Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Isla
I've been struck by lightning.
My entire body goes rigid, and blood roars through my ears.
My vision actually blurs for a second, and I feel like the floor has disappeared beneath my feet, leaving me suspended in free fall.
I stare at Knox, my hands trembling, and I can't seem to get enough air into my lungs. Or to my brain.
Damn it to hell.
I keep thinking he trapped me and planned this whole thing knowing I’d lose. But how could he have known that?
I had just as much of a chance to win as he did. And to be honest…his riddles were easy. He didn’t come up with something I’d never, ever guess.
I just didn’t get them right.
Now he wants me.
Me naked and him tasting me.
My breath stops completely at the thought. Just stops. Then my heart hammers so violently it feels like it might burst.
“That is crazy.” I find my voice, but I can barely get the words out. “You can’t have me. Not like that.”
“So, you forfeit, then?”
I gaze at him and shake my head.
Yes, I had just as much of a chance to win as he did, but he knew he would win. “You’re such an asshole. You knew this was going to happen.”
“How would I know that? Am I psychic?”
No, he’s not Madame Corvina, but he’s just as horrid. “You could have anything you want, but you want me?”
“Yes.”
Why?
I want to ask him why, but I already know. It’s so I can humiliate myself, so he can take more from me. So he can make me feel even more helpless than I am and assert his dominance over me. It’s a win-win for him.
If I forfeit, he wins. If I give myself to him, he wins.
"What's it going to be, love?" His voice is silk and stone, patient but unyielding. “Are you saying no?”
“No… I’m not saying no.”
The restaurant flashes through my mind. And I think of Mom. How the hell could I tell her I lost everything in a game of riddles and didn’t take the one chance I had left to save us?
But there’s another reason I don’t want to cross one more line with Knox Vale.
There’s a part of me that remembers how it felt when he touched me at the party, how my body responded despite my mind's protests.
That part of me is curious about what it would be like to surrender completely to someone like him.
The man who holds all the cards and orchestrated our every move to lead to this moment.
“Okay. I’ll do it.” God, I just agreed. I swallow hard and try again. "I’m not doing anything else with you. I’m not a whore.”
“I don’t deal with whores. I don’t need to.”
“Whatever.” I’m so sick of his bullshit and holier-than-thou arrogance. “I mean it I’m not doing anything else with you. You won’t force me.”
When he leans in again, I shrink. "There is no forcing here, Isla. You’re free to walk out that door. But just for the record, I don’t think I have to force you to do anything else with me… soon enough, you’ll beg me.”
I gasp, my skin blazing. “I will never beg—”
He swoops down and claims my lips in a kiss that steals the last of my breath.
And my mind.
The world narrows to the press of his mouth and the dark, dominant taste of him. My pulse stumbles, then races, like my body’s trying to keep up with the hunger behind his lips.
His mouth moves against mine with the same ruthless precision he uses in everything, but at the same time, it’s like he’s testing how long he can make me tremble before I break.
By the time he deepens the kiss, my body’s already given up pretending I’m not lost.
His hand slides up the side of my neck, anchoring me in place, and every thought that isn’t him disintegrates. My hands find his chest, and the second I feel his heartbeat beneath my palms, I forget why I wanted to resist.
Then he slows the kiss, and my awareness creeps back in.
I go still.
What in the hell is happening?
The only time my lips should ever meet his is in front of a camera. Or someone who needs to believe we’re a real couple. Not like this. Behind closed doors when it’s just us.
As if he can read my thoughts, Knox inches away, but not too far. His lips are still ghosting over mine.
“The…cameras… aren’t here,” I manage.
“Fuck the cameras. There were no cameras when I kissed you at the club.” He presses his forehead to mine briefly and grins. “This is us. Now, strip for me, Isla, and give me what I want.”
I blink several times, trying to make sense of what’s happening. This has to be a dream. But it’s not. And what he wants is me.
I said I would do this. So, I’m doing it. There's no going back now.
I’m doing it for whatever the reason. Not losing the restaurant, and…for me.
With a shaky breath, I slowly unzip my dress. The fabric loosens, and I pull it over my head, leaving me exposed and vulnerable with my heart galloping inside my chest.
I’m in my bra, panties, and the wretched pair of army boots that’s actually hurting my feet, but I already feel naked.
Knox’s gaze never leaves me. His eyes drift over my skin, watching every movement I make. I don’t know if I’m trembling from the chill in the air or the heat of his stare.
I set the dress on the floor and take off the boots next because they’re easier, safer. At least for a few seconds. Whatever I take off next will bare me to him.
I choose my bra and try to keep my hands steady as I undo the little butterfly clasp in the front.
The cool air brushes against my skin as my breasts spill out, tightening my nipples. With a deep, deep breath, I roll my panties down my legs and step out of them, instantly heightening the anticipation in the room.
My hair falls over my shoulder, covering me, but the moment I straighten, that’s it. I have nothing left to cover me or shield me from the heat of Knox’s stare.
I don’t know what I expected to happen when he saw me like this, but it wasn’t him looking at me like he’s never seen a naked woman before. Or looking at me like I’m something… special.
I’m sure I’m just seeing things. Knox Vale would have had countless women in his bed.
