He didn’t budge, just held her still and sent her a considering look. “The last thing I want you to do is roll over and play dead, honey. Where would be the challenge in that?”

Her temper surged. He wanted to bring her to heel with his wit and his body for some sick thrill?

Kata bucked and wriggled, trying to displace him, to no avail. “Goddamn it, get off me. I’m not a fucking prize to win or some mountain to conquer so you can prove to yourself that you’re the man. I told you I’m done.” She shoved at his chest. “Get the hell off!”

Hunter’s face softened. He trailed the back of his fingers down her cheek, his stare disturbingly intimate. “I don’t want to win you like some cheap prize at a county fair to prove my masculinity. I want to be with you—all of you. Just like I want you to be with all of me. I’m stripping myself bare, too.” As if to prove his point, he ripped that torso-hugging charcoal T-shirt over his head.

A hard ripple of mouthwatering abs gave way to pecs that made her fingers itch to touch him, followed by imposing shoulders that would eclipse a room the second he mounted her. That fact made a twisted part of her tremble with a secret thrill—and it bothered her more.

“Taking your shirt off is nothing compared to the way you’re trying to bare my soul.”

“It’s a first step, honey. Believe me, I want you to know me inside out, too. Feel comfortable with me.”

Kata frowned as she turned the words over in her head. “That . . . takes time. Don’t you get the meaning of ‘one-night stand’? It’s just tonight, so none of this getting-to-know-you shit matters.”

“I disagree. I want you to want me, trust me. And for you to give me every part of you that you’ve never given any other man.”

She stared at him as if he’d lost his mind—because clearly, he had. “You don’t want much, do you?”

“I know I’m asking for a lot. Give me a little tonight, Kata. I’ll earn the rest.”

His every word boggled her mind. Earn the rest, like he wanted not only to control her, but to own her? “I don’t get you. I’m willing to fuck you. For most guys, that’s enough. A little mutual pleasure and—”

“Before I met you, yeah. Now?” Hunter shook his head. “I’m going to be totally straight up. I’m not willing to settle for less than everything.”

His gaze told her that he was dead serious. She swallowed, her mind racing. They’d just met. This made no sense. Whatever. Just because he wanted something didn’t mean it was going to happen. No way was she allowing him control of this situation or her.

“I told you, I don’t roll that way. A simple romp between the sheets, great. But this . . . wanting me to give you permission to own me, or whatever . . .” She shook her head. “I’m no man’s possession.”

He considered her for a long while as the light from the bedside lamp burned over her shoulders, breasts, and nipples. Hunter stared fixedly, and Kata knew he could read her anger, uncertainty, and arousal simmering under her skin. The mix was a powerful cocktail of emotions.

She really wanted to look away, but damn if she’d give him the satisfaction of flinching first. But the longer their gazes clashed, the more her insecurities rose. Tears—honest to freaking goodness tears—burned her eyes, damn it. She had no idea where they’d come from, other than this horrible sense of exposure, of vulnerability, but no way she would reveal how much he rattled her.

Kata didn’t know him well, but she suspected he was formulating some plan designed to have her eating out of his hand. Since he’d zeroed in on domination, one of her most potent fantasies—and her biggest fears—Hunter was off to a frighteningly good start.

“I know I’ve asked for a lot,” he murmured roughly, making her hormones weep with need. “I’m willing to spend the time to earn your trust and show you what I’m made of. I’ll be totally honest about who I am and what I want. Can you?”

Everything inside her clenched with desire. “I’m just here to scratch our mutual itch.”

“And then what? We’ll just go our separate ways? That’s what you really want?”

Kata opened her mouth to say yes . . . then realized that, despite everything, the idea of their paths never crossing again disturbed her—far more than it should. Why? He was urging her to surrender more than her passion, cross a line she’d refused to ever go near, no matter how tempting. And part of her fantasized about things she could never endure. If she admitted half so much aloud, Hunter would engulf her—and right now, she was too raw, too needy to stop him.

But she’d offered to fuck him the simple way multiple times and he hadn’t taken her up on it yet. If she wanted him—and she did, desperately—she must pretend to play his game.

As much as she hated to admit it, he intrigued her, sucked her into a drowning pool of desire. Walking away right now wasn’t an option.

“How about this? For the next hour, I’ll be honest.” She gritted her teeth and forced the words out. “But if I say stop, you stop.”

“An hour?” He didn’t sound pleased.

Kata nodded. “That’s all you’re getting from me. Maybe, after that, we’ll both be done, and it won’t matter.”

“I wouldn’t hang your hat on that, honey.”

For a long moment, he said nothing, and she stared up into his unwavering blue stare. Earlier his eyes had been shutters that allowed fleeting glimpses of the real man to peek through, veneered by challenge and hunger. Now he’d opened up. The desire was still there, but she read something almost profound on his face. This was important to him. Why? A guy like Hunter would—and probably did—have anyone he wanted. Why would she matter when they’d just met?

Whatever . . . He was a birthday fling she’d forget tomorrow. She hoped.

“All right,” he agreed. “An hour, for starters. I want you to see me.” Hunter stood and reached for the button of his jeans, slid his zipper down, toed off his boots, then shoved everything off to the thick carpet in a pile. And Kata got her first look at him naked.

“Oh, holy shit.” The words slipped from her mouth before she could stop them.

Hunter was, in a word, gorgeous. Every inch of him solid, hard, imposing. Big . . . everywhere. She swallowed.

He chuckled. “Glad you approve. I’m going to make this so good for you.”

She didn’t doubt for an instant that he could.

Hunter slid back onto the bed, over her body, balancing most of his weight on his knees and elbows. Then he settled right between her thighs, chest to chest, belly to belly, lips inches apart. As she’d suspected, he eclipsed the rest of the room, leaving her nowhere to look but at him. His stare melted into hers. He wasn’t yet inside her, but already Kata felt breathless, overwhelmed.

