Mia

I panicked, and in the back of my mind, I knew even if he were to do what I feared most and take me without my permission, and I screamed, no one would help me. Even so, I tried my best to push him back, but the feel of his warmth and his lips against mine was wonderfully intoxicating.

He traced his hot tongue across my lips, causing an exquisite pleasure to soar through my whole body. Then he somehow managed to expertly slip his skilled tongue into my mouth and invade me. I shuddered deliciously. A groan escaped my throat as he stroked and caressed his tongue against mine, playing a small battle with me. I became breathless, and my body squirmed in a frenzy of heated pleasure. At the same time, however, I was actually fighting him to release me, my puny fist shoving at his massive chest, which was, of course, to no avail.

Oh God! Oh God! I was being ravished by a hot billionaire, and I was turned on. My body, weak and frantic and quivering, responded to his intense kiss, even though my head screamed for me to get ahold of myself as he continued to enrapture me.

When he finally moved back, I was heaving and breathless, my whole body shaking. My heart was pumping so fast and so loud within my chest that I was sure he, too, could hear the noise. My head felt light and just that little bit dizzy.

He still had his hand wrapped behind my head as I stared up at him, panting, my breasts rising and falling, my lips red and sore from his wonderfully brutal treatment. He didn't at all look as though he was affected by the kiss. His breathing was even, though his eyes were darker, with a blue fire like I'd seen when I was naked and met his gaze in his bedroom only some minutes past.

He was stroking my lower lip now. I wanted him to stop because it was dully aching, yet I wanted him to continue.

"Are you a virgin?"

The question took me by surprise, and I shoved his hand away from me.

"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked. "What the heck if I am? Is it a crime to be a virgin at twenty-two?" I stood, shoving the chair back in the process.

If there were any certainty at all, I'd be a virgin for the rest of my life, because I knew I wasn't going to settle down with just any man. Then again, I'd also been certain I was never going to let any man kiss me either, unless he was the right one—that gentle, caring man who loved me to my bones, like the way Dad had loved Mom, like the way Dad had cherished Mom. This man—this Mr. J. Maxwell—was nothing like that. He was arrogant and brutal, and what happened a moment ago had changed the fact that I'd never been kissed.

My head held high, I said haughtily, "Trust me. I'll get that two million by Friday. Somehow, someway."

Turning on my heel, I headed to the door.

"Two million. Five years."

My legs halted, and I turned to look at the handsome man, who'd just given me the most amazing kiss. "Excuse me?"

He moved just a little, easing his hands into the pockets of his trousers. "Two million. Five years. It's a contract."

I stared at him, long and hard, my heart pumping loud and fast within my chest. "What contract?"

"The one I'm offering you." He cocked his head to one side as he gazed at me. "Interested?"

I hesitated. Two million. Five years. For me? For Andy's freedom?

I narrowed my eyes and said slowly, "What type of work are you offering me?"

A slight smile formed to one side of his mouth, and I knew. "You're a fucking bastard!"

Tears started brewing in my eyes and hurt within my heart. I reached for the door handle. Sick! Just plain sick!

I cracked the door open and was about to run off, when suddenly I felt myself being pulled by the arm and spun round. Dizzy and breathless at the sudden reorientation, I gazed at the broad chest before me as the door clicked shut and my back was thrust against it.

My eyes drifted up to the stern face above me, and before I could gasp out at the raw fire I saw within those Prussian-blue eyes, firm lips crushed against mine as I felt warm fingers dig deep into my hair.