  Completely shaken once again, now by the immediate current of electricity that shot straight to his groin, by the erratic beating of his heart, by the sudden blankness enveloping his mind, Blake pushed harder, trying to drive the feelings away. Lust he could handle, but he couldn’t accept any sensations less easy for him to master.
                  Pulling her even more tightly against him, he plundered her mouth, greedily swallowing the groans she couldn’t hold back and then raising her passion higher. Now desperately curious to feel his effect on her, he slid his hand inside her waistband and curved his fingers around her smooth behind before dipping them between the front of her legs and entering her wet heat.
                  He was indeed a predator, and it felt so good. Leaning back, he looked into her half-closed eyes. “You respond well,” he said, mingling praise and a bit of mockery in his tone.
                  Her reaction was swift and fierce. She jerked back and — only because he allowed it — moved a step away from him.
                  “I’m just doing my job,” she said before turning and leaving him behind, proceeding to the staircase in a measured walk, showing him that she wasn’t running in fear, but going of her own free will, and paradoxically doing what he’d told her to do.
                  He took a step toward her, then stopped himself. He would let her have this one small victory. He didn’t want to break her spirit too soon; if he did, he’d lose interest. He knew quite well that he could have her on her knees within seconds, begging him to enter her slick heat, but part of the reason he was so intrigued by this woman was that she didn’t just roll over and let him have her.
                  Yes, she obeyed his orders, but he’d be a fool to miss the fierce pride in her expression, the self-loathing she felt for desiring him. He should be furious, should return her right away, but didn’t he sleep with enough women who cowered and kowtowed, and with so little effort on his part? He was sure Jewell would succumb, too, but wouldn’t the journey to her downfall be much more entertaining?
                  That thought didn’t sit right with him, and Blake marched over to his liquor cabinet, poured himself a stiff drink, and swallowed it swiftly before refilling his glass. She had power, too much power, and he needed to take that from her, get it all for himself.
                  Yet he was enjoying her