James excused himself from the gathering the moment he could find his footing again. The torn remnants of his shirt hung open, exposing him to the continued appreciative stares of his female colleagues. His jaw was set in a hard line as he gathered the ruined fabric around himself, his movements sharp with barely contained emotion.
"I think I'll call it a night," he announced to the room at large, his voice carefully controlled despite the storm brewing in his dark eyes.
The women's protests were immediate and vocal. "Oh, come on, James!" "Don't leave now!" "The night is still young!"
But he was already moving toward the door, his broad shoulders tense with the effort of maintaining his composure. Being exposed like that, turned into a spectacle for everyone's entertainment, it went against every instinct he possessed. James valued his privacy, his dignity, and Victoria had stripped both away in a single moment of curiosity and desires.
He knew exactly why she'd done it. All weekend, she'd been trying to get him to show her what lay beneath his shirts, and he'd refused each time. So she'd used the dare as an excuse to take what she wanted, regardless of his feelings.
He caught her eye as he reached the doorway, and the look he gave her was complex, part reproach, anger mixed with disappointment and something darker that made her pulse quicken. Then he was gone, leaving behind a room full of disappointed women and the lingering scent of his cologne.
The party continued for another hour, but the energy had shifted. Victoria participated in the conversations, laughed at the appropriate moments, and played the gracious host, but her mind was elsewhere. She could still feel the warmth of his skin beneath her fingertips, could still see the way his muscles had tensed when she'd touched him.
Gradually, the evening wound down. One by one, her employees excused themselves, heading to their assigned rooms with promises to continue the weekend's activities tomorrow. Victoria bid them all goodnight with her usual charm, but beneath the surface, anticipation coiled in her stomach like a living thing.
When the last door closed and silence settled over the cabin, she waited another ten minutes before making her move. The hallway was dark as she padded barefoot toward James's room, her heart hammering against her ribs with each step.
James had taken a quick shower, washing away the lingering scent of the party and the memory of being on display. The hot water had done little to calm his agitation, and he'd emerged feeling restless and unsettled. He had pulled on loose joggers and a simple shirt, hoping the comfortable clothes would help him relax.
He was settling onto the edge of his bed when the knock came soft but insistent. James paused, his hands stilling on the book he had been about to open. He knew who it was before he even reached the door.
Victoria stood in the hallway, still wearing the clothes from earlier but somehow looking more dangerous in the dim light. Her hair had come loose from its earlier style, falling in waves around her shoulders, and her eyes held a predatory gleam that made his breath catch.
"Tori," he began, his voice tight with suppressed anger, but she pushed past him into the room before he could finish.
James sighed and closed the door, turning to face her with resignation. "Look, about what happened downstairs..."
His words were cut off as she launched herself at him with the ferocity of a woman possessed. Her mouth crashed against his with desperate hunger, her hands fisting in his shirt as she pressed her body against him with shameless need.
Despite his anger, his body instantly betrayed him, responding to her touch even as his mind reeled. The kiss was like an assault on his senses, hot, demanding, and completely without restraint. Her tongue swept past his lips, claiming his mouth with a possessiveness that made his knees weak. She tasted like wine and want, like promises and threats rolled into one intoxicating combination.
"Stop," James managed to gasp, pulling back from her mouth as anger warred with unwanted desire. "Tori, stop..."
But she wasn't listening. Victoria's pulse quickened as she saw the fury blazing in his dark eyes, the way his jaw clenched with barely controlled anger. She had never seen him like this; so raw, so dangerous, so magnificently upset. The sight of him struggling between anger and desire was the most erotic thing she had ever witnessed.
With a sound that was part growl, part whimper, Victoria jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist and capturing his mouth again. Her thighs gripped him tightly, her core pressing against his stomach as she kissed him with an urgency born of seeing him unleashed and her awakened pent-up desires breaking free.
James staggered under her weight, his hands automatically moving to support her as she attacked his mouth with renewed fervor. She kissed him like she was drowning and he was air, like she was starving and he was sustenance, like she was burning and he was the only thing that could quench the flames.
"I just realized your face is quite deceiving, it doesn't display your filthy mind." He said roughly against her lips, his voice thick with anger and unwanted arousal. "Stop, I'm being serious here."
The accusation only seemed to inflame her further. Yes, she is a naughty girl. Victoria's eyes blazed as she looked at his furious face, drinking in every detail of his anger-hardened features. God, he was magnificent like this, all controlled fury and barely leashed power.
"Please," she whispered against his lips, her voice raw with need. "I need you. I need this."
The desperation in her voice nearly broke his resolve, but James forced himself to pull away from the kiss despite the fire in his blood. His hands found her thighs, loosening her grip on his waist as he tried to set her back on her feet, careful not to hurt her even in his anger.
"Do you only think for yourself? Quick apologize."
"I'm sorry." She quickly said although more occupied in seducing him.
James sighed, she didn't sound sorry at all. "Okay, that is enough," he said firmly, though his voice was rough with his own barely controlled desire. "You need to stop. Not like this."
But Victoria was beyond reason, intoxicated by the sight of him angry and powerful. The moment her feet touched the floor, she was on him again, her mouth finding his neck, his jaw, his ear, eating him. She kissed, licked, and sucked at his skin like a woman possessed, her hands roaming over his chest and shoulders with desperate hunger.
"I can't stop," she breathed against his throat, her teeth grazing his pulse point in a way that made him shudder. "You look so incredible when you're furious. I've never seen you like this, James. I'm going crazy."
Her confession hit him like a physical blow, the realization that his anger was turning her on was making his control slip but he forced himself to remain strong. With gentle but firm hands, he guided her to the bed, pressing her down onto the mattress as he knelt on one knee beside her, trying to maintain some semblance of restraint despite her wild behavior.
"Enough," he said, his voice carrying a note of authority that cut through her fevered haze.
For a moment, Victoria stilled, her chest heaving as she looked up at him with wild, hungry eyes. The sight of his warning face above her, all sharp angles and controlled emotions, made her entire body throb with want.
However, as James started to stand, intending to put some distance between them, she struck again.
Her hand shot out, grabbing his shirt and yanking him back down on the bed. Before he could react, she had pounced on him, straddling his hips as her mouth found his again with renewed desperation.