Julian didn't let Sloane out of his sight for a single second after they left the hotel, his hand clamped firmly on the small of her back as if he feared she might vanish if he loosened his grip even slightly. The drive back to the city was thick with a heavy, charged silence that felt more intimate than any conversation they had ever had in a boardroom, because now the masks were completely gone and they both knew exactly what the other was capable of. Sloane leaned her head against the cool glass of the car window, feeling the lingering ache in her thighs and the soreness between her legs that served as a constant, pulsing reminder of how thoroughly Julian had claimed her. She had spent years building a reputation as a woman who could not be broken, a lawyer who could outmaneuver any man
