To Tempt a Thief 1 (The Billionaire and the Thief) Read online

  “Heinrich Von Hausen,” she said. “Adrift. One of his lesser known works, but still a masterpiece by any measure. It’s one of my favorites—my father took me to see it at the Smithsonian when I was seven. How it came to rest here, I can only imagine.”

  “Lovely story,” he said. “Quite touching, that bit about your father. But it still doesn’t explain what you’re doing in here.”

  The woman licked her bottom lip, damn near erasing his mind.

  “Let me guess,” he said playfully. “You’re plotting a heist.”

  Her eyes widened, but then she leaned in close, placing her hand against his chest again. Like everything else about the woman, her touch was warm and electric, at once soft and sure. Her breath brushed his cheeks as she spoke in a sexy whisper. “Maybe you’re plotting a heist, and I’ve been sent to investigate you.”

  Beneath her fingers, his heart beat wildly. “I’d like to state for the record that I’ll cooperate fully with your investigation. Especially if handcuffs are involved.”

  Her pupils dilated, darkening her hazel eyes, and the quickening of her breath left little room for misinterpretation. In a husky voice that sent a bolt of desire straight to his cock, she said, “That could definitely be arranged.”

  She was in his arms before he could think of a retort, her lips pressing hotly against his throat, his jaw, and finally, his mouth.

  Trouble.

  She was obviously trying to distract him, but Jared didn’t care. Hell, at this point she could’ve shot him in the chest and he wouldn’t have noticed. All that mattered was her lush, hot mouth devouring his flesh.

  Heat surged between them as she moaned against his lips, threading her fingers into his hair.

  Without breaking their kiss, he backed her against the desk and lifted her onto it, shoving everything else aside, his hands gripping her perfect tight ass. She hiked up her dress, wrapping her long, toned legs around his hips and pulling him in close, right between her thighs. He was losing himself in the delicious heat of her kiss, wanting nothing more than to utterly consume her.

  Slowly she worked the buttons on his shirt, her lightest touch sending ripples of pleasure across his skin. He slid his hands beneath her dress, thrilled to find that she wore no stockings—only a skimpy pair of panties that were already soaked with her desire.

  Shirt buttons finally undone, the woman’s hands roamed his muscled chest, his ribs, the flat planes of his stomach, working their way to his belt buckle. His cock strained against the suit pants, desperate to feel those luscious lips wrapped around him, sucking him hard and deep as her tongue teased his shaft…

  Get it together, Blackwell.

  “Not so fast, love.” He grabbed her hands, forcing himself to focus. To regain control. “I’ve got plans for you first.”

  “What sort of plans?”

  “Since you like secrets so much, I’m not at liberty to say. But I’ll give you a hint. Close your eyes.”

  Without hesitation, she obeyed, trusting her pleasure entirely to him. He didn’t know how much time they had before someone discovered them, but for now, she was his to touch, to command.

  He couldn’t wait to make her come.

  “I thought we’d start with something simple,” he said. Through the thin silk of her panties, he traced the outline of her swollen clit, driving her mad with wanting.

  “And then we might move on to something a little more… intense.” He increased the pressure, rubbing a slow, hot circle with his thumb as she arched toward him, her eyes still closed, her lips parted in a breathy moan.

  His heart pounded, thrilled that he’d put her in such a state. With his free hand, he guided her thighs apart, stretching her wide.

  She arched her hips again, rocking against his hand as he moved the fabric aside and stroked her hot flesh. Her body was so responsive to his touch; she was drenched, and Jared couldn’t wait to taste her, to make her shudder beneath him.

  “I know you like this,” he whispered, sliding two fingers inside her pussy and teasing her with slow, deliberate thrusts, his thumb still massaging her clit. “But here’s another secret, love: I didn’t track you down just so I could fuck you with my hand. Open your eyes. Look at me.”

  Through heavy-lidded eyes, the woman watched Jared drag his hand out of her panties and lift it to his mouth. With a moan he sucked her juices from his fingers, reveling in her sweet taste, his cock engorged and ready. “My, but you’re exquisite.”

