He's In Control

~Rhea

I kept my face perfectly blank as I took in the scene, Kai with his hands shamelessly gripping that bitch’s ass, their faces inches apart like they were about to put on a live porno right in my living room.

Jealousy flared hot and ugly in my chest.

But I would not let that spoiled little shit see even a flicker of it. Never.

“Looks like the spoiled young master brought home a playmate,” I said, voice cool and laced with bored amusement. “How cute.”

The girl stiffened against him. Kai froze like a deer caught in headlights, his pretty face flushing that delicious shade of guilty red I was starting to enjoy way too much.

I crossed my arms under my chest, letting the motion push my breasts up just enough to make his eyes flicker. “Just remember the rules, Kai. You’re my property for the next fifty days. Play all you want… but if you get too loud, I might have to come in and throw you out, so keep it down please.”

I gave them both a slow, predatory smile, then turned on my heel before either of them could respond. My boots hit the floor harder than necessary as I stormed toward the backyard door.

The second I stepped outside into the cool evening air, the mask cracked. I slammed the door behind me and leaned against the wall, fists clenched at my sides.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.

Jealousy burned through me like cheap whiskey, hot, messy, and completely unwelcome.

I could already imagine it, the wet sounds of kissing, her moaning his name, his low groans filtering through the walls while he fucked her on my couch like he owned the place.

And the worst part? Deep down, buried under layers of steel I’d spent years forging, I was terribly jealous.

And falling.

Falling for a guy.

I laughed bitterly under my breath, pacing the stone patio like a caged animal. Falling for men was something I swore I’d never do again. Not after I was raped at twelve. Not after I trained my body and mind until no man could ever touch me without my permission.

I built this discipline brick by brick, cold showers, brutal workouts, ironclad rules. Men were tools. Fun. Disposable stress relief.

I went to clubs when I needed release, or I ordered them online like takeout, clean, no names, no feelings, gone by morning. Simple and safe.

After crawling out of that hell at eighteen, I’d foolishly let myself believe in one boyfriend. The motherfucker cheated. I almost killed him. Literally.

Only his guardian angel and my last shred of control kept him alive, though he’d spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair as a permanent reminder.

I wasn’t going through that heartbreak shit again. Ever.

Yet here I was, heart pounding, stomach twisting at the thought of Kai touching someone else.

Kai with his curly hair still damp from the shower, those ridiculous six pack abs, the neck tattoo I wanted to trace with my tongue, that cocky smirk that made me want to wipe it off his face with my mouth.

He was dangerous.

Dangerous to the walls I’d built so carefully. One slip and he’d crack me open, make me feel things I’d buried deep. And then what? He’d get bored of the mature bodyguard and go back to girls like Amanda, young, easy, no baggage.

I stopped pacing and gripped the railing, staring out at the dark backyard. My knuckles turned white.

No.

I would not show it. I would not cross that line. He was my client. My responsibility. My property for just fifty days.

Even if every cell in my body wanted to march back inside, drag that girl out by her hair, and show Kai exactly who he should be moaning for.

Even if the jealousy was eating me alive.

I took a slow, controlled breath, forcing the ice back into my veins.

“Stay professional, Rhea. You’re better than this.”

But deep down, a small, treacherous voice whispered, “He’s already under your skin.”

_______

Later in the evening.

I’d just stepped out of the shower for the second time that day, skin still steaming, when I grabbed the bottle of body oil from the dresser.

The safe house was quiet, which should have been a relief after Kai’s little playmate stunt earlier. Instead, it left me alone with my thoughts… and my traitor of a body that kept replaying the way his hands had looked on that girl’s ass.

I poured a generous amount of oil into my palm and started working it over my shoulders, down my arms, across the curve of my breasts.

The oil made my skin glow under the low bedroom lights, slick and warm. My nipples tightened as I rubbed it in, and I bit my lip, trying not to think about how good it would feel if someone else’s hands were doing this instead.

