Chapter 23 Danger Zone – Rory
DANGER ZONE
RORY
“Of course I do… Sir.”
Was I out of my ever-loving mind?
Rhodes rocked back on his heels. His eyes were wide. “What did you just say?”
“I said, of course I understand.”
He watched me. I watched him back. Something inside me—something I’d never felt before—rose up. Tall, empowered, assured. She knew what she was doing.
“…Sir.”
His pupils grew large in his eyes. “That’s what I thought,” he growled.
A nervous excitement coiled in my belly.
I’d never felt this way before—I had no clue what was going to happen next.
I had zero ideas about the consequences of my boldness, just that there were definitely going to be some.
A delicious shiver jolted my spine. Anticipation.
My body felt alive, my animal instincts on alert. What had I done?
More importantly, what was Rhodes going to do to me?
The billionaire watched me. His eyes trailed over my gown. I felt both hot and cold under his stare. Brazen, but also vulnerable. The moment stretched out. I never should’ve opened my mouth…
“Get on the bed,” he said, his voice thick.
I immediately obeyed, stepping backward and sinking down onto the mattress. I kept my gaze trained on him.
“Do you want something from me, Rory?”
“No.” Yes.
He stepped closer, watching my face. “I’m not sure I believe you.”
He stripped off his jacket, and I watched, mesmerized, as he loosened his tie and rolled up his sleeves. His forearms were muscular, with thick veins running along them. He came closer again, standing above me, and I swallowed hard as I stared up at the handsome, chiseled man before me.
Heat spread through me. My heart hammered in my chest.
I’d really gone and done it, now.
“I think you do want something from me.” Rhodes sounded smug.
“I’m sure you’re wrong occasionally,” I quipped.
“Ha.” He seemed surprised to laugh. He raked his hands through his hair, making it stand up in thick, luscious waves. “I’m not wrong often. And I’m not wrong now.”
I arched an eyebrow. “We’ll see,” I replied, all false bravado.
“Oh, we will.” He started pacing in front of me, his muscles and immense power on display, a jaguar stalking its cage. “What am I going to do with you, huh?”
It seemed like he was talking to himself. Making plans. I shivered, wondering just what they might be.
He stopped stalking and turned to me. “I want to try something.”
I blinked at him. “W-What?”
“We’re at the ‘we’ll see’ part, Rory.” He chuckled darkly. “So where’s your nerve now?”
I couldn’t speak. I just watched him, entranced.
“Let’s test a theory,” Rhodes continued. “Like I said, I think you want something from me. So let’s see, shall we?”
The false bravado evaporated. I held my breath, waiting for whatever he’d do next.
Rhodes came to the edge of the bed and knelt down before me, looking up in my eyes. “You’re so beautiful.”
That took me by surprise. “Thank you.”
He reached out and stroked my cheek. “I said you wanted something from me… But I want something from you, too.”
My heart rate sped up. “You do?”
He nodded, gazing up at me. The moment stretched out as I stared into his dark eyes, fascinated, completely under his spell.
He leaned closer to me. His eyes were asking me a question.
My heart hammered inside my chest. The room was suddenly unbearably, excruciatingly hot. I realized something, something my body had known all along: I wanted Rhodes Barrington.
His gaze beseeched me. If he was asking me a question, I had an answer. Yes, Rhodes. The answer is yes.
I leaned down and tentatively put my lips on his.
He moaned and crushed his mouth against mine.
Yes! The relief I felt was only eclipsed by the desire raging through me.
I pulled him closer, wrapping my arms around him, relishing the feel of his rock-hard body.
I pressed myself against him, luxuriating in the electric shocks that coursed down my spine when his tongue connected with mine.
It was the most intense thing I’d ever felt.
He deepened the kiss, claiming me, and I lost myself in him.
I had no idea what I was doing—my only experience with men was purely one-sided on the app, more like a peepshow than anything else.
This was completely different. Rhodes’s hands were everywhere—in my hair, cupping my face, roving the bodice of my dress—and I couldn’t get close enough to him.
I clumsily tried to undo his tie, but I gave up.
With shaking hands, I attempted to undo the buttons of his dress shirt until he took over.
He was shirtless almost instantly, and I could finally gaze upon the hard planes of muscle that were also known as Rhodes Barrington’s Glorious Chest.
