Chapter Seven

*Ronan*

I watched the monitors on my desk. The high-definition feed brought her closer. Her skin was like cream. Her eyes were a piercing, intelligent green. But it was her mouth—a soft, pink bow that she kept biting—that held my attention.

I felt a sudden, visceral pull in my gut. It was a reaction I hadn't felt in years. It wasn't just lust. It was a predatory, possessive instinct that roared to life in my chest. My body reacted instantly, a heavy heat pooling in my loins.

I want that woman.

I tracked the movement of her hips, then watched the hypnotic sway of the curtain of thick, shiny hair that framed her dainty face in fat curls and danced

across her shoulders with every movement. My finger flexed, causing the screen to zoom in on her face.

My muscles tensed, my cock jerking to attention.

God! She was breathtaking.

Letting out a deep breath, I pressed a finger to my lips and leaned back in my chair trying to find a more comfortable position.

What the hell was she doing to me?

I watched her for ten minutes. I watched her fend off a waiter. I watched her pretend to check her phone. And then, I saw a group of three men approach her, interest sparkling in their hooded gaze.

I sat up straighter, my brows knitting together as a sudden tightness filled my body.

Jealousy.

Territorial.

Who the fuck were those men?

I squinted and immediately recognized them—Oliver, Mason, and Cole. The three most entitled, disgusting leeches in the city.

They were known for always throwing money around and sleeping with literally anything in a skirt.

My hands bunched into fists, my eyes twitching as she gave them a small welcoming smile.

Why was she smiling at them?

Was she interested in any of them?

I huffed out a breath, a burning sensation spreading across my chest.

They were now circling her like sharks. Cole reached out, his hand sliding down the small of her back.

She immediately stiffened. It was subtle, but I saw it.

I stood up so fast my chair hit the wall. The Macallan glass shattered on the carpet, but I didn't care.

"Zach!" I barked into the intercom. "Have security remove those three. Now. Use force if you have to. And the woman… bring her to me."

"Sir? To your office?"

"Did I stutter?"

I paced the floor, my heart hammering against my ribs. I felt like a teenager again, fueled by a reckless, primal energy. I wanted to see her up close. I wanted to smell her. I wanted to own her. I wanted to know what kind of woman dared to walk into my world with that look in her eyes.

*****

The door to my private lounge opened five minutes later.

Zach stepped in first, looking more rattled than I had ever seen him. Behind him, the woman walked in.

Up close, she was even more devastating. Soft cheekbones, perfectly arched eyebrows that framed those sharp but calm eyes. Her nose was slim and sat pretty above a pair of lush full lips that I longed to explore.

And good lord… her body.

That dress she had on clung to her shapely hips and thighs and revealed a mouthwatering expanse of long curvaceous legs. I had to mentally restrain myself from ogling her soft, full breasts that were deeply emphasized by the deep neckline of her dress.

Get it together, Ronan.

You're not a teenager anymore.

She looked at me, and for a second, I saw a flash of pure, unadulterated shock in her eyes. Then, as quickly as it appeared, it was gone, replaced by a mask of cool, calm poise.

She was good. Very good.

“That will be all, Zach,” I said, my voice a low growl. "Close the door. Lock it."

Zach hesitated, then bowed and retreated. The lock clicked.

The woman stood in the center of the room, her chin tilted up. She looked like she was waiting for a sentence.

I intentionally dragged it out, settling for gazing intently at her instead as I waited for the heat in my system to subside.

She blinked at me, her cheeks flushing a deep red.

“Is anything the matter, sir?” she muttered, her tone steady. “Why was I suddenly escorted up here?”

"How old are you?" I asked, surprising even myself. I walked toward her, my footsteps slow and deliberate. I stopped just inches from her, close enough to smell her perfume—something floral, but with an underlying scent of spice that made my head swim.

She looked younger than me but I still needed to confirm before I dip my legs in.

Her brows furrowed for a moment. “Why would the head of the Graves family be interested in some stranger's age?” she retorted sharply.

She had a sharp tongue. That's for sure.

And of course, she already deduced who I was. Something told me she knew more than she let on.

"I don't," I said, reaching out. I brushed a lock of hair away from her face wanting to see more of her eyes. Her skin was even softer than it looked. “Just call it a mild curiosity for a woman who managed to evade security and sneak into my club. ”

She didn't pull away. Instead, she leaned into my touch, her eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that took my breath away. "I don't know… maybe you should re-access your security or something," she drawled, lifting one smooth shoulder in a slight shrug.

The air in the room seemed to vanish. I grabbed her waist and pulled her into me, my fingers digging into the emerald silk. She was small, but she felt solid. Real.

“You still didn't answer my question, little flame,” I rasped, looking down into her eyes.

“I'm 27,” she breathes out, eyes glassy. Her eyelashes fluttered and she sank her teeth into her bottom lip in a way that I know was from our proximity.

God damn, she is young. I shouldn't be thinking about fucking a woman 13 years younger than me but I could barely think about anything else except for the way her soft curves melted into my hard ones.

“And your name?”

“Avina,” she added, voice a little husky.

My cock goes immediately erect and pressed into her stomach. I don’t generally spring hard-ons like this, but my brain is already poring overplans including all the ways I’m going to fuck her and now that I’ve got her in my clutches, clearly it brought my cock up to speed.

We’re trapped in one another’s gazes for a long moment. And I feel something odd. Something jagged unfurled in me as I stared deep. Whatever it was I’m feeling, it’s new and it’s big.

