CHAPTER 2 – The proposition

Zeke’s POV

I hold her for a few more seconds before she recovers and backs away from me in a hurry.

Her eyes are wide in shock and intrigue. She stares at me with an intoxicating expression, her long lashes batting aggressively.

Her beauty is dazzling and had no need for artificial assistance. Her bare face is compelling. The only sign of makeup on her is the oil coating her plump lips.

Her dirt-blond hair is gathered into a messy bun atop her head with small tendrils falling attractively, framing her face.

The skin around her face is smooth, her cheekbones sharp. Her green eyes are tinged with attractive rings of blue in her irises.

Those eyes…

Those lips…

That body…

That hair….

What would she look like with that hair cascading down her back? Or when I gripped it tight, pulling her head back?

My body jerks with an almost violent need, a fierce desire to possess her. I ached to work my lips all over her body, to feel the plumpness of her skin, the softness of her lips, to feel her body react under my touch.

I stare at her lips imagining what they’d taste like, feel like. I yearn for her helpless surrender. I want to meet her lips with a hurried kiss that’d set my skin aflame.

Does she know how beautiful she is? How seductive? Beautiful is an understatement. She’s breathtaking. It’s a shock more men aren’t lining up to claim her.

Something about her had overpowered me with a powerful, fierce need to save her from that creep.

She doesn’t even recognize me. Good, but then again, no one ever does.

“Oh my God, why’d you do that?” she asks, panicked.

Her voice throws me into a deep end. It has a compelling dulcet, an edge of naughtiness that makes me fantasize about her.

I wonder what she’d sound like when I have her pinned on the bed. I want that voice whispering my name in subdued tones. I want her nails running along my back, digging deep, drawing blood.

She is enrapturing, exuding a hidden wildness that makes my fingers tingle. In the back of my mind, I can see her handcuffed in my RED ROOM.

I can see all the ties digging into her pale skin, my handprints all over her ass. I can see her face twisted with sick pleasure. I can see her on her knees, staring up at me with those long lashes, batting at me.

My groin hardens with pleasure.

“I am so fucking fired, oh my God. Do you even know what you did?” she erupts.

I unroll my sleeves, picking up my suit jacket. “I believe I just saved you,” I reply coolly.

“Fuck no, you just screwed me. You just ruined me. I was handling it. You didn’t need to jump in. I don’t need a knight in shining armor,” she says.

But I could see her struggling to hide her attraction. She’s almost performing, putting on a show for me just to prove she is not affected by me.

I almost smile. Her wild tantrums are enticing. Stubborn, feisty, the perfect sub for me. She is daring, provocative, and so goddamn bratty.

Her wit, charm, and stubbornness lend her a compelling personality. I can tell right away she’ll challenge me. She’ll stand up to me.

I’ll be frustrated every step of the way but I’ll enjoy it too. I can’t wait to handle her.

She makes me pulse with an animal sort of lust. I haven’t felt like this in a long time. Or ever. There’s something different about her. Something wild. Something untamable.

From the minute I saw her, I knew. I knew she is the one I’ve been searching for. It was destiny that crossed our paths.

It was sheer luck that made my car tires burst on the street outside, right in front of this branch of my franchise, two weeks ago when I first saw her.

I’d come in to use the phone to call a mechanic. It’d been a busy day at the store. She didn’t even notice me.

When I first saw her, it felt like divine intervention. How pretty she had looked then, how much she reminded me of the past.

It had been desire at first sight.

I wanted her immediately. The only way to describe it is....like the sensation of knowing when the right key meets the right lock, the sensation of knowing when something clicks.

It’s been two weeks of stalking her, watching her, learning everything I could about her. For two weeks now, I’ve watched her without her knowledge.

Two weeks of total obsession, studying her patterns, learning her behavior, familiarizing myself with tiny bits and pieces of her.

This is not the way I planned to introduce myself to her but when destiny calls…

“I haven’t heard ‘thank you’ yet,” I say, stepping closer to her.

