All I can do is gasp for breath and gaze up at him, utterly spent.

Chapter Seven

Boone

Ivy’s flustered and silent on the way back to her office, but I’m feeling smug. I’ve still got the sweet taste of her on my mouth, and there’s a big wet spot on the backseat that tells me just how hard I made her come. Of course, Ivy’s embarrassed by it, but that’s because she’s a lady.

Me? I ain’t no gentleman. Maybe a gentleman wouldn’t have claimed his woman in the driveway of a stranger’s house, but I couldn’t resist her for any longer. The way she looked at me through her lashes? Made me absolutely fucking crazy. Touching her as we went through the house, her small hand on my arm? It felt like heaven and hell both at once—because she was near, but my mouth wasn’t on her.

And now that I’ve tasted her? I’m going to need her, and often. She came hard for me, and so pretty and flushed as she did, too. I made her wetter than the ocean. Ain’t no faking that.

I’ll let her be a little shy for now if it makes her more comfortable. I’m claiming her again, though, and soon. I didn’t come, myself. Even though my cock is hard and aching with need for her, I can wait. Ivy’s skittish. She needs me to go a bit slower. She needs a bed for her first time with me so I can take my time and do everything I want to her sweet body. I can jerk off for one more night or two.

After that, though, I want her in my bed. I want my hands buried in her hair, my mouth on her tits, my cock in her cunt. That’s what I want. I think that’s what she wants, too; she’s just too shy to admit it.

Lucky for her, I ain’t shy.

Ivy parks the car at the curb. She doesn’t turn it off, just smooths her hair like it’s going to somehow get all proper in its bun again. There’s strands escaping everywhere and she’s licked all of her lipstick off. Her mouth is swollen from my kisses and she looks like she’s been well fucked, even if my dick hasn’t been inside her yet. And I like seeing her like that. Makes me all possessive and hungry for her.

“You ain’t gonna fix it perfect again,” I tell her. “Everyone’s going to know you’ve been fooling around with me.” Of course, I like that. I like branding her as mine.

She shoots me a cool look and then turns her attention back to the rearview mirror. “I think you should pass on that house,” Ivy says after a moment. “You can do much better.”

“I know. But if you liked it, I wanted to see it.” She’s got a strand of hair at her nape that’s touching her neck, and I reach out and brush it away. Then, because I like touching her, I drag my finger along her soft skin.

She shivers and a little moan escapes her. Then, she gives herself a little shake, like she’s focusing, and turns to me. “Boone, we can’t do things like that.”

“It was a bit of a risk in the driveway, I admit, but I thought it added a fun element to things.” She has the tiniest earlobes, and I can’t resist stroking one of them, too.

“Not that part, though it’s definitely on the list of things we shouldn’t have done, either. I mean me and you, together.” She bites her lip and then gives me a sad look. “You’re my client—”

“Then I’m firin’ you.”

Her eyes go wide and she pales immediately. Her hand presses to her mouth, and her fingers are almost as white as her face.

Fuck, that was the wrong thing to say. “I’m kiddin’, darlin’. I ain’t firing you.”

She takes a long, slow breath and nods.

Damn. I really fucked up just then. I put my hand on the back of her neck and squeeze it, just a little. “Here’s the thing. I want you. I want a house. I plan on getting both. Does it matter if you’re the one that sells me the house or not?”

“It’s not professional—”

“Baby, no one can say that you are anything but professional.”

A little color returns to her cheeks. “Can we . . . can we keep things private for a bit between us? It’d make me more comfortable.”

I narrow my eyes at her. “You mean you wanna hide your dirty roughneck boyfriend from your hoity-toity coworkers?”

“No,” she says firmly, and her hand goes to my knee. She gives it a little squeeze that I swear I can feel right in my groin. “It’s because I don’t want them giving me lip for dating a client, and I could get fired.”

The look on her face tells me that this is important to her, maybe as important to her as she is to me. Fair enough. “We’ll do it your way for now, then.”

She nods slowly. “Since my boss already thinks you are my boyfriend, we just won’t let him know that I’m also selling you a house. In the meantime, I’ll look for other places we can check out.”

“That’s fine with me, but I want you to keep one thing in mind.” I stroke my thumb on her neck, just behind her ear, and love that she shivers from that small touch.