  “It’s not fair,” she said, her voice raspy and desperate. She slid forward on the desk and reached again for his belt. “I want to taste you. Take you in, slow and deep.”

  Jared groaned at the thought, the idea almost making him lose the last of his control. He was so tempted to give in, to let this woman have her way with him, however she wanted it. But as soon as she reached inside his boxer briefs, he pulled back.

  “No,” he said, barely holding on. His dick may have had other plans, but Jared was in control here, not the woman. No matter how turned on he’d gotten by that smart mouth of hers, by her touch, her kiss, he wouldn’t let her make the rules. “I have a better idea.”

  She flashed him a wicked grin. “Tell me.”

  He slid his fingers into her hair, cradling the back of her head as he pressed his lips to her collarbone. Tantalizingly slow, he kissed his way up the elegant column of her neck, to her jaw, and then to her ear.

  In a deep, commanding voice that left no room for debate, he said, “You’re going to open your legs for me, and I’m going to eat that pussy until you come so hard you can’t remember how to walk. Is that clear?”

  “Yes,” she panted.

  Leaning back on the desk, she fisted the fabric of her dress in both hands, slowly rolling it toward her waist as if she were unwrapping an extravagant gift, all for Jared. He ran his thumbs up the insides of her bare thighs and spread her wide, pausing only a moment to admire the view. Her panties clung to the outline of her sex, dark and damp.

  So fucking hot.

  “My God, you’re beautiful,” he said. “I can’t wait to lick your—”

  “Excuse me?”

  The call from the doorway shocked them both. They’d been so enraptured; they hadn’t even heard the guard open the door. Yet there he was, shaking his head at them like he’d just caught the cat swallowing the canary.

  Jared stood up, stepping in front of the desk to give the woman a modicum of privacy from the guard’s lecherous gaze. He couldn’t think of a proper explanation, so he kept silent, doing his best to reassemble his clothing as the woman did the same behind him.

  “You wanna tell me what the hell you’re doin’ in here?” The guard spoke with a thick Brooklyn-Italian accent, and Jared couldn’t decipher whether he was angry, shocked, or seriously entertained. “You didn’t see those big-ass ropes? This room is off-limits.”

  “We were just working through some differences,” the woman said suddenly, standing up beside Jared. She grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze, interlacing their fingers. “About the Whitfield painting? I don’t know if you saw the big showdown, but things got pretty heated in there.”

  “Come on, lady.” The guard shook his head again, his laughter loud and gruff. “I’ve seen some freaky shit at this job, but you two are a real piece. You know that?”

  “I’m sorry,” Jared said. He was still breathless, and he had to angle himself against the woman’s hip to hide his still-throbbing erection. “We got a bit carried away. My wife can be quite…” He held her gaze, tracing her lower lip with his thumb as he sought the right word. “Insatiable,” he finally said. “Isn’t that right, love?”

  “Oh, yes, dear.” She took the tip of his thumb between her teeth, teasing it with her tongue, her eyes locked on his in a naughty challenge.

  This cannot end well.

  Despite the audience, Jared’s eyelids grew heavy, the bulge in his pants hard against her thigh. There was no way around it now; he needed to dominate her. To tie her dow
n and fuck her until she begged him to let her come.

  “Jesus H. Christ. Enough, already.” The guard thumbed toward the door. “You can’t come past the ropes, capisce?”

  “Of course,” Jared said, covertly trailing his fingers down the curve of the woman’s ass, teasing her through the fabric. She was still so wet for him, heat radiated through her panties and dress. “From now on, I’ll make sure she knows exactly where she can come.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  THEY’D WALKED LESS than a dozen steps from the guard’s line of sight before the man pulled her through another doorway, quickly shutting the door behind them.

  Ari’s eyes took a moment to adjust to the darkness. She could barely make out his features, but heat emanated from his body, his breath caressing her hair like the softest breeze.

  “A closet?” she said, more turned on than she wanted to admit. “That’s a new adventure.”

