His muscles tensed and heated with the erotic challenge. Blake realized right then what he’d been missing, what he needed. Just being in control wasn’t enough. He liked the challenge, the sweetness of winning the battle to get Kara to submit to him. With everyone else, it had been easy to command them, practically mindless control. With Kara, nothing was easy, but it was good. Real damn good.

He set her down at the foot of her bed, his gaze flickering over the feminine blankets, his mind imagining her naked beneath them, naked beneath him. His hands settled on her shoulders and he pinned her in a stare. “If you thought you’d seduce me into foolishness like you did back in Denver, you underestimated me.”

“I didn’t seduce you,” she objected. “I—”

He turned her to the bed, a sound of surprise sliding from her lips. Immediately, he shackled her legs with his and tugged her jacket down her arms, determined to get her in that naked state he was fantasizing about as quickly as possible. The instant her jacket was gone, she tried to turn. He didn’t let her, lifting her shirt up and then quickly unhooking her bra.

Before she even knew what had happened, he’d tugged her back against him, his hands cupping her breasts, his mouth pressed to her ear. “Tonight, I own you,” he murmured, and he couldn’t believe how much he wanted that, how much he wanted her.

“Never,” she declared, but the hoarseness of her voice told a different story. She was already sinking into the confines of desire and need, where he intended to immerse her. Where he intended to join her.

Blake plucked at her nipples, scraping his teeth over her earlobe. “We’ll see, won’t we?”

“Yes,” she agreed breathlessly. “I guess we will.”

“Get on the bed.”

“No.”

He smiled into the soft floral halo of her hair, the silky strands tickling his cheek, and pressed her forward until her hands hit the mattress, forcing her to crawl on top of it. She made a frustrated sound he saw as challenge. He wanted her moaning, begging for more. Telling him what she wanted and how she wanted it.

His hand slid over her jeans-clad backside and up her waist to unsnap her jeans. Her hand went to his, trying to stop him. He countered her action by flattening her onto the bed, framing her body with his, his cock settling against her lush backside. She rewarded him with one of those moans he craved, and her hips lifted against his.

“I love how you smell,” he said, burying his face in her neck.

“Sweet talk won’t get you anywhere.”

His lips twitched. “No?” He slid his hands under her and cupped her breasts. “Where will this get me?”

She made another soft sound of pleasure before denial whispered from her lips. “Nowhere. It gets you nowhere.”