“What’s that?”

“Don’t pick out a place you think I would like. Pick out a place you would like. Not me. And spare no expense. Let’s not go cheap on this next one.”

Her brows go up. “Cheap? That was a two-million-dollar house.”

“Yeah, and it looked like ass. If we have to go twenty million or fifty million, then that’s what we do. My only request is that it look impressive and that it makes you mad wet.”

Ivy’s blush tells me that my command probably isn’t far from the truth. “You’re terrible.”

“No, I’m bold.” I lean in closer. “I know you said you thought you liked me for my wallet, but we both know that’s a lie.”

“It is?” There’s a fragile note to her voice and her gaze flicks to my mouth, over and over again.

I bet she’s all wet for me right now, and the thought makes me salivate. “You like me because I know what I want and I take it. I don’t worry about being nice. I don’t worry about being proper. I don’t give a damn about any of that shit. All I give a damn about is you and making you come on my tongue.”

Her lips part and she’s breathing hard now. I wish she wasn’t wearing a jacket, because I’d love to see her little nipples straining against her shirt. I’m tempted to put my hand under her skirt again and finger-fuck her until she comes again, but we’re in front of her office.

And while I plan on pushing Ivy past several of her limits, that’s one I don’t think she’d appreciate.

“Boone,” she whispers, and I can hear the ache in her voice. “We shouldn’t do this in front of my job.”

“I know, baby. That’s the only reason I don’t have your legs over my shoulders again.” At her sexy little moan, my cock strains against my jeans. They’re tight as fuck at the moment and I’m dying for release.

Not right now, though. Time has to be right.

She watches me, dazed and breathless, before removing my hand from its possessive clasp on her neck. She’s pulling back. For now, I’ll let her. Ivy smooths a hand over her hair again. “Can I have my panties back now?”

“Those are mine. Spoils of war.”

Her eyes widen. “You can’t keep them.”

“Oh, I plan on jerking off with them tonight while thinking of you.”

“Boone!”

“Unless you wanna come over to my place and do me the honors.”

She hesitates, and hot damn, she’s actually thinking about it. Hot damn. Ivy Smithfield is every wet dream I’ve ever had come to life. I love this fuckin’ woman. “I shouldn’t,” she says after a long moment. “My sister is expecting me home for dinner.”

She lives with her sister? For some reason, I’ve always pictured her in one of those sterile-yet-modern apartments filled with three pieces of gray furniture and nothing else. The ones that are too “highbrow” for a guy like me to comprehend why you’d want only three pieces of furniture, and uncomfortable ones to boot. “We could go out, all three of us. I don’t mind if you bring her along to dinner. Family’s important.”

After all, she’s gonna be my in-law soon enough. Might as well say hello.

But Ivy is silent. Her mouth thins and she gives a small shake of her head. “Tonight’s not a good night.”

“Tomorrow, then?”

No answer. Ivy starts rummaging through her purse and pulls out a small bottle of hairspray, determined to fix the loose strands of her hair.

I watch her, curious. She’s shutting down on me. Now, is it because of her sister or because of something going on tonight? “I got four brothers. Think I told you that. Enough for a roughneck drilling team.”

Her smile is quick, polite, as she glances over at me. “You told me.”

“We’re real close. Family’s important.”

Her expression goes soft. “It is.”

“Your sister older? Younger?”

Ivy’s gaze flicks to the rearview mirror and she turns off the car, shoving her hairspray back in her purse. “I should go, Boone.”

“All right,” I drawl. She’s skittish over family. Huh. I’m gonna have to get that out of her, but some other time. I suspect she might be more vulnerable with my mouth on her pussy again. That’s something I look forward to—breaking down her walls, one slow lick at a time. “Might wanna get your car cleaned before you bring your next client in.” I nod my head at the wet spot on the backseat. “Though I have to say, I think it smells delicious.”

Her cheeks flare red as she gets out of the car.

***

Later that night, Ivy texts me links to three different houses, asking me to pick one or two that I like the most so we can check them out later this week. She won’t tell me which one appeals to her, so I pick the most expensive.

She immediately texts me back and tells me she’s picking a different house for us to see, because it has a ten-car garage and that might be more appealing to me. And I grin to myself like a loon, mostly because even though I told her to pick out what she wants, she’s still got me on her mind.