A sharp knock echoed from the main door.

I froze mid stroke, oil dripping down my stomach.

Kai’s voice came through the wall, hesitant but close right outside my room. “Rhea? Are you expecting someone?”

I sighed, wiped my hands on a towel, and yanked on a pair of black lace panties. That was all the armor I was willing to manage.

I tied a fresh towel around my chest, barely covering the tops of my thighs and stepped out, still glistening.

“Yeah,” I said, voice casual as I walked past him toward the front door. “I ordered some casual men.”

Kai’s frown was immediate and hilarious, like I’d just told him his Lamborghini had been repossessed. “What men?”

I shrugged, enjoying the way his eyes kept flicking to the oil slicked skin above my towel. “Same way you ordered that blonde earlier. Fair’s fair, right? They give me pleasure, just like your little plaything. Big, built, knows exactly how to make a girl forget her own name for an hour or two.”

He opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. No words came out.

I smirked. “What? The bitch gone already? Couldn’t handle round two?”

Before he could answer, I reached the door and pulled it open.

Holy shit. The guy standing there was huge, easily six four, shoulders like a linebacker, the kind of man I usually picked when I wanted to be thrown around and reminded that I was the one choosing it. Perfect.

But before I could even say hello, Kai lost his damn mind.

He marched over like a man with zero survival instincts, pulled a thick wad of hundred dollar bills from his pocket, and hurled it straight at the guy’s chest.

“Get the fuck off this surroundings,” Kai snarled, voice low and dangerous in a way I’d never heard from him before. “Now.”

The big guy blinked, looked at the money scattered at his feet, then at me, then back at Kai. He opened his mouth.

Kai slammed the door shut in his face with a bang that rattled the frame.

I actually smiled. A real one. I reached up and tucked a loose strand of damp blonde hair behind my ear, feeling the oil still making my skin shine.

Well, well, look at the spoiled prince growing a spine.

I turned to him, calm on the outside, voice sweet as poison. “I’m actually a very calm person, Kai. But when you cross my lane…”

I didn’t get to finish.

He closed the distance in two strides, both hands grabbing my shoulders. Before I could react, before I could sweep his leg, flip him, or break his pretty nose he shoved me back against the same door he’d just slammed.

My towel clad back hit the wood with a thud, and then his mouth crashed into mine.

Hard.

Hungry.

Fuck.

The kiss wasn’t polite. It was desperate and messy and hot, his tongue sliding against mine like he’d been starving for it all day.

One of his hands fisted in my wet hair, the other gripping my waist hard enough to leave marks. The oil on my skin made everything slicker, hotter, his fingers sliding over my bare hip where the towel had ridden up.

I should have ended it.

I should have hooked my leg behind his knee, dropped him to the floor, and reminded him exactly who was in charge.

But my body had apparently filed for mutiny. My hands came up and clutched his shirt instead of pushing him away.

A low, traitorous moan slipped out of me as he pressed closer, his hard chest against my barely covered breasts, the unmistakable bulge in his jeans grinding against my thigh.

He’s in control.

The thought hit me like a live wire. Me, the woman who’d trained herself never to lose control after what happened at twelve, after the boyfriend who cheated and ended up in a wheelchair was melting against a twenty two year old rich brat who smelled like expensive cologne and pure trouble.

And I liked it.

Kai pulled back just enough to breathe, forehead pressed to mine, eyes dark and wild. “You’re not ordering some random guy tonight,” he growled against my lips, voice rough. “Not while I’m here. Not while you’re mine to protect for the next fifty days.”

I laughed breathlessly, even as heat pooled low in my belly. “Yours? Careful, pretty boy. I could still break your arm before you finish that sentence.”

His grin was cocky and devastating. “Try it. See what happens.”

God help me, I was tempted.

This was dangerous.

This was stupid.

And as his mouth claimed mine again, slower this time, deeper, I realized I didn’t want him to stop.