Making Him Submit (The Tamer’s Brat #1)

Chapter 1

I should have been celebrating my sold-out performance with champagne, friends, and the usual crowd of people telling me how incredible I was. Instead, I walked into my dressing room and found the one person I least wanted to see.

Jake Manzoni.

My personal bodyguard, my biggest headache, and the only person on the planet who seemed completely immune to me.

I scoffed at the sight of him. “Where’s everyone else?”

I didn’t bother with niceties. They were overrated anyway. I was Dawson Davis, an international pop sensation. Nobody batted an eye when I was rude. They were usually too busy trying to impress me. Well, except Jake, because he clearly missed the memo.

“Ever heard of hello?” he asked without looking up from his book.

Jake was leaning against the dressing room counter, completely unfazed by my presence. It irritated me more than it should have. The nerve of him, acting like he had the right to talk back to me.

I was his client. Shouldn’t he, at the very least, be trying to impress me? Wasn’t that what everyone else did? Instead, he turned the page of his book and continued as if I didn’t exist.

I moved past him and grabbed my duffel bag off the counter. “Well, whatever. You’re dismissed. I have somewhere else to be this evening.”

His gaze lifted from the page. His book snapped shut. The tension in the room shifted, turning heavy and dangerous. I knew that shift. I knew exactly what came next.

“No.”

That single word sparked something hot and infuriating inside me. I spun back on my heel. “Excuse me?”

Jake’s frown deepened. “You heard me.”

“I’m the one who pays you,” I reminded him. “So when I say you’re dismissed, you go the fuck home.”

Jake didn’t budge. “Technically, your record label pays me,” he said. “Not you.”

This was why I hated bodyguards. They stuck to me like crazy glue, invading my personal space with their so-called “duties.”

I wanted to scream. Unfortunately, screaming had never once worked on Jake. For five weeks, I’d tried to get him to quit, just like I had with his four predecessors. But nothing I tried worked, and I was starting to lose my mind.

The others had all quit within a month. But this infuriating wall of muscle? He just kept showing up with no signs of breaking.

Clearly, I needed a new strategy. Something that would finally make him crack.

A smile crept across my lips. I hadn’t lost this war yet.

I let my duffel fall at my side. It landed with a soft thud. I turned to face him, slapping on my charming smile and batting my lashes. “So you think you can just do whatever you want, then?”

His dark gaze flicked to me, a question in his eyes. “No, I’m doing my job—”

“Be quiet,” I cut him off. “Not another word.”

His eyes narrowed, suspicion flickering across his face.

I grabbed the hem of my shirt, lifting it halfway to reveal my toned abdomen.

I was painfully aware of how desperate this was, but seducing him was the one thing I hadn’t tried yet. Maybe, just maybe, it was crazy enough to work.

I wanted to make him regret underestimating me.

All I had to do was keep going until he became uncomfortable. Then, he’d run for the hills, just like Bodyguard Number Two.

I was going to have so much fun making him squirm.

I wiggled my hips as I peeled off my top and chucked it aside. For a brief moment, I thought it was working. His eyes dipped down to my bare chest.

After weeks of searching, I had finally found it. Even this impenetrable brick wall of a man had a weakness.

I was going to exploit the hell out of it.

Confusion flickered across Jake’s face, like he was trying to figure out what I was doing. I didn’t let that stop me as I ran my hands down my stomach and winked at him.

As my hands reached my hips, Jake’s eyes flicked back to mine. Without even a sliver of heat or arousal, he asked, “Why are you getting undressed?”

I didn’t let his question get to me because I knew exactly what I looked like, and I refused to believe he was completely immune to me.

I undid the button of my leather pants. “Because, Jake, I can do whatever the fuck I want.”

An expression I had never seen before passed over his features. His eyes darkened, and the corners of his lips curled into a smirk. Suddenly, I had the unsettling feeling that I wasn’t the one in control anymore.

“I’d think very carefully about your next move if I were you, Dawson.” His voice dropped. “You’re treading a dangerous line.”

My stomach tightened. I kept my expression neutral, even as something uneasy curled in my gut. “And why should I?” I pressed further. “I’m not afraid of you.”

Jake didn’t answer. Not with words, anyway. He didn’t need to; his expression said everything I needed to know.

He was turned on.

My smile widened, and I almost forgot why I was doing this.

“I’ve got something even more interesting to look at down low.”

I knew it was a ridiculous thing to say, but this was the first time Jake had looked at me like that, as if he was seeing something other than a job. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t stir something inside me.

Jake licked his bottom lip. “Why are you doing this, Dawson? Are you looking for attention?”

I scoffed, rolling my eyes at his audacity. “I don’t need to look for attention,” I reminded him. “People literally buy tickets to watch me perform.”

He didn’t seem convinced as he crossed his arms over his broad chest. The same chest I always stared at a little too hard. “But you don’t have mine, and that bothers you, doesn’t it?”

My jaw dropped, and for a moment, I wanted to scream at him for daring to say such a thing. I didn’t need his attention, nor did I care about having it. I couldn’t care less if he disappeared off the face of the earth.

