Page 32 of Winter’s Fire

He’d reached the point of no return. His soul was already damned and heading for hell, but before he knocked on Satan’s door, he’d introduce her to this world he couldn’t live without, and do his utmost to make it good for her.

“Lucy.” Her name sighed from his lips. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Chapter 10

Her sweetness made him ache, and finally he capitulated in his months-long battle against desire. Only his burden of guilt and shame enabled him to offer her one last chance to back down.

“You sure you want to do this? If you have any doubts and want to stick with the original plan, just say the word.”

To his surprise, her lips curved into a small smile. “With all due respect, Sir, I’ve already given this some thought. I made my decision a few days ago—I was just too chicken to tell you before now.”

“You’re not chicken, Lucy. You’re one of the bravest people I know.”

“We may have to agree to differ on that. There is one thing, though.”

“What’s that?”

“With your agreement, I’d like to renegotiate my hard limits.”

Her frankness suffused him with an irresistible warmth. “You’re priceless.”

“No, I’m just a quick study, with the right motivation. Assuming you do agree, what happens next, Sir?”

Unable to help himself, he gathered her in his arms, lifted her off her feet and spun in a circle. A sunburst of happiness flared inside him, banishing, even if only temporarily, that sour dread of just moments ago.

“We renegotiate. Do you want to do it now, or wait until we’ve been to the club?”

“Oh, definitely before we go to the club. It won’t take long.”

He liked her confidence. “Is that so? What did you have in mind?”

“The ‘no sex’ limit.”

He was holding Lucy too damn close, and from the way her expression changed, she was as aware of his hardening cock as he was. Her eyebrows rose and her lips pressed together. For a heartbeat, he braced himself for an indignant reprimand—then he saw the twinkle in her eyes, and the dimples of suppressed laughter in her flushed cheeks.

“So what do you want to do with the ‘no sex’ limit, Miss Winter?”

“I was thinking, maybe—again, with your agreement, and not to put too fine a point on it—dump it? I’d like us to be open to the possibility of experiencing more or less anything.”

“I think I could agree to that.” Hell, yes. “How about if we have the option to discuss anything new beforehand?”

“I think I could agree to that, Sir.”A cheeky grin teased the lips that had echoed his words.

A truly wicked thought popped into his mind. Oh sweet revenge. Against the odds, he managed to keep a straight face. “Before we act on it, though, there’s something we have to do first.”

A cute, puzzled frown appeared. “What’s that?”

He lowered his head, kissed her cheek, then gave her earlobe a gentle suck. Shit, she tasted good. “Paperwork,” he whispered in her ear. “We need to sign off the amendments to the contract. Got to follow the rules. Departmental policy.”

She leaned away from him. Her gaze clashed with his, and the standoff nearly killed him stone dead, to the point where it took him a second or two to realise she’d started laughing.

“Touché, Sir.” She wiped the tears of laughter away with the heel of her hand. “Touché. You got me there.”

He’d got her? He could only hope, because right now, his desire for this woman was under less control than a runaway train with failing brakes.

“Tell me your safewords again.”

“Red to stop, yellow to slow down and discuss, green to continue.”