She was breathing heavily, as his eyes raked over her exposed skin. Catching her by surprise, he stooped down and grabbed the clothes he’d taken off her, then walked out of the room. It took her a few moments before the shock wore off and then she went in search of something to cover herself. She couldn’t go chasing him through the house in nothing but her underclothes.

By the time she got a robe on and followed him down the stairs, she couldn’t find him anywhere. Suddenly a smell hit her and she gasped again. He wouldn’t dare, she thought, as she made a dash towards the back yard. Her eyes widened in shock and fury, as she saw what he was doing. She came running out the door and he turned and gave her a victorious smile.

He was standing in front of the huge fire pit they used for bonfires and her clothes were going up in flames. She couldn’t believe he would burn her clothes. He must’ve doused them in gasoline first because the flames were huge. There was no chance she could salvage them.

“How dare you burn my clothes,” she yelled, fury making her see red. He then winked at her. She wanted to claw his eyes out. She was so mad, she was beyond reasonable thinking. The staff had seen what was going on and had all scurried away, no one brave enough to come between the two of them in the middle of a fight.

“I do whatever I want to do,” he said in a mocking voice.

“Well, you know what? Let’s just add more fuel to the fire,” she shouted. She ripped off her robe and tossed it in the flames. She then pulled her bra off and tossed it in. She was so mad she didn’t even think about the fact she was stripping in the middle of the day, where anyone could possibly walk by.

Ryan watched her strip the robe, exposing her luscious breasts to him, before his brain kicked in again. Anyone could walk out the backdoor and see her standing there nearly naked. She may have been trying to prove a point but all she’d done was turn his anger into complete and total desire.

He grabbed her in his arms before she could strip the panties off and then shielding her body with his own, carried her into the house and took the back stairs to their bedroom. She yelled and pounded on him with her fists the entire way, which only fueled his desire. He would tame her in the best way he could possibly imagine.

He unceremoniously tossed her onto their bed and she was so stunned it gave him a few precious seconds to strip himself. When she realized what he was doing, she quickly tried to scramble off the bed but he grabbed her and pinned her beneath him. Her hands were locked above her head and he was fully pressed into her nearly naked body. The only thing stopping him from sinking deep inside her heat was a tiny scrap of silk.

He was so throbbing hard, he was sure he could rip through the tiny piece of material. They glared at one another, locked there on the bed. She squirmed underneath him, which only caused his erection to jump with painful intensity.

“Don’t you dare touch me, you arrogant pig,” she said through clenched teeth. He would’ve come to his senses and let her go if he would’ve seen fear in her eyes or even pure fury. But he saw desire quickly consuming her and it showed in her very readable face. He could feel her nipples, which were obviously peaked into hard nubs pressing against his chest. They both had a light sheen of sweat breaking out on their bodies and neither of them was breathing normally.

“Don’t touch you like this?” he questioned her and moved his mouth down to her neck, where he gently bit down on the sensitive skin where her shoulder met her smooth throat. He licked the spot and ran open mouthed kisses along her neck and up her throat. He licked the edge of her lips but didn’t kiss her quite yet.

“Or like this?” he said huskily, as he ground his hips into the heat between her thighs. She was shaking beneath him and he could see she was trying to fight herself far harder than she was trying to fight him.

“Or this?” he growled, before he finally connected their mouths and slipped his tongue inside. He still had her hands pinned above her head and her squirming began in earnest but for an entirely different reason than before.

Her anger had fled and now she was writhing underneath him in pleasure. He released her hands and she moved them into his hair to pull him closer. He ripped the sides of her panties and not being able to wait a single second longer, he thrust inside her heat. She was wet and tight, showing him she was as turned on as he was.

She may hate him at the moment but she wanted him with as much passion as he wanted her. He grabbed her hips in his hands, so he could angle her heat up higher. He wanted to be sunk so deeply inside her, he wouldn’t know where he ended and she began. She was crying out in pleasure as he pounded in and out of her.

“Say you want me,” he growled at her. She shook her head no, even in the throes of passion she didn’t want to surrender to him. He needed her surrender and as much as it caused him actual physical pain, he buried himself deeply in her and stopped moving. She squirmed underneath him, so close to her peak, needing him to move. “Say it,” he again demanded through clenched teeth. She glared at him through her desire filled eyes, almost sobbing with her frustration and need of him to move within her.

“I want you,” she finally cried out. He rewarded them both by thrusting in and out of her with so much frantic speed they both tumbled over the edge within seconds. She squeezed his erection with her intense orgasm and cried out as he spilled inside of her. It was the longest and most intense pleasure he’d ever felt in his life.

