Chapter 12
Anton
‘Excuse me?’ she asks.
I wasn’t lying. She does look perfectly lovely.
That body in that corseted dress is every fantasy I’ve ever had brought to life.
Her pale blonde hair is loosely pinned back, leaving some tendrils framing her face.
Her makeup is Old Hollywood—red lip, cat’s eye—and she resembles an icon of the silver screen.
Lovely.
What’s not lovely, but is instead seriously fucking frustrating, is her insistence on denying this charge between us. I may be an arsehole in many ways, but I don’t make a habit of harassing women who genuinely aren’t interested.
However, women who betray, with every lick of their lips and ravenous stare, the depths of their interest are fair fucking game.
It’s ridiculous, and tedious, but if I’m a conqueror in the world of business, I’m a fucking Viking when it comes to getting what I want from the opposite sex.
And what I want is Genevieve Carew, naked and writhing and begging me for her orgasm.
I repeat my challenge. ‘Come and watch me. You seem worried about trusting me, for some reason. I have no idea why, because if you trust me not to violate the codes of your club then surely you trust me not to violate your own codes, except in all the ways you need. So come and see me in action, as it were. Decide for yourself. And if you don’t like what you see, for some unfathomable reason, then I’ll leave you alone. ’
She purses her lips, then shakes her head and takes a healthy swig of her champagne. ‘You’re fucking deranged.’
Hearing her swear is her first overt concession that I’m getting under her skin. And that is a shot of tequila to my bloodstream.
‘Nope. I have excellent judgement in all things. I know you don’t like me, for some reason.
Probably because I make you feel intimidated.
But you do desire me, just like I desire you.
So let me de-risk the whole process for you.
It’s a generous offer. You get to see exactly what I have to offer while someone else road-tests me for you.
’ I lean in and grin down at her. ‘And if you don’t like what you see, fine.
No harm done. But if you do… I’ll give you the keys. ’
I’m half expecting, at this point, to feel the full force of her remaining champagne splashing over my face. Stinging my eyes. But she doesn’t throw it at me.
Instead she narrows those feline eyes and surveys me thoughtfully.
I stand there and afford her the same treatment. It’s no hardship to match her stare.
‘You just want to show off,’ she says finally.
I grin. ‘Exactly. What’s the problem? Some lucky woman will get the full treatment.’ I drop the grin and lower my mouth as close to her ear as I dare. ‘But the performance will just be for you, Genevieve,’ I whisper.
When I pull back, her blue eyes are fire.
‘Fine,’ she whispers through gritted teeth. ‘I’ll come take a look, see if your actions can live up to those words. Because you have a lot of words. But if I get bored watching, I’m out of there.’
‘Sounds fair,’ I say confidently. I can’t believe she’s going for it. She’s deluding herself that she’ll be anything less than transfixed.
‘Two more things,’ she says, holding up a red-tipped finger. ‘You can’t fuck any of the staff tonight. That’s awkward for me and for them. And I’m not stepping foot in a private room with you. You can do whatever you need to do out in the open.’
‘Done,’ I say. ‘Now, come on.’
I’m giving her half an hour before she’s fucking begging for it.