With a dip of his head, he covered her mouth with his own, a firm press, a gentle demand. She opened to him, and Hunter sank in with a groan that lit her up and sizzled all the way to her toes. His tongue curled around hers, holding her a willing captive to his seduction.

Just as she opened wider, he edged away, nipped at her lip, drizzled kisses down her neck so sweetly that she moaned and shuddered, clung to him and arched.

Suddenly, Kata realized Hunter was far more dangerous than she’d believed. He would use his knowledge of her body and her pleasure to lure her deeper under his spell. Control her. Apprehension burned a hole in her belly.

“Wait, Hunter, I—”

“An hour.” The intensity in his gaze made her tremble. “I’m not wasting another minute of it arguing.”

She couldn’t do a damn thing without breaking her word. As much as he alarmed her, she refused to show fear.

Another part of her couldn’t stand for him to stop touching her. He rubbed the pad of his thumb over her lip. “You’re so fucking gorgeous, honey. It’s going to be my pleasure to prove to you that an hour isn’t nearly enough.”

A mix of thrill and foreboding zipped through her. God, he made her shiver.

Hunter eased down her body and latched onto her nipples. Kata gasped. They’d always been sensitive, but now? He nipped, sucked, licked, scraped, laved until she threaded her hands over his head, frustrated that his hair was too short to grab in her fists. She wailed, the sound high-pitched and desperate. Hunter didn’t stop, just worked his palms farther down her body as his mouth worshipped one nipple, then the other, over and over.

The ache between her legs ramped up again. She arched toward him as more moisture seeped from her core. He must know how wet she was. Surely, he could feel it. But he merely continued his single-minded, voracious devouring of her nipples. They swelled, turned tingly-sore, felt so, so hard that it was a pleasure in itself. Still, he didn’t let up, didn’t veer.

With every lick and nuzzle she fell a bit more under his spell. “Oh God. Damn! Hunter . . .” She clamped onto his bulging biceps, her nails digging into his skin.

He shuddered and sucked harder. “These are incredible.” He lapped at the stiff points, taking turns making them even more rigid, more sensitive. “I’m never going to get enough.”

“You’re killing me.”

“But you like it.” It wasn’t a question; he knew. “They will be sore tomorrow,” he murmured like that pleased him. “But every time your shirt brushes these beautiful, swollen nipples, you’ll think of me.”

Shit, she would. And given how devoted he’d been to the two little buds, she would be thinking of him often. That gave him a whole new level of power over her. Still, she didn’t want him to stop. Foolishly, she bowed her back in offering, settling her nipple deeper into his mouth . . . knowing she’d pay for her weakness tomorrow.

Hunter smiled against her skin and cradled the mound in his hand, thumbed its side in a slow stroke. Then he bit down tenderly on the rigid tip. And her arousal surged, so close to the edge . . .

Kata panted as lightning pulsed between her legs, leaving her on the edge of orgasm. “What are you doing to me?”

“Making a good first impression.” He grinned.

She wanted to hate him for forcing this surrender on her, but she needed this climax more. He’d made sure of that, pressed and pushed and tempted her until she had nowhere to hide, nothing to do but beg with her body and incoherent words.

Lips parted, breath held, she waited for Hunter to suck her nipple into his mouth again. But he didn’t. He stared instead, his eyes gleaming like a predator about to move in for the kill.

Apprehension jammed in her throat. No matter how much her body wanted this, she couldn’t lie back helplessly and allow him to call all the shots. He’d overwhelm her. Consume her.

Kata swallowed down her need and reached out to him, wrapped her fingers around his thick cock. His whole body jolted as if he’d been shocked. But surprise charged through her as well. He was so big and alive in her hand, full of life, pulsing. Velvety hard. Addicting.

He gritted his teeth. His shoulders tensed, fists clenched. Oh, yeah. She’d put him on the edge, and a thrill shivered through her. But damn, driving him to the brink was driving her closer to her own.

“Kata . . .”

“You wanted to see me, feel me. I want to do the same to you.” Slowly, she stroked her hand up and down the long shaft, thumb brushing the slightly slick tip, then cascading down the sensitive underside.

His strong jaw worked, as if trying to speak was beyond him. She smiled. This was more like it. Now she was in control. After all, why should she be the only one undone tonight?

“That feel good to you?” She sat up and purred against his chest. Then she slid her free hand under his testicles, cupping, rubbing, gently kneading. She definitely had his attention, especially when she spread kisses across his collarbones, down his pectorals. He tensed. Kata tongued his nipple, turning up the heat. “Yeah. It does, doesn’t it?”

In her hand, his cock stiffened even more—along with his whole body. “Fuck.”

Kata gave him a throaty laugh and pumped him faster in her hand, licked furiously at his nipple, reveling in sweet victory rippling through her. But it was short-lived.

Hunter grabbed her wrist and thrust it away from his cock, then drew in a shuddering breath. Threading his fingers through her hair, he wrapped the thick strands in his fist, tugging just hard enough to snap her head back—and force her to take his heavy stare. His expression was nothing short of a silent, sensual warning.

Uh-oh.

Hunter reached to the floor and grabbed something that disappeared into his hand. A second later, he ripped open a small foil packet with his teeth. Single-handedly, he rolled a condom on, starting at the angry tip of his heavy cock prodding at his belly insistently, all the way down to the root surrounded by dark hair.

Anticipation and anxiety lanced through Kata, tightening her stomach. God knew how far Hunter was going to push her. Yet she was beyond aroused, ready to feel him stretching her, getting deep, stroking slow, giving them both mind-bending pleasure.