Touch Me, Daddy

6 - Pierro.

Never in a million years did I see this coming.

This is madness.

It has to be.

I didn't come here for this —t o make her cheeks flush and her breath hitch. Little Kat Valentine is smoldering for me like an ember, and if I really wanted revenge, this would be the time to walk away.

When I've proven my point.

When I've made her admit it: that she wants me. Whether or not I'm past my prime.

When she'd be humiliated if I strode out that door.

But god help me, I can't do it. Not even to save face. Because the second the door flew open and I saw her, I was hypnotized. I knew she was pretty at the ring—beautiful, even—but the crowd was shadowed and the spotlights shone in my eyes.

Seeing her now, in broad daylight, with her curly black hair slipping out of its bun and those yoga tights practically painted over those curves...

I'm not going f*****g anywhere.

"How..." She gulps, her pulse tapping fast in her throat. I trace my fingertips across her skin until it's thrumming against my calluses. "How are you going to show me?"

She's a bit scared. And a lot turned on.

A vicious part of me wants to make her say it. Wants to make high-and-mighty Kat Valentine beg.

"You don't know?" I murmur. "But you're so perceptive, Kat."

A flush crawls down her chest, and she looks at me with a mix of resentment and desire. It's a heady combination. I want to amp them both up. I want her moaning my name and cursing me in the same breath.

Maybe she'll get it, then. How she makes me feel. Twisted up in knots; sick with wanting her and wanting to teach her a lesson.

"Not s*x," she says suddenly. I pause. What is this, then? "I've never... I don't want my first time with someone who hates me."

I don't hate her. Hate is the last thing I feel for this girl. Bitterness? Yes. Anger? Sure. But hate? I don't think it's even possible. Not even if she wrote the worst things about me she could think of.

All of these thoughts swirl around my brain, then slam to a screeching halt.

First time?

Her first time?

I drop my hand like her skin burns me. A series of emotions flicker over Kat's face when I step back: hurt. Disappointment. Resignation. And the sigh that gusts out of her — it's like she's the one who's world-weary. Exhausted by life when she's barely past twenty.

"Figures," she mutters, and then she's turning away. Stomping back across her small apartment and yanking the door open.

"No spark." Her smile is hard. Mocking. "But I'll be watching, Mr. Rush. Maybe we'll have better luck in the ring."

Is that it? My gut sinks as I go to leave. There's a yoga mat unfurled on the floor, and I step over it carefully before moving to the exit. I stand over her on the threshold, impulses warring.

She's short. Fresh-faced with no makeup—only the natural flush from my teasing. And her body is something straight from my fantasies—the perfect amount of curves. Plenty to grip, to push against, to lose myself in.

Fuck.

I lift my hand to cup her cheek.

Kat Valentine bats me away.

"Don't start something you won't finish, Mr. Rush," she snarls, green eyes flashing. And I see it now: how badly I hurt her a moment ago. How much she wanted it, and how I crushed something fragile by dropping my hand.

I stomped over here to yell at her. Then pushed my way into her apartment and teased her. Taunted her. Got her wound up, offered relief, and then snatched it away.

She must think I'm an asshole. A real piece of work, toying with her to make some kind of point. And maybe it started like that, but now...

Now I can't stand the way she's looking at me. Like I'm a let down. No better than any others.

"No s*x," I grind out before my common sense can kick in. This time when I go to cup her cheek, she lets me. She even sags slightly, her cheek pushing into my palm, and her eyes are wary as they stare up at me. Waiting. And god, her skin is so soft, so warm. I drag my thumb back and forth over her cheek, back and forth. "Any other rules?"

She swallows. Then shrugs one shoulder, carefully casual. The cotton of her crop top shifts with the movement, whispering against her skin.

And voice hoarse, she says, "I'll update you as we go."