“I don’t trust this,” she admitted. “Why do you?”

“I have told you why. For me, I knew instantly. It is the way of my people and has been for centuries. I know it isn’t the same for you, but I also know you feel the connection between us. You’ve been in my mind. You would know if I was lying to you.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Would I?” Her gaze strayed to the carousel horses wrapped so securely. He was offering her a safe haven for Lourdes, a beautiful home not only for her niece and her, but also for Genevieve and even Grace if she would accept it. He was offering himself to her. And a job. The job she most wanted in the world.

“You would know, Charlotte,” he said softly.

The way his voice got inside of her always melted her. Always. He didn’t need to try to control her mind; his voice controlled her body. Maybe her brain, too, because she found it hard to think clearly around him.

“I want this, Tariq, what we have growing between us, I really do. I appreciate every single thing you’re offering me. I especially appreciate that you intervened last night with Fridrick. I was really scared, and it was clear he knew where Lourdes was, even though I thought we’d hidden her carefully this time. You and your friends saved her as well.”

“But?”

He tipped his head to one side and his eyes, so vibrant and pure blue, studied her with that unblinking focus he seemed to have. It reminded her of a pure predator’s. A delicious shiver went down her spine, and it occurred to her that the twinge of fear added to the temptation that was Tariq Asenguard. He stood there, looking gorgeous and sophisticated, a wealthy businessman reputed to be extremely intelligent and shrewd. He could be gentle. His touch brought paradise. And then he could look absolutely dangerous, as he did right at the moment.

He was waiting for something. Alert. Watchful. She knew if she made the wrong move he would attack, but how or why she wasn’t certain. She only knew that the threat was there, lingering in the air. The shiver turned into something else, fear welling up to become panic. She found she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t drag enough air into her lungs. She also knew the attack would be in some form she would never be able to resist.

“Stop it.” The command was a whiplash. “I would never hurt you. It would be impossible for me to do such a thing. Unthinkable. I won’t let you go, but you aren’t a prisoner. I would choose to use persuasion, and I can be very persuasive when something is important to me. You, Charlotte, are the most important person in my world.”

She moistened her lower lip with the tip of her tongue, stalling for time. She wanted him, wanted everything he was offering. What she didn’t trust was the terrible need inside of her, the hunger for him. It was overwhelming. He was overwhelming. He made her feel things she’d never imagined in her wildest dreams.

“I’m not someone who works well with dominant males.” It was her way of telling him she wasn’t in the least submissive. He commanded. He ordered. When he wanted something he got it; there was no doubt in her mind. No matter what Tariq said, he was pure alpha male.

“I am not going to tell you I don’t have a dominant personality, because I do. That said, I don’t want a submissive woman. I want an intelligent woman thinking for herself. I want a strong woman to help me figure out what to do with the enormous problems I have facing me. Do I make decisions fast? Yes. Absolutely. I want my woman to be able to do the same. You’re that woman. Will it always be easy? We have five children to look out for. Five. Two are already teens. All of them are traumatized. We have Fridrick and his bosses with their army coming after Emeline, Genevieve and you. We also have the threat of the three men following you from Paris. I don’t need a submissive woman, Charlotte; I need a warrior. A woman walking beside me. Fighting beside me. Standing in front of those children with me. A woman unafraid to listen to whatever Emeline or Liv needs to say, to hear them and not curl into a protective ball when the monstrous truth of what happened to them comes out. I know that woman is you.”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, knowing she was going to jump off the cliff. “I hope you’re real, Tariq, because once I give you everything you’re asking for, I won’t ever be able to get it back.” Her heart. Her soul. She was already in so far over her head so fast she feared she was already lost. That last little part of her, the one he knew she held back, but was demanding, that would cost her everything if she lost.

“I’ve already given it to you, sielamet. Everything I am or will ever be. I meant every word I said to you. I gave you – me. I want the same from you. Come all the way into my world. Be my woman.”

He whispered the words, yet she heard each one clearly. His voice wrapped her in strong arms. She felt protected and cherished with just his voice. He wasn’t touching her and yet she felt his arms surrounding her. She would always have him. That man. The one standing in front of her, looking at her with those incredible gemlike eyes. Seeing only her.

She took a breath, knowing the truth. She was already lost. It didn’t matter if she gave him that last little piece of her; she already was tied to him in a way she couldn’t explain, and she knew leaving him would be nearly impossible. “I already am your woman,” she whispered.

“Are you scared?”

She nodded, not looking away from that deep blue gaze. She couldn’t. He still hadn’t blinked. Still looked predatory. Dangerous. She was willingly giving herself to a man who would always have that edge to him.

“Don’t be. You’re safe with me.”

She believed him. But… “Am I safe from you?”

He stared at her for an eternity, holding her captive with just his eyes and his charisma. A slow smile curved his mouth and crept into his eyes, lighting them more, turning the blue a vibrant sapphire. “No, sielamet. I want to eat you alive. The taste of you is forever on my tongue. The feel of you surrounding my cock, tight and hot, your skin, softer than anything I’ve ever felt, that wild hair, your mouth, all of you is branded into my mind, my bones, wrapped around my heart. You are not safe from me and you never will be, but you’ll like the way you aren’t safe. I can promise you that much.”

He sounded wicked. Tempting. Sexy. Her sex clenched. Went damp. Heat rushed through her veins. She couldn’t stop the slow, answering smile curving her own mouth. “Okay then. Show me what I’ll be working on and tell me what you plan on paying me. I just want you to know that sleeping with the boss is never a good idea. I’ll have to think long and hard about which I want most. I truly love carousel horses, so you might lose out if they’re what I think they are.”