Chapter 21 Master And Submissive

• Damien scooped Briar up in his arms as though she weighed nothing, carrying her effortlessly to the wide sofa he’d recently had installed in his office. Her breath caught when he lowered her onto her back, his intense gaze locked on her face, reading every flicker of doubt and desire she tried so hard to hide.
• He didn’t speak at first. The silence stretched between them, thick and charged, until it felt almost unbearable. Damien simply stood over her, watching, waiting—stripping away her defenses without saying a word. Then, slowly and deliberately, he began removing his clothes, each movement measured, confident, almost predatory.
• “I’ll bet you’ve always wrapped every man in your life around your little finger,” he said quietly, his deep voice vibrating with restrained control. “That’s why you’re so restless, Briar Hollis. You drift from one temporary job to the next. No roots. No commitments. No man who could ever hold you.”