Playing With Fire (Excerpt Only) - BWWM Interracial Romance

Playing with Fire (Chapter 5)

RESTRAINT

It had taken everything in Eric not to punch the jackass who threatened Janet's safety in the face at lunch the previous day; he only didn't want to cause a scene and embarrass Janet in yet another way.

Still, she had to be out of her mind if she thought he was going to just "stay out of her personal business." She didn't know it yet, but she was his personal business, and there was no staying out of that.

It had also taken everything in him not to continue seducing Janet once they were closed up in her office, to the point that he finally knew what it was like to touch the skin underneath her pricey clothes.

He couldn't help kissing her, and the way she kissed him back made him want more right away.

Her lips were soft and delicious in how pliable and welcoming they were. And the way she welcomed him into her warm mouth only made him think about what it would feel like when she welcomed him elsewhere, and he knew it was only a matter of when.

Focus, Rick, he chastised himself, shaking off the thoughts that haunted him several times a day—images of what her naked body would look like, fantasies of how and where he would finally take her.

He left Janet's office rock-hard and had to fight himself the entire way to his own office to stay on course, to stop himself from going back to her and finishing what they had started. But he knew he couldn't move too fast—he needed to wrap her carefully and tightly into his web; she needed to have no defenses left.

What also worried him was that he had to be careful for himself.

He had fallen hard just once when he was nineteen, and he was devastated when the relationship didn't work out and fell apart three years later. He had never allowed himself to fall like that again, but in Janet's case, he accepted that he had no choice; she had the power to bring him to that point again, to bring him to his knees.

He was riveted by everything she was—the way she moved, the way she looked—and now the scent and feel of her had rooted themselves in his brain and other organs.

The image of her in the flesh almost hypnotized him, and he cared not to look at anything else when she was around. Her beauty entranced him, but beyond that, working with her the past few days showed him other parts of her that impressed him.

He realized that she had a good head on her shoulders generally; she was smart and good with numbers. She clearly knew what she was doing as they began outlining the goals and direction for their assignment, and she was also confident in her ability, and it never came across as arrogant. She spoke with authority backed up by knowledge and experience.

She was such a firm woman behind those soft eyes, and he wanted her, every part of her, and now he found himself resenting his promise to his uncle since it made him delay what he felt would have been natural. But he found his senses and realized that delay was good since it meant that he could delay his infatuation with her taking over him and becoming something more too quickly.

Her effect on him was unexpected, but it was only because she was unexpected—everything she was and everything they promised to be together.

He needed to keep his head straight and in the game and to keep his eye on the prize—even though the prize had become her.

He wasn't sure if he had complete power over her just yet, but he knew he was at least close.

He had to wait until he was sure.

* * *

Janet had lunch with Liz for the next two days, but she neglected to tell her about any recent major events. She wasn't ready for Liz to tease her about almost being seduced in her own office, and she did not want to hear Liz turn herself into a hypocrite by lecturing her about entertaining David still.