Breaching the Billionaire: Alethea's Redemption (Book 6) (Legacy Collection) by Ruth Cardello Page B

With one hand on the wall beside her head, he closed a hand over the breast she’d forgotten was uncovered and leaned down to growl in her ear. “I was going to wait until we were somewhere more comfortable for our first time, but if you push me to prove myself now—I’m ready.” He took one of her hands in his and brought it down to rest it on his straining bulge. “More than ready.”
    Looking up into those intense blue eyes, Alethea panicked and pulled her hand free. Jake had told Marc to keep her occupied. That’s all this is. Allowing herself to feel anything would only lead to hurt. A man like him probably looks that way at anything female. Since the beginning of time, women have confused lust with emotion. He doesn’t care about me. He sees me as a potential, convenient fuck. Don’t forget that. “Then it’s a shame that I’m done. Sorry to get mine and run, but I’m really not interested in going any further with you.”
    A line creased his forehead, then disappeared, and he smiled. “Let me see if I can change your mind.” He inserted what looked like a pen into a small hole beneath the elevator panel. A section of the metal panel slid aside, revealing a control pad. He typed in a code. A small camera popped out above the elevator buttons. Marc positioned his eye in front of it until a green light blinked and the elevator began to descend again. “I used a gaze-password authentication system instead of the mainstream retinal scan. It required individual calibration and an estimation algorithm from the computer nerds upstairs, but the result is a password that cannot be used by an imposter thanks to logged variations in gaze parameters.”
    Alethea sagged against the wall of the elevator as his foreplay entered an entirely new dimension, one that she was unprepared to fend off. “Does the algorithm include any biometric features?”
    “Of course,” he said cockily. “The Waltons are working on a genetic password system, but for now we had to settle for the technology available.”
    “What are you safeguarding?” she asked just above a whisper, unable to hide her curiosity.
    A fact that he openly enjoyed. “Something Dominic didn’t think he was into, but he changed his mind quickly enough once he saw the place. Intrigued?”
    Utterly, and on more than one level. When the elevator finally stopped, it opened onto a hallway that looked like any other, except that it lacked windows. They both stepped out and the door closed behind them.
    “Is this some kind of safe room?” It made sense. Many wealthy people had them in their homes and in their workplaces. It’s a dangerous world.
    “Something like that,” he said, and guided her firmly down the hallway to a door. “Designing these is a passion of mine now. A secret and surprisingly lucrative one.” Marc reached for the door, but stopped when Alethea tensed and pulled back. He looked down at her in concern. “What’s the matter?”
    Her head swam with images of what might lay behind the door. She’d read enough women’s fiction to come up with seriously kinky options when she paired the words secret and passion together with a location. “I’m not into . . . I don’t like . . .”
    “Are you claustrophobic?” he asked, assessing the size of the underground hallway before meeting her eyes again. “No, that can’t be it, but I’ve never seen you worried. What do you think is on the other side of the door?”
    Her cheeks flushed bright red.
    He cocked his head to one side, then burst into a deep laugh. “I like where your mind is going.” He shook his head, a huge grin on his face. “Unfortunately, the reality is much tamer than what is flying through that pretty little head of yours.” He pulled her to him, resting her hips against his arousal. “I’m sure we can think of something equally exciting, unless you’re really into that sort of stuff.”
    “I’m not. I just said I’m not,” Alethea huffed, placing her hands on