pop, and Jacob knew the time for holding back had reached its end.
Chapter Five
“Darlin’, there are two things I’ve never been accused of.”
The dangerously deep inflection in Mitch’s voice sent icy shards of wicked fear racing down Angel’s spine. She’d apparently crossed some invisible line with him. Finally .
“Oh?” she asked innocently and dared to take a step toward him. His own step faltered at that. She had surprised him with her boldness. Good, he needed it. “What might those two things be?”
“I’ve never been called a gentleman, and I’ve never been told I’m weak in any way, shape, or form.”
He stopped so close to her that she felt the heat pumping off his body, warming the chill that facing off with him created in her system. She nearly purred from the sensation, wanting to close those last few inches between them and curl against him like a kitten.
“Then why are you holding back?” The question left her before her brain realized the stupidity of asking it. She was no doubt asking for trouble, engaging him in a showdown she knew damned well he would likely win. The man always won, didn’t he, because he was bigger, stronger, harder.
Mitch might be bigger, stronger, and definitely harder, but she was through letting a man win. He wanted control. She would eagerly give that to him. But if he thought she would gallop away with her tail between her legs in fear, he had another think coming.
“Strip.”
Okay, that coolly delivered command made her eyes widen. “Now?”
“Now.”
She shot a quick glance left, then right, before locking gazes with him again. “Here?”
“Here.”
“But—” What if someone saw her? The barn doors stood wide open. Anyone could walk by at any given time and get an unobstructed view of her. She didn’t know how many people Jacob had working for him, but she knew enough about ranches to guess it would be several and most probably all men.
“Don’t make me tell you again.”
Angel gulped. What would he do to her? He sounded angry, full of authority and not leaving her one iota of space to argue. She dared to cast a cursory look toward Jacob. The expression on his face made her doubt she would find any help from him. Did she really want help? The vibrations drumming through her body were creating such chaos she couldn’t make heads or tails out of them.
As she watched him, Jacob took a few steps closer. His movement attracted Mitch’s attention.
“Got something to say?” Mitch’s tone all but dared Jacob to comment.
“Naw, just moving in for a better view.”
Mitch nodded once at that, and then his hard-edged stare returned to her. A devious thrill cut through all the chaos and ratcheted through her core. “I’m not a patient man, Angel.”
She’d asked for this. No matter how raunchy the idea of getting naked in an open barn where anyone could come upon her might be, she wanted this. Dominance thickened the air, making it difficult to breathe, making it almost impossible to think. Her flesh heated from arousal or embarrassment, she didn’t quite know, as she slipped the knot free on her shirt. The temptation to tease as she removed her clothes was nearly too strong to ignore. She managed, though, deciding she’d likely pushed Mitch as far as she dared this morning. She’d save the games for another time.
The cold authority mixed with unadulterated heat in Mitch’s gaze as it raked over her naked flesh felt like sandpaper hugged by satin, rough yet tantalizingly smooth. His hands moved in opposite directions at once, making it impossible to follow the paths of both. She caught the blur of his right hand headed south a nanosecond before his left fisted in the back of her hair. An involuntary gasp of surprise left her lips as he yanked her head back.
“Next time I give you an order, you follow it without hesitation. Got that?”
She tried to nod, but his grip on her hair wouldn’t let her. “Got it,” she managed in a
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