Page 24 of Herding Cat

He spewed a laugh. It wasn’t one of humor, but of disbelief. Had she really just said that? “Excuse me. I’m the one who has been waiting here. You just made up your mind. Like right now.”

“That doesn’t mean I wasn’t thinking about you. About this.” At that, she ripped his shirt off. Literally. Little buttons scattered all over the carpet.

He didn’t give a rat’s ass.

Her action, her hunger, her furor, enflamed something in him. Something deeper than sexual desire. Something more potent than simple lust.

It was need.

He needed to take her. Cover her, possess her.

Fuck the slow, comfortable screw up against the wall he’d been planning.

This would be an incursion.

He whipped off what was left of his shirt and tossed it onto a pile of...something. Then, pinning her with his most feral expression, he stepped toward her. “Did you just rip off my shirt?” he growled.

“I did.”

Oh. She’d pay for that.

“Give me yours in exchange.”

She blinked. He had the sense she was acclimatizing to the game, to the sudden shift of dominance in the room.

Good.

She needed to acclimate. Because even though she was his boss, she was not the predator here. Definitely not the one in charge. And she needed to know it.

“But—”

“Give it to me now, Cat, with no hesitation or I will rip it from your body.” He offered a smirk of his own, one that caused her to swallow. “And I suspect your blouse is a hell of a lot more expensive than my shirt.”

It delighted him that she complied in a rush, her gaze on him never wavering.

“And the bra.”

It was hardly fair to demand that too, but she quickly removed it, which was all good and well, except she showed him her back to do so. It was a lovely back, but not what he wanted to see.

“Cat...”

She peeped at him over her shoulder. “Um, yeah?”

“Do you want a spanking?”

She paled. “A what?” Her tone made it clear no one had ever offered this before. Not since she’d been a bratty kid.

He merely narrowed his eyes, which made her eep.

“Surely you don’t intend to spank me?”

“Not unless you misbehave.”

In her fury she forgot she was nearly naked and whirled around, setting her hands on her hips and bellowing, “I am a grown woman.”

It was hard to hold back his smile. “I see that.”

She tried to cover herself, but he didn’t allow it, catching her hands in his.