Free Seven Nights by Jess Michaels

slipped her fingers under the hem of her tank top and yanked it over her head in one jerky motion. “Go ahead, Sean.”
    But this time her voice lacked angry heat. Her hands trembled as she let her shirt drop to the floor.
    Her bra was a flimsy strapless contraption of lace and wispy silk and did nothing to hide the rosy tips of her nipples as they jutted toward him in challenge and invitation. She locked gazes with him and Sean was surprised to see that her anger seemed to have melted away, only to be replaced by something just as heated and potent.
    “Go ahead and do it,” she whispered, swallowing hard enough that he saw her throat work. “Then we can move on.”
    Sean had two reactions. One for his body and one for his mind. His body screamed at him to do as she’d said. To lay Leah back across his desk and have her, hard and fast and satisfying. To suck and taste and claim her like he had done in so many hot dreams. He wanted to shred that flimsy bra with his teeth. To fuck her like an animal until they were both utterly spent.
    But his mind’s reaction was louder.
    “Not this way.”
    Her cloudy eyes took a long moment to clear, then she blinked in confusion. “What?”
    He stooped down to snatch up her tank top and gently handed it back to her. “Not this way, Leah.”
    She took the shirt from him with shaking hands, but made no effort to put it on as she stared at him. “I just don’t understand you at all.”
    He shook his head. She understood him a lot better than she knew, a lot better than even he had remembered. “Look, I admit sending Danny away was pretty high-handed. I apologize for that.”
    “You’re apologizing?” Her eyes went wide as she slipped her tank back over her head. “I don’t think you’ve ever apologized to me.”
    He winced. Hadn’t he? “Well, I meant to, so many times. I hope you’ll accept my apology and maybe just try to enjoy the rest of the time we’ll share this week.”
    For a long moment, she hesitated as she stared at him with an appraising stare that pinned him and stripped him of his protective shell. Only Leah had the ability to reveal him so fully. It was something he feared as much as loved
    Finally, she shook her head slowly. “I don’t know, Sean. It seems to me that this ‘fantasy’ trip you planned has had a lot more to do with taking away my safety and control than making me feel relaxed or comfortable.”
    Sean stiffened at the accusation even though in some ways it rang true to him. He’d been so wrapped up in the end result of his seduction that he’d lost sight of what means he used to get there. And now, staring across the room at Leah with her arms folded protectively over her chest and her eyes still glittering with disappointment, he could see he’d gone too far. He hadn’t seduced her, he’d pushed her into a corner and now she had no choice but to fight. He had to let her out. Give her some choices.
    “I’m sorry, Leah,” he whispered. “Maybe I can do something that will help. Will you come with me?”
    She hesitated for a moment and he could see the struggle in her eyes. Part of her wanted to resist, but the other, the part he was trying to tap into, wanted to go with him. To be with him.
    “Okay.”
    As he crossed the room, he held out a hand to her. Her lips parted slightly and for a brief, horrible moment Sean thought she was going to refuse him. But then she took his hand, sending a wash of both emotion and intense physical reaction ripping through him.
    Leah seemed to feel it, too, for she took in a sharp breath through her teeth. But she didn’t let go.
    And that was all that mattered for the moment.
    ***
    “Where are we going anyway?” Leah asked.
    “You’ll see,” he replied as he guided her down the long red road past villa after villa, the ocean crashing off to their right.
    When she’d gone to Sean’s office after she’d found Danny’s note, Leah had expected a showdown. She’d never expected Sean’s