I accepted a glass and sipped the cool and fizzy drink, considering his three-questions proposal. It felt like a game, and I wanted a reason to suspend reality. Mainly because I wanted him. Hard and fast, then slow and easy. I needed space to process everything that had happened tonight, but at the same point, I was dying for him. If I didn’t get those big hands on me again, my powerful surges of need would take me out.
I gripped my glass. “Why did you research me?”
It was a more diplomatic word for the way he’d hunted me down because I’d already shelved the burning question about who he was. I didn’t want to hear an answer that would sour the sweet taste I’d had of him.
“Ah, honey. You’re being polite. I stalked you at first because I was intrigued. I saw you and had to know more. I was attracted, too. Insanely so. Then after, because you’re worth pursuing.”
My cheeks flushed hot. What a nice thing to say. What a great way to excuse red flag behaviour.
And it was working.
Elijah held up three fingers and lowered one to indicate my progress through his game.
“You went into the basement just for me?”
I had no idea why, but I needed him to say. So I knew the extent of his strange obsession. Or maybe for more selfish reasons.
“I have never done anything like that before and never will again. I followed you to the warehouse and discovered the rest myself. Everything after led me to this point.”
He lowered another finger, leaving one.
I swallowed down the rest of my champagne. “Did you have a good time at Douglas Tucker’s party?”
Aaand there went my big mouth, ruining it all.
His dark-eyed gaze didn’t flicker. “I didn’t attend his party. I saw you outside and left immediately after. Not my vibe to hang out somewhere naked women were escaping.”
I closed my mouth with a snap. A world of assumptions rose and fell. What did that mean? He still knew Tucker. The phone call told me that. But he wasn’t guilty of the worst of the crimes I’d pinned on him.
Or, he was an excellent liar.
Elijah’s gaze flared with hunger that weakened my knees. “Your questions are up. Now it’s my go. Want to know what’s driving me insane right now? The fact that you’re naked under my shirt and leaking my cum.”
My heart thumped harder. He was a danger. A threat. One who at any second was going to pounce on me.
Worse, I wanted him to.
I wanted him all over me. Doing filthy things. Bringing that champagne into the mix. The sharp edge of need scared the crap out of me.
Words fell from his lips. “The rules of the game are that we own each other, and we fuck. A lot. Which means I’m going to bein you so much I’ll start paying rent. You get to choose where I fuck you now. After that, it’s my turn.”
I was an idiot for not being afraid of this guy, even as warning alarms blared in my head. “Trying to get a matching stab mark on the other side of your chest?”
He laughed softly. “Don’t think I won’t wear that as a badge. You made me bleed, I’ll make you scream my name.”
Oh God, he was good.
Weakly, I gestured at the piece of paper he’d so far ignored. “Aren’t you going to read that?”
He raised a shoulder. “It can wait.”
“That insistent PA will probably be harassing the hotel staff if you don’t.”
Elijah clenched his jaw then took a heavy breath as if recognising the argument. Maybe he was concerned for the little guy after all. He reached for the note and tore his gaze away to scan it.
I took my chance.
Leaping up, I beat it across the room and to an exit into a hallway, my bare feet slapping on polished wood. The wall of windows continued down the hall, and I flew past doorways until I reached a huge bedroom at the end. Dancing inside, I slammed then locked the door, my chest rising and falling hard.