There’s definitely nothing special about me. I’m staring at a man who could have anything and any woman he wants. Pretty sure I’m just a joke to him. The loser. The pawn. The contract.
Yet his eyes tell a different story. The desire brimming within those blue depths argues with me without words, telling me I’m wrong.
He steps forward, back into my personal space, and presses a finger to my lips. Tracing a line, he moves down to my jaw and down my throat, where he lingers while his gaze drifts to my breasts.
“Isla Monroe.” He sounds like he’s going to say something more, but he doesn’t. Instead, he moves to my lips, and damn me, I lean toward him, too.
Another scorching-soul kiss claims my mouth, and I guess that must be part of tasting me.
Knox’s hard body forces mine against the wall, sending shivers through me. It’s like I’ve been waiting for this wild, unexpected moment all my life.
His warmth seeps into me, then his touch and his consuming kiss steal the remnants of my senses, bending my will to the sheer possession of him.
With his lips still on mine, he runs his hands down my shoulders and across my breasts. He squeezes the large swells, his thumbs rolling over my nipples.
“These are begging for my tongue,” Knox whispers against my lips, his voice low and warm, then he leans down to lick across the top of my breasts. “While I suck on your tits, you’re going to imagine my mouth devouring your clit.”
When his mouth closes over my right nipple, streaks of hot fire race over my skin.
I want to say something, but my mind struggles to form words. Whatever I would have said becomes lost to the moans that fall from my lips.
He swirls his tongue around the tip of my nipple and sucks in more of my breast until his mouth is full of it. I arch into him, feeling like a traitor to myself. But pleasure has me hooked in my villain’s grasp, and I don’t want to break free. I can’t even remember why I’d want to be free of him.
God. I’m supposed to be the loser here?
It neither looks nor feels that way.
Knox moves to my other breast, and all I can do is whimper as his tongue flicks across the sharp, tight peak.
Sparks of searing pleasure ripple through my body, igniting my core. Making me want more. More of him and whatever he plans to do to me.
“Knox…” I whimper, grabbing his shoulders.
He draws in my nipple and sucks hard. Suddenly, I’m wetter than I’ve ever been in my life, and I do exactly what he told me to. I imagine him between my legs, licking and sucking my clit, devouring me.
The image sends a pang of arousal through my soul, and I moan out loud.
I hardly manage to catch my breath when he picks me up and carries me over to his desk. With one sweep, he shoves the stack of documents to the floor and sets me on top.
“Spread your legs for me, love,” he growls. And I obey.
I lean back onto my elbows and spread my legs.
The look in his eyes as he stares down at my pussy is feral, the rawness sending a shudder of anticipation through me. When his eyes meet mine again, those blue eyes freeze me in place.
“Perfect. Simply perfect,” he groans, then he kneels before me, and his hands are on my thighs.
A heartbeat later, his mouth covers my clit. And oh my God, yes…
Holy shit.
What he did to me at the Astoria was nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to this.
He pushes my legs wider, until there’s nothing holding me up but the desk and his mouth.
His tongue runs up and down my pussy, licking and lapping at my wetness. I weave my fingers into his hair, holding him against me while he does what he promised to do—devour me.
I never want him to stop. And I know that’s crazy because I should.
I shouldn’t even be here like this with him.
My orgasm rises hot like lava, throbbing in tandem with his tongue. Bursts of pleasure pulse through my nerves, and I brace myself against the desk.
My muscles shake, unable to withstand the sweet onslaught flowing through me. Then it rips me apart. Pleasure explodes through every nerve in my body as I come.
And Knox keeps going. He fucks me with his tongue, and I can’t help but wonder what his cock would feel like inside me.
Oh my God, I really have lost my damn mind.
Knox pushes deeper inside me, licking, lapping, and sucking my clit as my arousal rushes out. He drinks it all, and the wild suckle creates another bout of arousal that adds to the glorious sensation.
It zings through me, fracturing my being.
The rhythm of his tongue has my body unraveling, every pulse of pleasure sharp and consuming. Somewhere in the distance, a faint vibration hums. A sound I can’t quite place, and I’m too lost in him to care.
Then the ringing starts.
A phone. It’s ringing somewhere.
Somewhere in here.
Knox stops sucking me and lifts his head. He straightens, and as he reaches into his pants pocket to retrieve his phone, my eyes go straight to the very distinct bulge of his cock.
He looks at the phone then back to me.
That mere move breaks the spell, and I realize I’m naked on his desk.
He is fully clothed, I’m naked, and he—Knox Vale, my nemesis— was just eating me out.
“Oh my God.” I hop off the desk and rush over to get my dress.
Knox follows and grabs my arm. “Isla—”
“Don’t talk to me.”
I wrench my arm free and pull on the dress. I barely manage to grab my bra and panties before I’m out the door. The boots, I leave behind. They can stay.
I’m glad that Knox doesn’t come after me.
I don’t know what that was.
And I don’t know how to feel or what to do about it.
It’s terrifying to realize how close I came to giving him everything. How easy it was to forget I hate him.
It’s not the thought of what he did that scares me. It’s how much I wanted him to keep going. And the worst part isn’t that he touched me. It’s that I didn’t want him to stop.
What would I have let him do to me if that phone hadn’t rung?