Elle's Seduction by Abby-Rae Rose

out of the cube. Before he stepped too far away, he turned back, his brow raised. “Just for my benefit—what play was that? Sweeney Todd, Best Little Horror House In Texas?”
    Elle shook her head. “Faust.”
    His brow rose at that, a sexy smirk forming on his lips. “Oh, really? And what part were you playing?”
    “Mephistopheles.”
    “Hmmm, the devil’s man. How appropriate,” he said, his smile widening. “Oh, this is going to be good, very good.”
     
     

Chapter Nine
     

     
    Maxwell cursed himself as he met Darren at the end of the aisle and pointed to a conference room. The man was going too fast. Sure, they were on a tight schedule, but Maxwell wanted more time.
    He opened the first empty conference room door he came to and ushered Darren in. The minute the door clicked, he laid into him. “Damn it, man. You don’t have to seduce her right there in the middle of the office.”
    Darren walked around the conference room, touching a frame here and a chair there before sitting down and propping his legs on the table. “Settle down, old man. You’re the one who wanted her seduced. I’m just doing what you asked.”
    “Well, stop it.”
    A blond brow raised, and that damn British accent came out strong as Darren asked, “Having trouble with another man sniffing up your woman?”
    Maxwell shook his head and slammed a chair back, plopping down in it. “No. Well...not much.”
    Darren eyed him, as he pulled his legs off the table and sat up. “But Elle’s different?”
    “You saw her. She’s perfect. Those corkscrew curls, red lips, and oh my god, that ass...and her dimples...” Maxwell rubbed his hands over his face, fighting the hard on that was already springing to life as he remembered the look of her in that tight new suit, plump breasts behind the vest, and the sweet heart-shaped ass tightly encased in pin striped wool. The blush on her cheeks as he’d slid his fingers through her wetness as she panted for him, just him. Just the memory had him sweating.
    Darren’s smirk was gone, replaced by that haunted look only Maxwell knew the cause of. No matter how far you ran, you could never escape your past. They both knew that truth too well. “Maxwell, this was your idea. All you have to do is say the word and I’m gone. You don’t have to go through with this.”
    Maxwell swallowed. He had to know if this could be real—if Elle could move past her innocence and embrace a side of her he desperately wanted to see. “No. The plan stays as is. Someone has to introduce her to the lifestyle. I have to know how far she’ll go. I can’t live not knowing. If she can’t accept submission, then I’ll know for certain that this can’t go any further.”
    “But Maxwell, she’s so innocent.”
    Maxwell pulled at his hair. “Don’t you think I know that?”
    Darren’s smile was gone, his face a somber mask. “What if she falls in love with me?”
    Maxwell blanched at the one question he’d avoided since first seeing Elle and Darren together. “Christ!”
    Darren rapped his knuckles on the table for a second, an expression of complete seriousness on his face. “You know how some of them are—they think sex and love go hand in hand.”
    Shaking his head, Maxwell pushed the thought away. No matter how much it hurt, this was the final straw. “Darren, I have less than a month. I’ll either have to cut her loose or test. I just can’t let it go.”
    Darren’s eyebrows creased. As a partner in the company and The Den, he knew what kind of pressure they both were under to make things work. “So we either break her in or break her heart?”
    Put that way, Maxwell nearly lost his appetite for their plan. Seduction was always tricky. Slow and easy was the way they both liked to play it. But time had run out, they were playing dirty, and in the end they may all pay the price.
    “Darren,” Maxwell looked at his best friend. This was the man he trusted more than anyone else—even himself.