CHAPTER SIX #3
That was an interesting choice of words, almost a challenge for her to demand what he meant.
Did he mean he was on the dark side? She steeled herself as he reached for her.
Revulsion swept through her but he only fingered her short hair.
“Dark desires are so much more interesting than pure ones,” she murmured.
He laughed. “Yes, they are. I wasn’t sure you’d think so, daring Samantha.”
She smiled, her brain buzzing. “I’m so glad we got past my little faux pas,” she said. “I’m a red-blooded woman and sometimes I get caught up in the moment. Desire is desire.”
“A hot-blooded woman of passion, trysting in my home with one of my guests—how could I truly object?” He murmured. “And I did promise you a private viewing.”
She could feel his lust, dark and thick. She reminded herself to be careful; she didn’t want to have to kill him. But she was not sleeping with him, no matter how far this game went. “I promise it won’t happen again…not with Maclean.”
His gaze gleamed. “I’m not sure I would mind, Samantha.”
Sam stared, wondering if he meant what she thought he did.
“You arouse so much passion in so many ways. But that is your nature, is it not? To take lovers, to enjoy them, to discard them as callously as a man?”
He was letting her know that he’d investigated her. How much did he know? To test him, she murmured, “You make me sound like a femme fatale, Rupert. A girl just wants to have some fun.”
He smiled. “But you are the definition of femme fatale—and you know it.”
She decided to give up. “Yeah, I know it. And it is fun…”
“Then let the fun begin. You’ll have a private viewing…but I need a private show, too.”
Sam kept silent. Now they were getting somewhere.
He touched her cheek. “I didn’t mind watching you put your tongue down Maclean’s throat, but I look forward to watching you put it elsewhere.”
Sam decided to divert him. “And if I say yes? What do I get out of the show?”
He laughed. “Other than the viewing? Fun.”
She refused to let her smile slip. He knew she wanted into that vault and he meant to make her pay to get in—with her body. “So invite us over, Rupert.”
“You’ll bring Maclean and provide the entertainment?”
“Why not? Maybe I’ll wind up with a case of the Rothschild if I make you really happy.”
“If you make me really happy, I’ll give you a painting.”
He knew she wouldn’t sell out for a price. She had no doubts now. This was bait and trap—and she was the prey.
“You seem taken aback. You made yourself clear at Becca’s party. I realized instantly that you’re an art aficionado, like I am. Surely you prefer a painting to jewels? Although most women love the trinkets I buy them.”
There was no point in trying to get him to think she wanted a Bulgari necklace in return for his using her. “I actually meant it when I said some girls just want to have fun. Hot sex works for me.”
He seemed amused. He touched the underside of her chin with his forefinger, then began sliding it slowly down her neck. Sam tensed, but she did not move. “And does it work for Maclean? I don’t think he will be as amenable to our arrangement as you are. How is your boyfriend, by the way?”
Her tension spiraled. “Boyfriends are for teenagers. The word isn’t even in my vocabulary.”
“What a clever woman,” he said, drawing an invisible line down her chest with his finger. He paused when his finger was between her breasts. “Clever, sexy and so secretive. I have something for you.”
She knew he wasn’t talking about sex, just as she knew that Maclean was right—Hemmer was dangerous. What she didn’t know was how dangerous. “Don’t you all?” She was wry.
“You’re not afraid of me.”
“Should I be?”
“You’re one of the most unusually beautiful women I have ever seen—and I have had my share.”
“I’m all for flattery. It turns a girl on.”
“You’re hardly a girl, Samantha. You lead a dangerous life. There are cameras in front of my building.” He smiled. “There are cameras everywhere. But you know that, don’t you?”
She couldn’t help glancing up at her ceiling. It was pristine, but she got his meaning. He’d seen her break up the other night’s Rampage and destroy the subs single-handedly. She was briefly surprised and then chilled.
He hadn’t made billions by being stupid. Rupert Hemmer undoubtedly knew everything there was to know about her.
She was going to have to play this game out. “Yeah, Big Brother is usually watching.”
His eyes gleamed. “I am going to help you, my dangerous Samantha. I’ve seen how much you need pleasure. And I can give you pleasure, more than you have dreamed of. More than Ian Maclean.”
“That’s a helluva statement.” What did he mean now?
“Tomorrow you’ll find out exactly what I mean,” he said.
She wanted to step away from him. The instinct was one of self-preservation. He kept his hand between her breasts and, somehow, she did not move. “Then I’m a lucky lady.”
He was amused again and she didn’t like it. Then he reached into the breast pocket of his jacket, producing a DVD. “I think I’m about to change your life. I truly look forward to our relationship,” he said, handing it to her. “I expect it will be mutually agreeable…very much so.”
Sam couldn’t imagine what was on the DVD, but she knew she wasn’t going to like it. “I look forward to it, too,” she said.
He started for the door. “I’ll see you both tomorrow at seven.”
He was leaving. Apparently, he’d gotten what he’d wanted. But what, exactly, was that?
He’d stressed that he wanted them both.
“Enjoy the wine,” he said at the door.
Sam stared as he left. Then she ran to her desktop and pushed the DVD into the drive.
Hemmer was dangerous; Maclean was right. He definitely knew too much about her. But this was also about Maclean. This was some kind of trap. He had to know that Maclean had stolen the page. He would want the page back, and he probably wanted to kill Maclean, too.
The orgasmic cries of a woman broke into her thoughts.
As she turned to the computer screen, her first thought was that Hemmer had sent her porn, but that was too silly.
And then she saw herself.
Sam sat up like a rocket. She was in the throes of rapture, holding on to a man as if for her life, completely lost in the cyclone of her climax.
And his back was a mosaic of scars.