  With strong, unyielding arms, the man pulled her against his chest, nipping at her earlobe. In a low rumble that made her thighs clench, he said, “I’ve got another sort of adventure planned for you, love. If you’re up for it.”

  Ari closed her eyes, scanning her mind for the logic that had obviously abandoned her. The smart thing would be to kiss him goodbye, leave the penthouse, and spend the rest of her life fantasizing about his all-too-brief touch, praying he never told a soul about what he’d seen.

  Don’t be stupid. He’s going to blow your cover, expose you to the security guard as soon as he gets what he wants form you.

  That was her brain’s warning, and it sounded totally reasonable.

  But her instincts said otherwise, and they’d never misled her. After years of putting herself in harm’s way on the job, Ari had learned to always listen to her body before listening to her head, and right now, with this man’s thigh spreading her legs, his fingers working deliciously down her spine, Ari’s body was screaming for his touch.

  Ari dropped her purse and kicked off her shoes.

  “I’m up for it,” she said, pushing the suit jacked off of his shoulders and reaching for his belt buckle.

  “I should warn you,” he whispered, “once I get started, I intend to see things all the way through. Are you okay with that?” He cupped her ass in his big, strong hands, pausing to wait for her answer.

  Ari didn’t like the pausing part. She liked the part where his hands were roaming her body, flooding her core with hot, molten desire.

  “Absolutely,” she said, still fumbling with his belt. It was the undeniable truth, dirty as hell, slightly illegal, and screw it—it was more than okay. Ari was a hot-blooded, consenting adult who’d gone without the touch of a man for far too long. She wanted this. No, she deserved this, a private little indulgence to fuel her imagination for all the lonely nights to come. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be than right here, fucking a hot stranger in a penthouse closet.”

  “You won’t be fucking a hot stranger, love.” The man swept his hands across her ass, dipping between her thighs from behind. “The stranger will be fucking you.”

  Before she could get him out of his pants, he spun her around and lifted her dress, fisting the fabric in one hand while his other slipped into her panties from behind. As she spread her thighs to give him access, he drove his fingers into her aching pussy, stroking her with a masterful touch that threatened to send her over the edge.

  “It seems I’ve left you in quite a state,” he said. “What should we do about it?”

  “I want you,” she said. “I want you inside me. Please.”

  “Not yet, love. First I need to touch you,” he rasped, bringing her closer and closer to oblivion. He knew exactly how to tease her, how to whisper things that left her wet and throbbing. “To taste you.”

  His deep voice, the accent, his commanding touch… her flesh was covered in goose bumps, her pussy drenched.

  “But I’m afraid we have a problem,” he said. “I don’t trust you. You’re a bad girl, sneaking past the ropes, touching things that don’t belong to you.” He thrust in deeper, faster, but then slowed down, caressing her with a tenderness that drove her mad. “How can I be sure you won’t run away?”

  “I don’t know,” she teased, thrusting backward against his hand, desperate for those fingers to go deep again, to go hard and fast. “I can be very slippery.”

  A low growl rumbled in his throat.

  “I guess you have to tie me up,” she said. “Real tight.”

  Without warning, he yanked his fingers from her panties and released her dress, his breath hot against the back of her neck. For a moment he didn’t speak, and Ari wondered whether she’d said the wrong thing, turned him off with her forwardness. Maybe guys didn’t like a woman who talked dirty, who told them exactly what she wanted, exactly how she liked to be touched.

  Her heart sank. Perhaps she’d misread him.

  “Oh,” she whispered. “I didn’t—”

  “Put your hands against the wall.” His voice was firm and severe, taking on an authoritative tone that made her nipples ache. “Now.”

  Ari placed her palms against the closet wall in front of her, pulse quickening as she followed his orders. Far from saying the wrong thing, it was as if her words had unlocked something primal in the man, a raw, dominant power that had lain dormant just beneath the surface, waiting to be unleashed by the right words, the right woman.

  Expertly he freed the satin sash from her waist, and then unzipped the dress, sliding it down to her hips. “Lose the dress.”

