Tackling Her Heart (12 page)

Marc knew she was right, but she
wasn’t in the habit of hiding out. “I’ll get one of the restaurants
to deliver here, then.”

She turned and smiled, but he was too
aggravated for the look to have the intended effect. “Thank you,”
she whispered before moving to her tippy toes to kiss his
cheek.

Sofia watched him as they walked.
“You’re mad.”

“
I want to go out to
dinner.”
With you.

“
You’re the one who told
me to lie!” she cried.

“
I know,” he muttered. He
knew he was being difficult.

They walked back onto the deck of the
villa, and he ushered her inside. “Go take your shower. I’ll call
the front desk and have them arrange an early dinner be brought
here.”

Sofia sidled up to him, pressing her
palm against his chest. “Or I could wait for you and we could
shower together.”

“
Go shower,” he said,
cocking an eyebrow her way.

Sofia glared at him. “You’re acting
like a spoiled child.”

“
I’m not used to being
told no,” he snapped back. “You’ll have to be punished for
it.”

“
Punished?”

The look on her face seemed a mixture
of panic and desire. His cock sprang up in his shorts as he noted
her odd reaction. “Spanked, maybe. I can see you now, cuffed to my
bed, a flogger taken to that pretty, round ass of
yours.”

Sofia swallowed roughly, and took half
a step back. Her irises dilated and her little pink tongue came out
to spread along her bottom lip. She was scared … and
heated.

“
Would you like that,
Sofia? Or would you prefer me to put you over my lap and spank you
with my hand? Do you prefer the flesh-to-flesh contact more than
the caress of leather?”

“
I—I don’t know,” she all
but whimpered.

He took a step forward, closing the
gap she’d made. “I think you do know. Take your shower and think
about which punishment you’d prefer. When I get out of my shower,
you can tell me which you want. I might take your wishes into
account,” he turned to grab his cell phone off the counter. “But
then again, maybe I won’t.”

His back to her, he couldn’t see her
reaction to his words, but the scent of her cream struck his nose.
She was enflamed by his words. The corner of his mouth lifted as he
dialed the concierge’s desk. Marc was tempted to put the phone down
and forget food. He’d be just as happy feeding on her
instead.

But she needed time to think of what
she wanted, and for the fear to subside a little, letting the
flames of desire build.

“
Yes, Mr. Anders, how may
I be of service?”

His smile widened as the concierge
picked up. He was going to wine and dine Sophia before tying her to
the bed. “I need your help again,” he said before recounting part
of his plan to the man on the other end of the line.

* * * *

Sofia finished drying off, her hands
shaking like leaves. She pulled on one of her sundresses, going
braless underneath. The smocked top would do enough to hold her
ample bosom for the evening. She drew on a pair of black thongs,
which was almost pointless as Marc had ripped off the last pair
she’d worn. The man was having a negative impact on her underwear
drawer, so it she figured it might be best not to wear them at all.
As nervous as she was, she couldn’t decide, but eventually pulled
them back off, knowing she rather enjoyed that particular pair and
didn’t want them wrecked.

She fussed with her hair, pulling it
into a knot. Staring into the mirror over the dresser, she decided
she didn’t care for the way it looked. Sofia pulled it down and
rearranged it again, only to not like that either. The third
attempt was somewhat more successful, so she gave up and glared at
herself in the mirror.

Knowing full well she was wasting time
and fussing over herself versus thinking about Marc’s comments, she
finally had to face the fact he planned to cuff her to the bed and
spank her. She was raised a good girl, taught that actions like the
ones he talked of were sinful.

Sofia must be a sinner, then, because
the thoughts of Marc doing the things he talked of made her hot and
bothered. She wasn’t so naive to not know things like that happened
in some people’s bedrooms, but prior to Marc, she’d thought anyone
who participated in that kind of play had to be strange to find
enjoyment in it. Never had she imagined herself as someone to find
it erotic.

Yet the moment he’d uttered his plans
to punish her, her body had throbbed and ached for his touch and
his … spanking. The vision of her lying over his lap as he spanked
her with his bare hand caused cream to ease from her pussy and coat
her folds.

Her cell phone buzzed from the bedside
table, breaking her train of thought. It was a welcome diversion,
her mind going wild. She picked up the cell and saw it was her
editor. After taking a deep, calming breath, she clicked the Accept
button on the screen. “Hi, Davis.”

“
Hey, I just wanted to
touch base with you and see how your dad was,” Davis said. “You
guys doing okay?”

“
Yeah, he’s already doing
much better since I arrived,” she said, lying through her teeth.
Her stomach flip-flopped. She didn’t like lying and felt terrible
doing it. She was an unprofessional, terrible person who would rot
in hell.

“
That’s great,” Davis
said. She heard the sorting of papers or something on the other end
as silence filled the air for a moment. “So, I’m looking at an
email that says you
supposedly
had sex on a Tahitian beach with Marc Anders this
afternoon. I told my reporter there was no way that could be
possible because you’re in Argentina right now.”

Sofia closed her eyes and felt the
world tilt under her feet. “Davis—”

“
Look, I don’t want to
hear your explanations. You promised a story, then you backed out,
so I sent another reporter to cover it. Now that I find you’ve been
sleeping with the guy, I think you’re still the better one to write
it since you’re closer with the subject. So, if you want a job when
you return, you’ll send me a story in two days. If I don’t get that
story, then you no longer work here. Do you understand?”

“
How can I write a story
about Marc now? I’m compromised.”

Davis sighed. “We didn’t hire you for
your journalistic credentials, sweetheart. Just get the job
done.”

Anger rushed through her veins. Her
worst fears were just realized. “You’re a bastard.”