His shoulders were huge, his pecs were enormous, and the biceps I’d been glimpsing were like boulders. I had to stop kissing him long enough to pull back and actually admire him, running my hands over his spectacular physique. Wow.
A yearning, unlike anything I’d ever experienced before, swept through me. Our gazes locked. Rhodes was breathing hard, his pupils dilated. He wants me.
He wants me.
“You were right,” I said, voice shaking. “I want something from you.”
“I told you—I’m never wrong.” A wicked grin broke out over his face. “So what is it you want, Rory?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
After a heavy pause, I added, “But, whatever it is, please give it to me… Sir.”
His gaze darkened, a fire lighting his eyes. “Oh, I will.” The commanding tone in his voice had me on alert immediately. My nipples got hard, rising to attention. I got wet between my legs.
The fuck? His tone could do that to me?
“Lay back, Rory.” Rhodes Barrington wasn’t fucking around. “I’m in charge now.”
I did as I was told, heart thundering in my chest.
“Good.” Rhodes was still kneeling before me. “You will do what I say when I say it. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” I whimpered.
“That’s not a complete sentence,” he growled. “Answer me again: do you understand?”
We were playing a game—one that I’d started, but was still clueless about. “Yes… Sir.”
“Better. I hope you’re a fast learner, Rory, because that will help you get what you want.”
I still didn’t know what I wanted—not exactly—but his words were promising. “I’ll be a good girl. Sir,” I added hastily.
He sighed, a hissing sound. “You are a good girl, Rory. But sometimes good girls do naughty things, and they like it. Just like you’re about to. You’re going to like it so much, you’re going to scream my name.”
With that, he lifted my skirt, pushing the fabric up around my hips, revealing my matching thong underneath.
Rhodes sucked in a deep breath, then proceeded to kiss my stomach, my thighs, my calves…
He took my shoes off and threw them somewhere as he proceeded to touch me and kiss me and make my mind turn to mush.
I moaned beneath him, twisting and bucking and desperate for something that I could not name.
“I’m going to put my mouth on you, now,” Rhodes said.
Haven’t you already been doing that?
But he slid my thong down and buried his mouth against my sex.
“Ah!” I cried out, arching my back. He hadn’t done that!
I was embarrassed and uncomfortable—but only for a moment.
Because as he slid his tongue along my slit, my world went white.
I lost myself and all control. Rhodes was clearly an expert, and he was relentless.
He nipped and lapped and sucked with energy and abandon.
I heard someone crying out—then realized it was me.
I would’ve been so ashamed, but I couldn’t be. I was completely present in the moment, swept away by his touch, under his command. Rhodes Barrington owned me. This was more than a contract; this was possession of my soul.
He hummed against me. The vibration brought me higher, soaring—
Then he abruptly stopped.
“What?” I was breathless. “What’s the matter?”
“Do you want to come?” Rhodes asked, his breath cool against my thighs.
“Yes!”
He chuckled, his dark laughter reverberating between my legs. “That’s not a full answer, Rory. Good girls know their manners.”
He languidly licked and sucked me again, then stopped.
I almost cried.
“Oh!” I was desperate. “I meant to say, yes, Sir.”
“Yes, Sir, what?” Rhodes asked hotly.
“Yes, Sir—please let me come. Please,” I begged, tears springing to my eyes.
“Excellent, Rory. Good girls get rewarded. Now you’ll see what being good and following the rules gets you.” He buried his face in my sex and latched onto my clit, sucking, and gently entered two fingers inside me.
I coiled against him immediately. The pressure climbed inside me, building to an almost unbearable sensation.
I was on the edge of the abyss. It was coming for me.
He gently fucked me with his fingers while sucking on my clit, a mind-bending combination of sensation and pleasure I could barely withstand.
He grazed his teeth against my clit, and I exploded.
“Ah!” I shattered beneath him, climbing, vibrating, opening for him. I couldn’t stop myself. The pleasure was so intense. I died and was reborn; I saw white. Everything zeroed out to that one moment, the feeling so intense that I screamed his name as the orgasm rocked me.
“Rhodes!” Tears streamed down my face as he kissed the insides of my thighs, collapsing against them as my spasms finally subsided.
Finally, he pulled himself up next to me, a smirk on his face.
“Told you so,” he said, the smug bastard.