Flora Dain - Charm

Next to me his thigh stiffens thrillingly. I try to ignore it.

‘We’ll go in together. Let me handle this.’ As he gets out I move to follow. His driver grabs my arm but Darnley glances back as my arm jerks free. ‘It’s OK, she can come too. I’ll keep an eye on her. Wait here.’

The lobby is spacious and friendly. Darnley hangs back while I lean on the counter and try to catch the attention of the neatly suited blonde. She’s staring at Darnley like a stranded goldfish, mouth open.

‘Ryan Mitchell,’ I say for the third time, my voice rising along with my temper. ‘He’s expecting us.’

She tears her glance away from Darnley just long enough to check a screen on the desk in front of her. ‘Mr Mitchell … checked out two hours ago. According to our records he’s no longer on the premises.’

I stare. ‘But there must be some mistake. Maybe he’s waiting in the bar. He asked me to meet him here.’ My heart sinks at this repeat no-show. Dallas? Fort Worth? What’s he playing at?

At this point Darnley steps forward, his voice like granite. ‘Check again.’

The woman looks startled, flushes bright pink and stares obediently at the screen for a moment, her eyes wide. ‘No, sir,’ she stammers, batting her eyelashes. ‘Mr Mitchell’s definitely gone. Can I do anything else for you?’

‘Yes. You can show us our suite.’ He hands over a card. She jumps like a startled deer and glances at me with new respect.

‘Yes, sir. Certainly, sir. Right away.’

Now it’s my turn to stare as I glance back at Darnley. ‘What are you doing?’ I keep my voice to a low hiss but it’s an effort.

‘You have luggage, Mr Wolfe?’

Darnley eyes her calmly across the counter. ‘My men have already prepared the rooms. Just show us where they are.’

Her eyes widen, her swift downward glance at my bare, unmade-up face, plain ponytail and rumpled shorts a simple surprise reflex that someone like me should be travelling with someone as important as this.

I barely notice. A startling fact is hammering into my brain. He’s planned this.

Our rooms are subtly prepared with lamps switched on, beds invitingly turned down and a well-stocked refreshment trolley. They look out over the lawns and distant golf courses.

As the door closes behind him he rounds on me. ‘What the hell’s going on? Why couldn’t you wait? Now we’ve lost him, thanks to you.’

‘It’s not your business, Darnley. Let me do this on my own.’

His eyes blaze. ‘When all you do is take risks? From now on you travel with me. What made you get out of the car in a neighbourhood like that?’

‘A neighbourhood like what , Darnley? Full of poor people? Poor people aren’t dangerous. They’re just poor. We can’t all be millionaires. I just wanted to ask them the way. If you weren’t so keen on playing Good Cop, Bad Cop they’d probably have told me.’

‘Or they could have raped you, hauled you off to some crack den, mugged you and left you for dead. Don’t do that again.’

His rage is making me angry too and I’m saying things I don’t mean. In truth I was badly scared and glad to be rescued but now we’re alone I’m rattled. I want him so badly I ache.

He glares at me, his gaze steady and unsettling. ‘In a quiet, run-down neighbourhood anything could happen. The back streets are a perfect place to stage a drive-by shooting, for instance.’

I frown. ‘ A what? That’s crazy. Why would anybody do that?’

His eyes narrow. ‘Let’s just say somebody who wanted to reclaim patents they’d taken out in somebody else’s name that that person knew nothing about, that’s who. For fuck’s sake, Ella, use your head.’

I glare at him. ‘Ryan’s a murderer now? That’s ridiculous.’

He looks away, his jaw rigid. ‘Let’s hope so. Meanwhile you stay close to me. It’s the only way I can keep you safe.’ He glances at me and reads something in my face. Instantly his expression grows troubled. ‘You’re worth money now. Anybody might do anything. From now on you stay with me at all times. Is that clear? And don’t go off-plan. You wasted valuable time today. Has it occurred to you that he might be on the run? That he can’t wait around while you talk to strange men in the street? It’s possible we’re not the only people who want to talk to him.’

He’s got a point. I’m out of my depth here. But I’m still angry and I’m not finished yet. ‘You booked a suite here just to tell me that?’

Mistake.

His eyes narrow to slits and I see a new glint in their depths. ‘No. I booked a suite to teach you a lesson.’

All at once he seizes me round the waist, pulls me to him and crushes his mouth on mine as the low, burning arousal that’s eaten into both of us for the last thirty minutes flares into white heat. I press up close and his tongue makes deep, angry surges into my mouth like it’s shouting without words.

When he pulls away I’m panting too like I’m running a race and I’ve a long way to go. I bite my lip to fight back the urge to laugh from sheer joy. ‘What kind of lesson?’

* * *

Half a minute later I’m staring at him in blank disbelief. ‘You’re going to what ?’

His eyes are gleaming. A slow, sinister smile twists the ends of his long mouth. ‘You heard.’

‘I can’t believe I’m hearing this.’ It should be a joke. But something about his stillness and the heat in his look tells me he’s serious .

He wants to spank me? What’s going on here?

And all at once I’m burning up, seeing myself sprawled over his knee, at his mercy, his hands working overtime … I’m a grown-up person. At least I thought I was. But the very thought of him doing something so ridiculously humiliating is turning me to jelly, making me throb with excitement, making me wet . ‘Now?’ My voice has shrunk to a squeak.

His voice drops to a purr. ‘In a while. We have some matters to see to first. First off, you’ll stay close to me until we’re both satisfied your boyfriend’s no longer a threat. Agreed?’

My eyes widen. ‘If he is a threat. I’ve only got your word for that.’

His jaw tightens. ‘Whatever. We track him together. Promise me.’

I swallow, partly from fear, partly from excitement. ‘And staying with you involves what, precisely?’

His eyes flash. ‘What do you think it involves, Ella? You started this. I just want to finish it, one way or another. Are you scared to go on? Say so and we’ll split. I’ll assign you a bodyguard.’

I lick my lips. He’s asking me to take a massive step – but at the same time he’s just made a massive admission.

He wants me. And he wants to try things with me, starting now. With a spanking.

And all at once I know I want this too. I’ve never wanted anything so much in all my life. ‘We’ll go on.’

His face remains grave, but somewhere behind his eyes I sense new heat, like a fire long suppressed that’s just flared into life.

‘Very well.’

‘What do you want me to do?’ I stand very still as he runs a finger down the line of my throat and over the swell of my breast, where my skimpy top makes it bulge.

‘Stay close. Simply that. We’ll travel together, we’ll share rooms, and we’ll tolerate each other as best we can. It’s only for a few days. He’s round here somewhere. He can’t get far.’

Flames spurt deep in my groin as he runs his finger inside the waistband of my shorts, making the skin ripple over my belly. ‘And what if it takes longer?’

He unfastens my shorts and pushes them down a little way and slips both hands inside, his fingers probing deep between my legs and under the lacy trim of my panties. I close my eyes and moan as his thumbs graze the twin slopes of my apex, where the folds are already swelling and super-sensitive. He lingers, sensing my need, his touch so intrusive and insistent I start to throb, parting my lips and closing my eyes, telling him that I want this even more than he does.