“
And you’ve whored
yourself out to Marc Anders. Are you going to write the story or
not?”

She wanted to say no. She should say
no. No, she should tell him to go fuck himself, but there was
something inside her that didn’t want to go out on that note. The
masked warrior queen warred with the wallflower, and neither one
was stronger than the other at the moment. Her father had worked
hard to get her that job, and her respect for him got in the way of
saying what she really wanted to. It seemed easier to say what
Davis wanted to hear than to continue arguing. “Fine. I’ll write
the damned story. Two days.”

“
Good choice.” The line
went dead.

Chapter Twelve

Sofia sat there staring at her phone
for a moment, feeling almost ill. She sat it back down to charge,
her mind spinning. There was no way she could write that story. Her
heart thumped heavily in her chest. Sofia cared too much for Marc
to break her promise. She wouldn’t do it. Instead, she’d write her
letter of resignation and submit that. Her father would understand;
she’d make him understand. Damn it, why hadn’t she been able to
tell Davis to go to hell?

“
So what are you going to
write about me?”

Sofia spun, and the sickness only
grew. Marc stood there, his face looking angrier than she’d ever
seen it. A towel hugged his narrow hips, his broad, muscular arms
crossed over a wide expanse of chest. Under normal circumstances,
she’d have been turned on by the sight of him like this, with beads
of water covering his sinful body. Now, his untimely arrival was
all kinds of wrong.

Marc hadn’t completely started
trusting her, but she’d seen him relaxing in the past few days.
Whatever ground she’d gained, she’d lost and then some in the
matter of a couple of minutes. “I’m not going to write
it.”

“
You just told Davis
you
would
write
the story, even though you’re compromised. So you’ve been lying
this whole time, getting closer to me for the kill. I should’ve
guessed.”

“
No! I didn’t. Davis
backed me into a corner, and I didn’t know what to say, so I said
yes. But I’m not going to write it. I
can’t
write it.”

Marc stared at her for a
long moment. “Why
can’t
you?”

Because I’m falling in
love with you.
The immediate thought made
her suck in a breath. She felt slightly dizzy and put a hand on the
bed to steady herself. She knew there was no way she could repeat
that thought out loud. Marc wouldn’t want to hear it. “Becoming
your mistress … gave me bias. If word of our relationship surfaced,
anything I printed would be considered worthless.”

Marc continued to stare at her, his
face now devoid of emotion. What was he thinking? She couldn’t
gauge anything from the blank stare he was giving her. He was
silent, just watching her like a hawk.

“
Say something,” she
sputtered after a while, needing him to talk to her, to tell her
what he thought—to tell her he believed her.

“
Take the dress
off.”

She paused, not sure she’d heard him
right. “What?”

“
Take. The. Dress.
Off.”

“
Why?”

Marc pulled his towel off and
discarded it on the floor before walking over to one of his open
bags. He began fishing through for something, ignoring
her.

When he turned back to her, a small
bag in hand, he frowned, seeing she hadn’t done as he’d asked. “I
said to take the dress off.” He stormed over to her and pulled the
dress from over her head. She gawked at him, shocked at what he’d
done, but also angry. How dare he?

“
When I tell you to do
something, you obey.”

He was out of his
ever-loving mind. “Obey?” she said with a chuckle. “I don’t
think
so.”

He moved closer, his voice getting
very low. “You’re in need of punishment.”

She shivered. “If you’re
angry with me, this is
not
the way to take it out on me.”

Marc grabbed the back of her head and
drew her closer. “I won the game this afternoon, so I get what I
want. What I want is you, naked on that bed, tied to it so I can
spank you. And trust me, you need to be spanked.”

He hadn’t hurt her with his touch,
more shocked her than anything. Marc slowly released her, and she
took a step back. He pulled her back close to him and captured her
mouth with his, his tongue forcing its way into her mouth to sweep
between her teeth. His kiss wasn’t gentle, but it wasn’t harsh,
either. Again, she couldn’t get a read on his emotions and that
left her feeling unsure of what he was doing.

Marc lowered a hand to cup her sex,
one finger sliding between her folds. She was wet for him, even in
her uncertainty. Her body reacted without her brain at times, the
many orgasms he’d rendered from her body giving him some kind of
claim to her flesh. A moan slipped from her lips as he added
another finger to her pussy and finger fucked her a few times,
caressing her g-spot.

And as quickly as he pulled her close,
he was gone. She felt bereft, cold and alone standing there without
his touch.

Marc headed over to the bed and
checked the cuffs still affixed to the headboard. Sofia watched the
muscles working in his strong, smooth back and wished she knew what
was going on in his head. He looked over his shoulder at her. “Get
on the bed. On your hands and knees.”

She did as she was bid, her body
moving without conscious choice. Climbing onto the top, she
searched his face. Sofia didn’t see any remnants of anger, but she
also knew he was The Iceman. He was a master at hiding his
emotions. “What are you going to do to me?”

Marc looked up from what he was doing,
their gazes locking. “What I told you I planned to do when we got
home.”

A shiver raced up Sofia’s spine. She’d
wanted him to cuff her again. She’d even come to terms with what
he’d planned, but she wouldn’t let him punish her if he was mad.
She knelt before him and grabbed his chin in one hand. She eyed him
close, looking for a flinch or for him to look away. He did
neither, his face blank.

Marc lifted an eyebrow, impatience
crossing his handsome features. He gently pulled away from her hand
and nodded for her to get into position. Sofia did, and he quickly
bound one of her wrists with the soft, black cuff. On her knees,
her hands were fixed to the headboard by a short length. She
watched him binding her, almost separated from the action, a third
party hovering away from what was happening.