Flustered, she sat down on the edge of the bed and clicked the end of her pen at him.

"Are you ready to run through the tick list for this room?"

Lucien glanced briefly around at the completed room.

"No need. Lets skip straight to the 'any other notes' box." He dropped down alongside her, not quite close enough to touch, close enough to feel the heat of his body.

Sophie had guessed there would be extra information, yet still she held her breath.

"The mattress needs to be comfort tested."

She started to write but he reached out and stilled her hand.

"I meant now."

Sophie glanced towards the open door. "No way. I'll write it down, but I'm not rolling around on that bed with you."

"I didn't ask you to roll. Just lie back."

It wasn't the demand of a boss to his PA. It was the demand of a man to a woman, and Sophie's body responded before her mind could play catch-up. She lay back.

"Well?" Lucien eased back too, propped up on one elbow watching Sophie. "Is it soft? Or is it hard, do you think?"

Sophie turned her head to look at him. "I'd probably call it firm."

"Firm." Lucien murmured. "But does it yield to your curves? Would it be comfortable if you were being pressed into it by the weight of your lover?"

Sophie closed her eyes.

"Imagine you're being screwed right now, someone's hips grinding against yours."

His hand dropped over her hip as he spoke, a pleasurable pressure to enhance her perception of his words.

"Are you comfortable, Sophie? Does it feel good?"

Sophie opened her eyes and looked into his, sinful, mercurial pools of lust.

"It feels good Lucien. Really good."

He licked his lips, and for a second Sophie felt certain he was going to lean down and kiss her. If he'd asked to road test that mattress properly right there and then, she'd have had her skirt around her waist in seconds.

But he didn't. He paused for a second, his eyes on her mouth, and then stood up and offered her his hand to help her up.

"You can sign this room off. It's complete."

Lucien walked ahead of Sophie into the bondage room, and at the sight of a small team of fitters drilling holes on the walls he turned and walked straight back out again.

The rest of the inspection could wait. He'd had enough of everyone else's company but Sophie's.

"Let's get out of here."

He snapped his phone against his ear, and seconds later they were back in the close confines of the limo. As the car eased into the traffic, Lucien turned to Sophie.

"About those rules of yours."

Sophie didn't reply, but from the way her eyes darkened and her tongue darted across her top lip, he knew she wanted to hear what he had to say.

He didn't touch her. He couldn't, because he wanted her so much that a little wouldn't be enough. The air in the car shimmered with barely held in sexual frustration.

"That no touching thing." He curled his hands into fists because the instinct to reach out for her was so strong. "That holds for the next ten minutes. And then I'm going to touch you everywhere."

The sigh that left her lips wasn't one of resignation. It was one that yearned for the next ten minutes to be over.

"And as for that no kissing thing." He slid close to her on the back seat and his eyes dropped to her lips. "I'm going to kiss your mouth." She tilted her head, an invitation to plunder, but he held back. "And I'm going to kiss your neck."

He shifted to accommodate his erection as his eyes strayed lower. "Then I'm going to strip you naked and kiss your fucking beautiful tits." She whimpered, and closed her eyes, her head resting back on the seat. Her nipples pushed visibly against her blouse.  "Can you feel me all over your body, Sophie? Imagine my head between your legs. I'm going to kiss you slowly, right there, until you come in my mouth."

The car came to a halt outside the apartment building, and Lucien jumped straight out and opened her door, muttering something low and fast to the driver, who stepped smartly back into the car and was gone in an instant.

His hand grabbed hers and tugged her through the courtyard, he banged his fist repeatedly on the lift’s call button, swearing under his breath at the antiquated system that had seemed so charming earlier. Sophie knew from the way his chest rose and fell that he was every bit as ready as she was, and as she stepped inside the cage, he knocked the breath from her lungs as he pinned her against the side. Cold ironwork cooled her back, and the heat radiating from Lucien's body scorched her front. His hands gripped the bars either side of hers.

"Don't stop me," he murmured, a breath away from kissing her as the lift jolted to a halt. She shook her head. She wouldn't stop him. She was terrified that he would stop.

He unlocked the apartment door and pulled her inside.

Chapter Twelve

Lucien slammed her against the back of the closed door, his hands buried in her hair, his mouth all over hers. Sophie met him head on, tasting him, feeling him, drinking him in. His erection pressed hard against her belly and his breath came in short hot bursts that matched her own.

"Fuck..." He wrestled out of his jacket and reached for her polka dot blouse without breaking the connection with her mouth. "You're wearing too many clothes," he muttered against her lips, and in one swift movement he yanked her blouse open, sending buttons scattering against the walls. He pulled back a fraction to look at her exposed bra as she tore her arms from the sleeves.

Lucien shook his head, his jaw clenched. "Still too many."

He reached around her body and flicked her bra open, then pulled it off and flung it aside.

"Fucking hell, " he groaned, his hands already on her breasts between their bodies. She gasped with pleasure as he rolled her painfully stiff nipples, and her hands fought for space to get him out of his shirt.

"Take this off, " she murmured, frustrated by the need to feel his naked skin.

He broke away for a second, stepping back and breathing heavily as he discarded his shirt and reached for his belt.

"I've never wanted to fuck anyone as much as I want to fuck you right now," he breathed, pinning her back against the door.

Lust shot through her groin at his guttural words. She clutched at him as he reclaimed her mouth, relishing the glide of his hot skin beneath her hands. She could barely breathe as he reached down and dragged her skirt up over her hips and pushed his hand inside her knickers. At last. At last.

"Oh God," she sank her teeth into his lip as he opened her with his fingers and found her clitoris. All of the air seemed to suck out of the room. There was just Lucien, and the pleasure he was giving her with his thrusting fingers.