After the shaking in both of their bodies stopped, he collapsed against her, not having the strength to move one muscle in his body. He was trying to simply get his breathing back under control. No woman had ever had the power to make him snap that much. He noticed she was squirming beneath him and realized he was most likely crushing her under his weight. Hell, he weighed more than twice as much as her. He turned their bodies, refusing to let her go.

She didn’t have the energy to fight him anymore, not after the intense pleasure she’d just received and allowed him to keep her tucked at his side. They both fell asleep from the strenuous fight and love-making. Ryan realized he was glad it happened. He may have burned her clothing in anger but at least they were gone and the love-making alone had been worth it. He fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Nicole woke up wrapped around Ryan’s body. She felt her face heat up with embarrassment. She couldn’t believe the fight they had. She also couldn’t believe how much she’d needed him after it was all over. She’d felt like she would explode if he didn’t relieve the ache in her body.

She shifted slightly and tried to untangle herself from him. She wanted to run away and hide for a while. After they’d both passed out, she’d awoken again, only to be ravished by him with even more intensity than before. She knew it must be the middle of the night but she was wide awake and she had to get out of there.

“Don’t even think about it,” she heard Ryan say and his grip tightened on her body. She tensed.

“I need to use the restroom,” she said in excuse. She couldn’t see his face and she was glad he couldn’t see hers because she knew it was flaming scarlet in embarrassment.

“I’ll come and hunt you down if you aren’t back in less than five minutes,” he warned her, before finally releasing her from his arms. Nicole quickly ran to the bathroom, where she washed her face and stared at herself in the mirror.

She ignored his threat and jumped into the shower. The hot water cascading over her sore muscles caused a groan to escape her lips. The water felt wonderful. She knew Ryan was going to be irritated but she didn’t care about anything at that moment except for the water running down her skin.

Ryan heard the shower start and sat up with irritation. The insufferable woman had to defy him no matter what he said. He figured after yesterday she would take him a bit more seriously. He looked at the clock and saw it was two in the morning.

His stomach growled, reminding him they’d both missed dinner. He threw a robe on and ran down to the kitchen, loaded up a tray with food and dashed back to their room. He was relieved when he heard the shower still running. He was beginning to enjoy chasing his woman.

He set the tray on the bed, stripped the robe off and headed into the bathroom to join her in the shower. He could feed both of his hungers in a few minutes time.

Nicole gasped when Ryan’s arms came around her in the shower. She shouldn’t have been surprised he would follow her in but she’d been just about finished and figured he’d fallen back asleep. She’d planned on sneaking downstairs.

Ryan said nothing to her. He simply took her in his arms and reminded her she was his woman, or at least her body belonged to him. The things he did to her, made it almost worth being under his power.

They climbed from the shower together and he wrapped her in a huge fluffy towel. She enjoyed his towels and didn’t think she’d ever be able to go back to the scratchy kind, which had never bothered her before.

When she stepped into the room, she was embarrassed by the loud growling in her stomach the smell of the food caused. Ryan raised his brow at her and gave her a smile. She chose to ignore him and made a dash for the food. She didn’t care how it made her look.

“When will you actually start listening to me?” Ryan asked her in such a conversational tone of voice it took a few moments for the words to actually sink in.

“I’m not your possession, your call-girl, or your employee and therefore I don’t have to listen to you,” she stated back at him in the same conversational tone.

“You’ll learn.”

“I wouldn’t hold your breath in anticipation of that. No, wait a minute, go ahead and do just that. I’m sure it won’t take too long,” she said sugary sweet and batted her eyes at him.

Ryan laughed out loud. He really could get used to her being a part of his life on a permanent basis. She was good for his huge ego, or at least for taking it down a notch or two. He didn’t think he’d ever get her tamed but he was sure going to enjoy trying.

They finished up the food and Ryan shut the light off and pulled her down next to him. Unbelievably, he was still tired. He never slept more than about six hours a night but he had a feeling by the time they got up it would be more likely ten hours that particular night.

Nicole held herself stiffly in his arms to show her stubbornness but that got too uncomfortable for her and after a while she finally relaxed and they both fell asleep.

Ryan knew they’d both won some of the smaller battles that evening but over-all he’d won the war. He’d gotten exactly what he wanted, with her in his bed. He’d make sure he woke up with her still in his arms. It may have been a small thing but to him it was a matter of a stick being drawn in the sand and her learning not to cross it.

Chapter Nine

“There’s absolutely no way I’m going to another one of those parties with you and that’s final,” Nicole said. She placed her arms across her chest and glared at Ryan.

“We have an agreement and if I want to parade you around to ten of those parties a week, you won’t only go but you’ll do it with a smile plastered across your face,” he yelled at her.