With no snappy comeback in mind, I settled for glaring at him instead. “Fuck you, Jake.”

“I’d much rather have it the other way around,” Jake said with an infuriating smile. “With me fucking you.”

Okay, I was officially seconds away from giving up.

Jake leaned back against the wall, his eyes sweeping over me again. “Well, go on then,” he said after a moment. “I’m waiting.”

The rage that had been simmering inside me evaporated all at once.

I blinked twice. Wait, what?

Jake waited in silence while I stared at him, confused. He clicked his tongue as he watched me, his smile fading into something darker. “Strip, Dawson,” he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Finish what you started.”

Why did it feel like he had flipped the script on me?

“Well, uh—” My words caught in my throat. “Obviously.”

Jake waited patiently while I squirmed in place, suddenly unsure of myself. I hadn’t expected this to turn out this way, and I sure as hell didn’t know what to do with it. Suddenly, my brilliant striptease idea didn’t seem quite so brilliant anymore.

In fact, I felt exposed and vulnerable, even if only my chest was bare. There was also a strange sensation in my gut, heat mixed with shame. Even my dick didn’t know whether to stay hard or go soft.

Also, was it just me, or did Jake look like he was enjoying himself a little too much? I glared at his stupid, smug face. My massive ego kicked into high gear, bulldozing every ounce of shame I'd been feeling.

My hands curled into fists. Fine. If he wanted a show, I’d give him one.

“You want to see my cock that bad, huh, Jake?” My voice came out sharp, every word meant to cut. “Well then, pay attention.”

“I wouldn’t dare look away,” Jake answered smoothly.

Heat flashed low in my stomach. Fuck, why’d he have to be so good with words? It was making it difficult to focus on the task at hand.

Ignoring the heat that spread in my gut, I pushed my boxers down slowly, revealing the length of my cock inch by inch and exposing myself to the man I claimed to hate.

Jake’s gaze traced my body, following the slow reveal with intense amusement. I hated to admit it, but the attention made my body burn hot with arousal.

Usually I was the one who pushed others’ buttons and made them squirm. I seldom was put into this kind of position, where I was the exposed, vulnerable one. Jake made it look so easy, like he was somehow always ten steps ahead of me.

Why did I find that kind of hot?

Jake licked his lips and readjusted the front of his pants. That’s when I noticed the tightening bulge in his jeans. I guess he was enjoying this too.

Abandoning my original plan, I decided to lean into that hot tension between us and pulled my cock free.

Jake’s hand moved over his bulge at the sight of my hard-on. His eyes flicked back up to mine. His gaze was smoldering hot.

“You aren’t even hiding it anymore either,” I said, voice lowering. “You’re hard, aren't you?”

While holding my gaze, he nodded.

God damn.

I was so horny that I didn’t even realize when I started stroking myself.

Jake looked back down at my cock, now in my fist. He gestured with his head. “Come closer,” he said. “And pick up your shirt.”

I stepped closer, grabbing my shirt off the floor, and made my way to him. He took my chin between his index finger and thumb, tilting my head to look him in the eyes. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

His voice was so thick and deep. It sent a shiver down my spine.

If I had been in my right mind, and not in horny lalaland, I wouldn’t have answered him. It was much too personal and private, to admit what I was really thinking about.

Too bad for me that I was too far gone, and that my brain had turned to mush.

I was still touching myself as I answered him. “I’m thinking about how bad I want to come on you.”

A smirk tugged at his lips. “Yeah?”

I bit my bottom lip, nodding.

“Does it feel good?” he asked, somehow his voice growing thicker still.

“Uh-huh.”

“Go a little faster then.”

So I did.

I continued gliding my fist up and down my cock, tightening my grip with each stroke. My eyelids grew heavy as soft moans started at the back of my throat. Shuddering pleasure washed over me, rising in waves.

“Faster,” he hissed.

I moaned in response.

The waves turned into tsunamis, and I knew that I was very close to coming.

“Almost—” I cried out.

Jake’s hand wrapped around mine, halting me mid-stroke.

What the–

My eyes opened wide.

“Enough,” he said in a rough voice. “We’re stopping here.”

My mouth had gone dry. “What do you mean—” I half yelled. “—I was right there!”

“And I changed my mind,” Jake said, still in that husky, aroused tone. “So we’re stopping here.”

I couldn’t fucking believe this man. I yanked my hand free from his grip. “Cock tease,” I hissed as I turned my back to him and immediately started to stuff my dick back into my pants.

Sexually frustrated beyond words, I grabbed my duffel bag and made a beeline for the changing screen.

What was I supposed to do now? I was horny and beyond embarrassed at the same time. It was fucking awful. I had openly admitted, through my actions, that I was sexually attracted to Jake.

That’s the last thing I needed him to know, especially if he wasn’t even going to let me have a god damn orgasm.

Why the hell had he stopped us? Did he find it amusing to torment me or something?

That’s when it clicked in my mind. He had won the game I had started. I stared at the floor, letting the realization sink in.

Jake had fucking won.

I scoffed, grabbing my duffel bag as anger started to simmer once more. Fuck him times a million. I’d recover from this, and I’d get my revenge. That was a promise I intended to keep.