Page 26 of Under Fire

She opened her mouth to contend—but she knew it would be fruitless. She’d spent the past four years buried in textbooks. She had no social life.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Don’t be. I like that. I’m married to my work, too.”

Her mouth dropped, and her mind spun. He couldn’t have just said that.

“Don’t you have a dress? Or something less…daytime.” He drew his hand across his jaw, tracking the rough stubble there.

“Well, there is something.” She reached to the far back, finding a black dress she’d worn to her cousin’s wedding two summers before.

It was cute, kind of casual and looked like fire on her. The only problem was that it was one size smaller than she’d prefer. She flashed the hanging garment at him, seeming to draw a heated response.

“Put it on,” he growled, leaning forward a little more.

Alisa’s gaze darted to the washroom and back to him.Does he want… Does he want me to strip in front of him?She toyed with the zipper of the dress nervously, her lips pouting to make words that would never come.

“Look… We made a deal.” He read her mind and nodded to the washroom. “But you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. You make your own choices.”

“Okay,” she said and took a step away from him, trying not to blush.

Maybe she wanted him to be a little more savage about it. Maybe she wanted to feel.

Her gaze flashing back at him, she observed him watching her. His blue eyes cut into her—reminding her who was leading. Something about him made her never want to walk away.

“That said, if you want to play a game, we could keep things interesting tonight,” he concluded. “Since this party is bound to be fucking excruciating.”

“A game?”

“There would be rules. I have a feeling you love rules.”

Sure do.

“Like?” She turned to square herself to him, still holding the dress, waiting on his every word.

Warren leaned back, resting his hands on his thighs. His arms and shoulders flexed slightly as he assessed her, like a predator waiting to take down his prey. He had read her right, that was for sure.

“You better start thinking of your safeword.” His teeth grazed his bottom lip.

Flushed, Alisa let out an anxious laugh, clutching the dress tighter to her body.A safeword?The way that rolled off his lips drove something wild inside her. And she realized…that was his way of having fun.

“You want to play? Safeword first.”

“Magnetic.”

He grinned in response. Something flickered in his eyes.

“What’s rule number one?” She exhaled, focused only on him.

“Take that off”—he motioned to her T-shirt and shorts—“and put the dress on. Right here.”

His movements stilled as he waited for her.

It took her all of three seconds before she dropped her loose shorts, exposing a lacy thong in a caramel color that matched her golden-brown skin. Then, she hauled her T-shirt over her head, letting it drop onto the scratched floor as her gold chain danced around her neck. Her matching bra, lacy and uplifting, gave her cleavage that she could only dream of—cleavage that absorbed the engagement ring she wanted to pretend didn’t exist.

“Great—you’re ready.” He slapped his thighs. “Let’s go.”

Alisa fumbled forward, nervously giggling. “Stop. Please stop.”

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