  She did as he commanded, wriggling until the dress fell to the floor. She kicked it to the side.

  “So fucking sexy.” He ran his hands down her arms, her ribs, her hips, setting her nerves ablaze. He was still dressed; Ari felt the bulge of his cock straining against his pants, brushing her nearly bare ass. “But I still don’t trust you.”

  “You shouldn’t,” she said. Stripped down to her strapless bra and panties, her nipples aching, her pussy dripping with desire, Ari felt incredible. Never had a man made her feel so powerful, so wanted before. However far he planned to take this game, Ari was willing to go there with him.

  “Give me your hands,” he said. “Don’t turn around.”

  She crossed her arms behind her.

  With the sash from her dress, he bound her wrists.

  Hell yes.

  She was so wet for this guy, so ready to submit to him. When he’d first surprised her in the study, her mind was on one thing—saving her cover. She’d kissed him to distract him, to buy herself a few extra minutes until she could figure things out. But the moment she tasted his skin, everything changed.

  The heat between them was off the charts. Suddenly distraction wasn’t enough—Ari needed him to take her. To utterly fucking possess her.

  A moan escaped her lips, unbidden as he tugged hard on her restraints. Everything about this man was turning into thrill ride, a dark fantasy in which she couldn’t wait to lose herself.

  The man turned Ari around, slowly backing her against the wall. But for a thin strip of light at the bottom of the door, they were enveloped in darkness, going only by touch and sound. The air was warm and thick, heavy with the delicious, clean scent of his skin and the leather from the coats hanging beside them. Ari had never been blindfolded, but she imagined it felt a lot like being in the dark closet, all of her other senses on high alert.

  Ari’s heart beat in wild anticipation as he ran his thumb along her lower lip, then kissed her hungrily, biting and sucking, his breath hot in her mouth, the faint tang of scotch lingering on his tongue.

  She moaned in pleasure, imagining the ecstasy his deft, eager tongue could unleash on the rest of her body.

  “Shh,” he whispered. “We don’t want our friend from security coming to investigate.”

  For a moment Ari tensed, but the thought of getting caught in an even more compromised state sent a new thrill coursing through her veins.

  “Let him,” she said. “Maybe he’d like the
show.”

  The man slid his hands behind her, grabbing her ass and pulling her close, grinding against her body. Ari’s knees weakened at the feel of his hard, thick cock; she’d driven him to the same intense state of desire as he’d driven her, and now she couldn’t wait to feel him driving inside her, thrusting hard and deep.

  He captured her in another passionate kiss, plundering her mouth with his tongue as his cock pressed against her belly.

  He kissed her mouth, her lips, her face, blazing a red-hot path along her jaw. When he reached her ear, in a possessive tone that flooded her core with molten heat, he said, “If you think for one minute I’d share you with another man, love, you’re sorely mistaken.”

  And then he dropped to his knees.

  Kneeling before his passionate, beautiful goddess, Jared pressed his face to the apex of her thighs. Her scent enveloped him, driving him mad with lust. He loved those sexy black panties she wore, but now all he wanted was to rend them from her body with his teeth, to devour her hot, needy flesh and make her scream.

  But as much as he loved the idea of stripping her bare and fucking her senseless, he forced himself to take it slow, savoring her exquisite torment as he denied her release.

  “Hold still,” he warned playfully, pressing a hot kiss just below her hipbone. “Or I’m afraid I’ll have to spank you.”

  She whimpered as he traced the lace edges of her panties with his tongue. “What if I want you to spank me?”

  God, that mouth.

  “I’m open to negotiations,” he said. “Later. Right now, we need to pick up where we left off in the study.” Delicately he slipped the panties from her hips, pulling them down her toned legs. Through his touch in the darkness, he admired the muscular curves of her hips and thighs, the delicious sheen of sweat glistening on every square inch of her flesh.

  Panties out of the way, Jared grasped the woman’s thighs and spread her open, blowing a soft breath across her clit. She groaned above him, a sound he’d undoubtedly fantasize about for weeks.