“Oh, you’ll care, son, when I’m done with you. Did you think you could get one over on me and survive that?”

“You threatening me?”

“Not in the way you think. There are other ways to destroy a man’s life without touching a single hair on his head. Now, here’s what you’re going to do. You’ll continue with this asinine charity fight, but you’re still going to fight for me.”

“Or what?”

“Or I start with that little bitch who, according to my staff, really likes getting fucked.” Rhys’s fingers bit into my shoulder, and his expression turned dark. “Well,” Fairchild continued, “I’m going to fuck her too, just in a different way. I’ll start with that job of hers. Not only will I make sure she never works for Horus again, I’ll make sure she never works in Boston again, and I’ll go even further than that and make sure she never works in renewable energy. Every move she makes to further her career, I’ll be there to fuck with her.”

My heart pounded in my chest, nausea roiling in my gut because I knew Fairchild was capable of doing exactly that.

“And if that isn’t enough to make you see things my way, I’ll move on to your brother. It would be a shame if someone as intelligent as Dean, with such a bright future ahead of him, were to find himself unemployable.”

Rhys shuddered against me and I held on tighter, as if I could contain his fury. He opened and shut his mouth. Seeing his struggle, I caressed his cheek, drawing his gaze to mine.

I shook my head at him and mouthed, “We can fight him.”

His eyes asked, “How?”

I thought of all the connections my family had to powerful people in society and although it made me uncomfortable thinking about using those connections, I would to help us out of this. Fairchild thought he was untouchable, but for myself, for Rhys, and for Dean, I’d do anything to prove him wrong.

“I see I have your attention,” Fairchild said, sounding smug. “Good. I’ll be in touch about my fight, Morgan, so next time I call, answer the fucking phone.” He hung up.

Rhys’s fingers curled around his cell and seeing his knuckles turn white, I quickly extricated the phone before he threw it across the room. I set it on the desk and turned to him. “We can fight him. My parents have a lot of powerful friends and, although I’ve never thought about them in that way, Charles and Marion Brown are not people you mess with.”

“I thought the reason you wanted a fake relationship was to keep your troubles away from your parents?”

I stiffened. “Well, I’m not happy about the idea of going to them either, but I don’t think we should just allow this man to steamroll us. It’s better to ask for help from people who care about us than to let Colonel Dipshit blackmail us.”

Rhys’s eyes searched mine for what felt like eternity. Then he exhaled slowly. “Parker, you came to me—well, technically, Dean, but let’s not think about that—for help. This job means so much to you, you were willing to pay a guy to pretend to date you to keep it. I can’t let you jeopardize all that.”

I slid my hand up his chest, resting my palm over his fiercely pounding heart. “I don’t want to jeopardize it either. It scares me. A lot. But the idea of Fairchild using you, what that’ll do to you and Dean—that scares me too. Let’s just get through the charity fight. We don’t know what’s going to come of that. Once we know what cards we’re holding, we can deal with Fairchild. For now, we’ll just find ways to hold him off.”

Rhys continued to frown. “I don’t want you choosing me and Dean over your job. You’ve worked your ass off for that job. It’s important to you.”

“You’re important to me too, Rhys.”

Quite abruptly, Rhys wrapped his hand around my nape and hauled me up his body for a hard kiss. I whimpered in surprise, and he lifted his head briefly to growl, “You really have no idea, do you, Tink?”

Before I could respond, he lifted me back up into his arms and kissed me with a breath-stealing desperation. His mouth never left mine as he tried to walk us out of there. We bumped into a wall, or two—our laughter and groans, his grunts and my moans, filled the corridor as he took us to the elevator that led to his loft.

Once those doors closed, he started grinding into me, kissing me until I could barely breathe with the anticipation. My whole body was on fire.

“You wet?” He kissed my neck below my ear.

“You know it,” I gasped, clutching at him as he thrust against me again. “Rhys!”

“You want me to fuck you, you gotta say it, Tinker Bell.”

Trembling with need, I turned my head and whispered in his ear, “I want you to fuck me, Rhys.”

He shuddered beneath my hands and just as soon as those doors opened, Rhys stumbled into the loft and set me down on the nearest bit of furniture—his dining room table.

His beautiful green eyes blazed with desire as he slid his hands up my dress to pull my underwear down my legs. I leaned back on my hands, my inner thighs trembling as I watched him hurriedly take a condom out of his wallet, undo his jeans, and push them and his boxer briefs down just enough to free himself.

Once the condom was on, Rhys grabbed my hips and pulled me to the edge of the table so I could wrap my legs around his waist. Without further ado, he drove inside me with a deep-seated groan of satisfaction. Holding onto his left shoulder with one hand and the tabletop with the other, I braced against his vigorous thrusts, gasping as the tension he’d built in me just by grinding in the elevator grew to the breaking point.

I loved when he was tender … but my goodness, I loved when he lost a little of that control and took me like he’d die if he didn’t.

Knowing me already, understanding what I needed, Rhys reached between my legs and rolled his thumb over my clit.

The intense tension broke, my cry of pleasure filling the loft as Rhys pounded into me, wave after wave of my voluptuous orgasm driving him closer to his. Finally, he tensed, his face taut, his fingers biting on my outer thighs. And then his hips jerked uncontrollably as his hoarse cry of release joined the echoes of my own.

He slumped, still flexing slowly in and out of me as he rested his forehead on my shoulder.

Holding Rhys to me, I slid my arms around his back, caressing him over his shirt and wishing we were naked. He turned his head and nuzzled my neck, making my legs instinctively tighten around his waist.

“You know,” I said, my voice soft, quiet, “there are some people who believe an athlete should abstain from sex. That the frustration boosts aggression and energy for a game or a fight.”

Rhys lifted his head, his expression relaxed except for his eyes. “Where you going with this, Tink?”

“I just wanted to confirm that I’m not interfering with your training.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You know what my answer to that is?”

I shook my head.

Rhys gripped my waist and pulled out of me. I immediately wanted him back. “We’re going to clean up. You first, then me. By the time I get out of the bathroom, you’re going to be naked on my bed waiting for my mouth. Then you’re going to give me your mouth because I’ve been dreaming about it wrapped around my cock since we first met. And you’re not leaving my bed until both of us are fucking exhausted from coming our brains out.”