I watch her breath quicken; her eyes darken. The bones along her collarbone makes small pulsating movements as the rhythm of her heart intensifies.

Our proximity is driving her nuts just like it’s driving me insane. Her smell fills my nostrils. Vanilla mixed with hints of coconut.

I can smell it in her hair, and body. I want to bury my nose in her nape of her neck and take a deep breath.

Maybe run my tongue along the side of her neck just to see her reaction.

“Yeah, thanks for blowing up my life,” she whispers in heated tone.

I cock my head to the side. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re such a brat? Usually when I save girls from creeps like that, they don’t show their gratitude in such hostile way,” I say.

She throws her head back, matching my energy. “Oh yeah? You go around saving girls from creeps? What are you? Some knight-in-shining-armor for hire?”

I thrust out a hand. “Actually, I’m Zeke Knight,” I say.

The information washes over her slowly. She darts her eyes around. Trying to place me, she mutters my name under her breath desperately: ‘Knight, Knight, Knight.’

It didn’t come to her at first, but then, it slowly dawns on her that we are standing in one of the many Knight shopping stores in the city.

I watch her entire expression change. Color floods her face. Embarrassment reddens her cheek.

She stumbles away from me. “Zeke Knight? As in Knight Empire? As in the founder and owner of the Knight Franchise? As in my boss’s boss’s boss’s boss’s boss?” she rambles, confused and shaken.

I let out a small chuckle. I enjoy watching the defiance slowly drain from her body.

“You don’t have to worry about that creep. He’s fired as far as I’m concerned,” I say, gesturing to the fat fuck still lying on the floor.

She stammers. “I…um…urgh….is..”

She can’t get the words out. She is flummoxed. All her stubborn energy dissipating. It is almost a delight to watch my effect on her and how hard she’s fighting it.

Stubborn girl.

I check my watch. Lunch is almost over. “I’d say you’ve earned yourself a break. Join me, I have a proposition for you,” I say, extending a hand.

She stands, frozen. “I…don’t…know…I should…get back…to…work.”

“Work’s done. Let’s go,” I say, taking her hand possessively.

She feels so fragile. So small, so innocent. Her skin is smooth against mine. I interlock our fingers, pulling her along.

Ignoring her protests, we walk out of the store to the garage outside where my car, a black SUV, is waiting. My driver opens the door for us.

“Get in,” I command, helping her in. She flushes scarlet as I fasten the seatbelt around her before getting in, too. I can literally hear her low gasps when I get close to her.

My driver gets in. “Where to, sir?”

“To Scarlet’s,” I reply.

My driver nods and zooms off.

I am thrumming with excitement.

“Where are we going?” she asks.

I let the question linger. My eyes trace her face. She is distractingly hot. Her sharp cheekbones, pink supple lips, smooth skin, thick hair. It all calls to me.

I lower my eyes to her thighs. Her skirt is rolled up a little, exposing her smooth thighs.

I lick my lips in response.

“Jazz, have you ever felt drawn to someone before? So drawn to them that you can’t think about anything else? They occupy your thoughts, your dreams, every waking moment?” I ask.

Her brows raise. “How’d you know my name?”

I lean close to her. “I know everything about you, Jazz Peters.”

Her mouth opens wide again with shock. She squirms, like she’s trying to run away from me.

I place a hand on her naked thigh, holding her steady. It takes tremendous restraint not to sink my teeth in that smooth skin and leave marks.

“Have you been stalking me?” she asks, confused.

There is no need to lie. No need to fake pretense. “Long enough to know that you’ll have no other choice but to accept my proposition.”

She narrows her eyes. “What proposition is that?”

My voice lowers, getting serious. “I want to fuck you, Jazz. Right now. You let me do that, and in exchange, all your financial troubles will disappear,” I present my case as calmly as possible.

I watch her jaws drop.

It’s been two weeks of following her around with my balls begging to be emptied.

Two weeks of wondering what she tastes like. Two weeks of dreaming, imagining, longing.

And I am not prepared to take no for an answer!