I saw him the moment I walked into the party and I knew by the end of it, he'd fuck me. It wasn't quite rape. I still don't know what to call it.

Just how I knew that then, I can't say, but to me he was just a gorgeous looking hard bodied stranger, the kind of man who makes my knees go weak. His eyes followed me as I walked into the room, he'd definitely keyed in on me and I liked it.

I didn't even know his real name. The one that matched his photo ID, we discovered later belonged to a dead man. Instead he went by Buck Tatum and the information he provided. He played the part of the owner of a major importing company that specialized in custom made furniture.

By the time we discovered his real identity it was too late.

We knew that among the roster of guests, there would be those with identities as fake as ours. They likely would be running shell companies that served as a means to hide the real business that was of course, less than legal.

That's what our handlers suspected, the ones who recruited our firm to do the undercover work. They were of course sitting somewhere in an office or in a surveillance van down the street listening to information on the wires that we wore underneath our disguises. We knew that the party's guests would include bad guys coming in to react to the actions taken by Carlton Walker, the man we were hired to protect.

I didn't usually handle this kind of work. My partner, Dallas worked with his father who'd started the securities firm. I'd graduated with a accounting degree and they had me working that side of the business. Whenever I asked to work in the field on cases, they always told me no. That it required a certain set of skills I didn't have, that it was dangerous in its unpredictability.

Until this time when both of them asked me to fill in one of the undercover slots. The one where I played Dallas' date. Now I have to admit I had a thing for Dallas but I was a brunette with curly hair and he went for straight haired blondes.

I didn't think about any of this when I walked into the mansion owned by Carlton who hosted the party. I didn't even think of the role I had to play as Dallas' girlfriend.

I thought about how I rocked the black dress I wore which hugged my figure and wore sleeves just off the shoulder. My curly hair, pinned just off my face. I looked the part of a pretty young plaything for a wealthy playboy.

Dallas whispered to me to go canvass the room and see if I could ferret out anything suspicious. I saw the bar lining the wall of the entertainment room and walked towards it.

I ordered a vodka because I held my liquor well. I'd put back three margaritas at my 21th birthday last month so I could handle a few ounces of liquid fire.

Buck approached me for the first time then. He stood tall, just over six feet and broad shouldered. All muscle on his impressive looking frame, the kind that didn't come from a gym. In fact, he looked former military and maybe an athlete as well. Dark curly hair and a strong boned face, a crescent scar over one eyebrow. Stubble on his face and dark colored eyes that saw everything, against tanned skin.

My mouth would have watered if it hadn't been for the role I played. That of the spoiled and wealthy debutante type, a role completely alien to me. Sure I'd been sheltered during my life, had only one boyfriend who dumped me as soon as he graduated from college, one year ahead of me.

He smiled at me but his eyes held a calculated look. I tried to look bored but I struggled with it. Damn, he looked like a feline the way he moved, totally comfortable with himself.

"Hello...I was going to buy you a drink..."

I forced a smirk on my face.

"It would have been a waste of your time trying that line on me," I said, "I'm here with my boyfriend over there."

He didn't even look at Dallas.

"Pity...a pretty little thing like you with a guy like that," he said, "He's probably looking for his next score right now...either for business or pleasure..."

I scowled at him. The nerve of the man. Playing my role didn't look all that tough now.

"How dare you say such a rude thing," I said, "I'll tell you that my boyfriend is very successful and extremely wealthy..."

Buck didn't look offended.

"That might well be...but what does he do for you? Keep you happy in every way?"

God, the timbre of his voice, deep and dark made my skin tingle and the way his eyes penetrated mine. My heartbeat quickened.

"Meaning?"

His mouth curved into a smile.

"Meaning do you like the way he fucks you?"

I dropped my mouth open and that sure wasn't acting. My real self collided with the role I played and my fingers itched to slap him.

"How dare you! What gives you the right?"

He put his drink down smoothly on the counter.

"A woman as pretty as you deserves a good fucking," he said, "The kind where a man lays claim to you and ruins you for anyone else."

Now I really wanted to slap him. Instead I threw my drink at him right in the face. He didn't even blink, a look of cold anger flashed across his face and those eyes...I felt the chill deep inside my core and god, had I gone too far? But then he chuckled and reached for a napkin to wipe his face.

"My mistake...I'm sorry, can you forgive me?"

I just stared at him and then I finally nodded. For a moment I thought he might hurt me but now he almost looked chagrined.

"There's nothing to forgive. I really should get back to my date..."

I walked away but I felt him staring into my back. I felt a charge rush through me that it hadn't been just fear but something else that made me more uncomfortable.

Desire.

