Rush

sent a shiver down her spine. The emphasis on
personal
couldn’t possibly be mistaken.
    “You don’t have a personal assistant,” she accused. “You never have. You
hate
them.”
    “It’s true you’d be my first in a long while. I trust that you’d prove a very capable
     employee.”
    It was her turn to study him. Her eyes narrowed as she took in his intense, brooding
     expression.
    “Why?” she asked bluntly. “What is it you want, Gabe? And while you’re at it, explain
     last night. Because I’m at a complete loss.”
    His smile was slow and deliciously arrogant. “So my kitten has claws.”
    His
kitten? She didn’t miss the significance of that little word.
    “Don’t toy with me. Something else is going on here. Why do you want me to come to
     work for you?”
    His upper lip worked up and down and his nostrils flared as he stared across the desk
     at her.
    “Because I want you, Mia.”
    Silence fell, cloaking the room, suffocating except for the loud pulse in her ears.
    “I d-don’t understand.”
    He smiled then, a predatory smile that slid over her like the smoothest silk. “Oh,
     I think you do.”
    Her stomach flipped and butterflies swarmed her chest and tickled her throat. This
     wasn’t happening. It had to be a dream.
    “What you suggest isn’t possible,” she said. “If I work for you…we can’t…”
    “Can’t we?” he asked mockingly. He leaned farther back into his chair, indolent and
     confident as he turned to the side to stretch his long legs. “The purpose of your
     working for me is so you’d be at my side at all times. And I’d have you when I want
     and how I want.”
    Heat infused her entire body. She fidgeted in her chair, her hands twisting together.
    “This is overwhelming,” she confessed. It was lame.Completely lame as a comeback, but what else was she supposed to say? She was utterly
     speechless.
    Her heart was about to beat out of her chest. She knew there was more to this than
     his words. There was a wealth of meaning in those dark eyes. She felt hunted.
Stalked
.
    “Come here, Mia.”
    The firm but gentle command washed through the haze of confusion. Her eyes widened
     as her gaze found his, and she realized he was waiting for her to come to him.
    She rose, her legs shaky, and she rubbed her hands down her jeans in an attempt to
     steady herself. And then she took that first step and walked around the edge of his
     desk to where he was still seated in his executive chair.
    He reached for her hand and once he had his fingers twined with hers, he tugged her
     down onto his lap. She landed awkwardly but he sat farther up and shifted so she was
     nestled against his chest and tucked into his side. With his free hand, he delved
     his fingers into her hair, twisting the strands around his knuckles while he held
     on to her hand with his other.
    “The relationship I’m proposing is not a traditional one,” he said. “I’ll not have
     you walking blindly into it without knowing exactly where you stand and what you can
     expect from it.”
    “Big of you,” she said dryly.
    He gave her hair a slight tug. “Little minx.” His eyes became half-lidded as he stared
     into her eyes. He disentangled his hand from hers and lifted his fingers to her lips
     where he traced the outline of her mouth with the tip of his index finger. “I want
     you, Mia. And I’ll warn you now. I’m
very
used to getting my way.”
    “So you want me to work for you and you want…me. Physically, I mean.”
    “Oh yes,” he murmured. “Definitely.”
    “And this relationship you propose. What exactly do you mean by nontraditional?”
    He hesitated for the briefest moment. “I’ll own you,” he said bluntly. “Body, soul.
     You’ll belong to me.”
    Whoa. That sounded so…heavy. She couldn’t even wrap her brain around it. Her mouth
     went dry and she tried to lick her lips but stopped when she remembered his reaction
     when she’d done it moments earlier.
    “I’ll guide you through this,” he said in a more gentle tone. “I’m not going to throw
     you to the wolves. I’ll be patient as you learn your way through the kind of relationship
     I expect.”
    “I don’t even know what to say right now,” she blurted out.
    His hand slid over her jaw and to her cheek. They were on eye level, their mouths
     just a few breaths apart.
    “I think this is where you tell me where I stand with you,” Gabe prompted. “Do you
     want me as badly as I want you?”
    Oh