My arms curl even tighter around her waist, flattening her breasts against my chest.

“Who sent you?” I demanded, my eyes dropping to her lips. “Was it the board?”

The air around us thickened with sensual heat and unbridled lust.

God I wanted her so badly.

"No one sent me," she whispered, her breath growing ragged. "I came because I wanted to unwind a bit."

I laughed, but there was no humor in it. I pulled her flush against me, my body screaming for her. “You’re a liar. You’re a beautiful, dangerous little liar.”

"Then punish me," she challenged, her eyes flashing.

Well fuck it!

I didn't wait. I crashed my lips onto hers.

It wasn't a gentle kiss. It was a collision. It was aggressive, desperate, and filled with a hunger that had been building since the moment I saw her through the glass. She didn't fight me. She met me, her tongue dancing with mine, her hands tangling in my hair, pulling me closer.

I backed her up against my desk, sweeping the drinks and files to the floor with one hand. I hoisted her up, her legs wrapping around my waist instantly.

"You have no idea what you’re doing," I groaned against her neck, my teeth grazing her skin.

"I know exactly what I'm doing," she gasped.

I tore the zipper of her dress down. The emerald silk pooled around her hips. She was wearing lace underneath—something delicate and white that contrasted sharply with the dark intent in my mind.

Normal me should have pushed for foreplay first, but the moment my fingers pressed against her hot, wet entrance. I knew I wouldn't last long.

With a stifled growl, I ripped off her panties. Holding her gaze captive, I slipped a finger into her wet pussy. She gave a hoarse scream of pleasure, her sweat dampened arm banding even tighter around my neck. I pushed deeper and added a second finger to the mix.

I needed to stretch her out more if I wanted her to take all of me.

The musky heady scent of her arousal filled my head, making my mouth water with the need to taste her but I couldn't risk it. I was getting out of control.

Biting into my lower lip for a little bit of control, I reached down and dragged open my zipper along with my boxer briefs. My thick, long and gloriously hard cock sprang free. Precum leaking from the tip.

Her eyes widened at the sheer size, hesitance flickering in her eyes.

I smirked. “What? Are you scared?”

She looked up at me, her lips swollen from my kisses and her face flushed. “There's no way that thing is going to fit inside me,” she said with a nervous laugh.

“It will,” I assured her. Because you were made for me. I leaned forward, kissing my way up her throat and sucked on the tiny pulse beating there. My hands traced up her rib cage and found it's up to her breasts.

I pulled both the neckline of her dress and her bra down, her full breasts eagerly spilling out.

“Fuck,” I groaned. “Every inch of you is so exquisite.”

I cupped one of it, the size of it fitting right into my large palm with still enough to fondle.

I bent my head and flicked the sensitive tips of her nipples with my tongue until she cried out hoarsely.

While still lost in the throes of pleasure, I parted her quivering thighs, and pushed my heavy erection against her hot, wet opening.

I didn't push in at once. Instead, I slid my cock across the damp folds between her legs, coating myself in her wetness.

I didn't use a condom. I didn't care about the rules. I didn't care about the consequences. I just needed to be inside her. I needed to mark her as mine before the world could take her away.

She purred, her hips wiggling and trying to get me to penetrate her instead.

“Stop teasing me,” she husked, her hands reaching down to stroke her clit.

I smacked her hands away and dragged her closer by her hips.

“Patience they say is a virtue,” I said with a taunt in my voice.

She sighed, her lust glazed eyes locking with mine. “Well, I'm not a patient one,” she argued with a smirk and intentionally raised her hips, making her pussy rub against my shaft.

I hissed and pulled back. “Well, you asked for it.”

I drew back and rammed myself home, my body hard and primal against her soft curves.

And I nearly bottomed out. “Good… lord,” I growled, releasing a string of curses underneath my breath.

Words cannot express how it feels being buried inside her. This slick, velvety sweet heat blanketing around me right now was unmatched. Ever.

When I pushed more deeper into her, it was like coming home to a house I didn't know I owned. She cried out, her head falling back, her fingers digging into my shoulders.

"Ronan," she whimpered, a look of sheer pleasure on her face.

The sound of my name on her lips was the final nail in the coffin. I moved with a rhythmic, bruising intensity, my eyes never leaving hers. I wanted to see her break. I wanted to see the mask fall away.

My hand slipped up to her neck and pressed lightly, enjoying the feeling of pulse beating beneath my palm. The other held her hip tightly as I pounded away relentlessly into her until she moaned uncontrollably.

Our breathing grew ragged and harsh. My strokes deepened, sending her breasts bouncing up and down.

Pressure built inside me and I could also feel the tension mounting in her body as well.

Fuck! We are both on the verge of release.

Almost immediately as the thought crossed my mind, we both erupted. The orgasm tearing through us at the same time.

But even as she climaxed, her nails drawing blood on my back, I saw it.

A flash of something in the depths of her green eyes. It wasn't love. It wasn't even lust.

It was a cold, calculating victory.

I collapsed against her, my breath ragged, my heart trying to beat its way out of my chest. I buried my face in her neck, breathing in the scent of her. For the first time in forty years, I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

I pulled back, looking at her as she tried to catch her breath. Unable to resist, I captured her lips and kissed her slowly, with an intensity that was dreamlike and erotic.

“What do you say to a second round, huh?” I murmured against her lips, my cock already hardening inside her.

She smiled with a twinkle in her eyes. “Well, I thought you'd never ask.”