While he’d certainly not complain about this woman’s mouth on his cock, sucking him and licking him, he saw this as what it was. Her attempt to gain control. She clearly had no idea how much he enjoyed owning it himself and how certain it was that she had no chance of claiming it as her own.

Blake shackled her wrist and pulled her to her feet, hard against his body, all her soft, sexy curves fitted against him. “I’m not playing this game and losing, sweetheart. You won’t be needing your hands. Just mine.” He stroked her back, molding her closer, feeling the warmth of her seep through their clothing like liquid heat consuming them. “Comprende?”

Her chin lifted defiantly. “No comprede”.

Blake tilted his head and kissed her neck before his lips pressed to her ear and he promised, “You will when I’m done with you.” He picked her up and headed to the bed, the possessive thunder of man claiming a woman rumbling within him.

“When you’re done with me?” she challenged, clinging to him. “When I’m done with you is more like it.”

His muscles tensed and heated with the erotic challenge. Blake realized right then what he’d been missing, what he needed. Just being in control wasn’t enough. He liked the challenge, the sweetness of winning the battle to get Kara to submit to him. With everyone else, it had been easy to command them, practically mindless control. With Kara, nothing was easy, but it was good. Real damn good.

He set her down at the foot of her bed, his gaze flickering over the feminine blankets, his mind imagining her naked beneath them, naked beneath him. His hands settled on her shoulders and he pinned her in a stare. “If you thought you’d seduce me into foolishness like you did back in Denver, you underestimated me.”

“I didn’t seduce you,” she objected. “I—”

He turned her to the bed, a sound of surprise sliding from her lips. Immediately, he shackled her legs with his and tugged her jacket down her arms, determined to get her in that naked state he was fantasizing about as quickly as possible. The instant her jacket was gone, she tried to turn. He didn’t let her, lifting her shirt up and then quickly unhooking her bra.

Before she even knew what had happened, he’d tugged her back against him, his hands cupping her br**sts, his mouth pressed to her ear. “Tonight, I own you,” he murmured, and he couldn’t believe how much he wanted that, how much he wanted her.

“Never,” she declared, but the hoarseness of her voice told a different story. She was already sinking into the confines of desire and need, where he intended to immerse her. Where he intended to join her.

Blake plucked at her ni**les, scraping his teeth over her earlobe. “We’ll see, won’t we?”

“Yes,” she agreed breathlessly. “I guess we will.”

“Get on the bed.”

“No.”

He smiled into the soft floral halo of her hair, the silky strands tickling his cheek, and pressed her forward until her hands hit the mattress, forcing her to crawl on top of it. She made a frustrated sound he saw as challenge. He wanted her moaning, begging for more. Telling him what she wanted and how she wanted it.

His hand slid over her jeans-clad backside and up her waist to unsnap her jeans. Her hand went to his, trying to stop him. He countered her action by flattening her onto the bed, framing her body with his, his c**k settling against her lush backside. She rewarded him with one of those moans he craved, and her hips lifted against his.

“I love how you smell,” he said, burying his face in her neck.

“Sweet talk won’t get you anywhere.”

His lips twitched. “No?” He slid his hands under her and cupped her br**sts. “Where will this get me?”

She made another soft sound of pleasure before denial whispered from her lips. “Nowhere. It gets you nowhere.”

“It doesn’t feel like nowhere.” His palms moved downward, exploring the delicate lines of her waist and back, before he pressed his hand between their bodies again, and found her zipper, stroking lower, into the sweet V of her body. “I want you naked.”

“You always want me naked.”

“And that’s a problem why?”

“You plan to use sex as a weapon.”

He unzipped her pants. “You might find telling me your secrets comes with reward, not punishment.”

“Just because I don’t fit some mold for a woman you have set in your mind doesn’t make my life and story fake.”

He nipped her earlobe. “Sweetheart, I told you. Fool me once, but never again. I know you aren’t who you say you are.” He tugged her waistband down and eased her jeans down her body, and all but groaned at the sight of her panty-less, pretty little backside.

Blake leaned away from her to free the jeans from her feet. As he expected, Kara scrambled up the bed, twisting around to face him, her high, full br**sts swaying with the action. Damn, the woman had a hot little body. And yeah, he’d had his share of hot bodies, but there was just something about Kara that set him on fire.

Blake reached in his pocket and pulled out the rubber-band cuffs he’d stuffed there, climbing onto the bed. She backed away and hit the headboard. His lips curved. The sight of her there, her creamy white skin, her dark hair draped over her bare shoulders, was pure perfection. She was exactly where he wanted her to be.

Without a moment of hesitation, Blake straddled her, pressing his free hand to her face and twining his fingers in her hair. “You know I’m going to cuff you. It’s inevitable.”