Dallas frowned at me when I walked over to him.

"What happened over there?"

I shrugged more nonchalantly than I felt.

"Oh...nothing...some guy made a pass at me and you'd be very proud at how I acted the spoiled little debutante."

He smiled and stroked my arm and I knew that deep down inside of him, he wanted more from me than just friendship. Something less than platonic but I also knew he'd never go there.

"Okay now's the time," he said, "Now we play the couple going off to find some privacy and when we're out of view, you'll get the disk."

I nodded. We both knew that early recon had indicated it was in Carlton's office.

"I'll get it before our marks have a chance to grab it," I said, "I just wish we had them IDed."

He sighed.

"I know but if we get there first, it won't matter."

So he slipped his arm in mine and we left the ballroom to go do what amorous couples do at parties, find some more private place to make out.

Getting the disk was the easy part. I slipped away from Dallas leaving him in the hallway outside Carlton's office and sure enough it was locked up in the top drawer of his desk. I learned enough to know where he hid the key and he hadn't changed its location.

After unlocking the secured drawer, the rest was child's play. I grabbed the disk located inside a folder and tucked it in my dress. I ran into Dallas alone in the hallway. As far as clandestine operations went, this one almost proved disappointing.

Then we heard footsteps so he pulled me into an embrace for show. Just long enough for the footsteps to fade or for someone to pass us. The feel of his hands on my waist, even with silk between them and bare skin, still felt hot.

"I think they're fading..."

Then his lips brushed mine right after he said that, and the heat between us intensified. First like a butterfly landing on a flower...that had to be for show right? I thought he might break the kiss and we'd head back to the party, mission accomplished.

What happened I didn't expect and it nearly knocked me down. His kiss deepened and his lips probed my mouth, sending shards of pleasure through me because the man knew what to do with his mouth. His hands squeezed my waist now and I put my own hands on his shoulders...kissing him right back. My tongue tracing his lips. I wanted to taste the inside of his mouth...I wanted him to press me against the wall behind me and make me feel his hardness in between my thighs.

I wanted...the he broke the kiss.

"Look Kailey I'm sorry....this is so unprofessional of me."

I gasped for breath still feeling the imprint of his hands on me even though he'd removed them.

"It's all right Dallas...in fact it was kind of nice."

He blinked his eyes and I thought...but then he shook his head again.

"We'd better get back to the party. Here give me the disk."

I reached into my dress where I'd tucked it and handed it to him. That's when I realized that despite what we shared, we were really just role playing.

"You go....I need to freshen up...I'll join you shortly."

I needed to dial down the rush that had filled me and get back into game mode. He left and I headed to the bathroom and did that, fixing my hair a little bit and straightening my dress.

I left and walked back to the party walking down the hallway and then turning a corner. Ahead of me I saw Buck talking to another man that we'd been told was Slade.

"It's in the office," Buck said, "I don't know where...check the desk and the cabinet."

Slade nodded.

"We don't find it and we're in trouble."

Buck grinned.

"No...in the end of the night, it's not going to matter. But we've got a blueprint to follow..."

Slade walked towards me and past me checking my body out briefly and then heading to the office I'd just left. I wondered what would happen when they realized that the disk had been removed already. At least we knew who our marks were or at least another player interested in the information on it.

Buck looked at me just then.

"Hi princess..."

I sighed, playing indifferent.

"Excuse me...I'm on my way back to the party."

He nodded and I moved to pass him when suddenly he grabbed my arm. Surprised to say the least, I turned to face him.

"Let me go...how dare you touch me. Let me go now."

He ignored me and soon both of his hands were on me and before I knew it he had me back against the wall and not much breathing space between the two of us. His face only a couple inches from my own.

"You think you're so high and mighty like Daddy's little princess," he said, "I know all about girls like you who tease a man until he has to rape you to shut you up."

His grip felt so strong, his muscles tense but his attitude dominated more than his body. His eyes bore into mine, betraying an intensity beyond any I'd ever seen in a man before.

"I saw how you treated your boyfriend," he said, "You probably got him so wound up by now..."

I put on a haughty expression.

"What I do with my boyfriend is my business not yours...now get off of me...before I..."

He smiled in what looked like amusement.

"Before you what? Princess, I don't see anyone else around do you?"

God I knew he was right. I'd isolated myself by not going back with Dallas. We were alone together and he had me pinned with his body against the wall. It pissed me off, his arrogance that he could do this and even more so at myself because on some level, it put me on edge.

I tried to push him off of me and he pushed harder against me, bracing his arms on either side of me.

"Now what?"

Struggling against him was useless. I glared at him. The spoiled princess role, coming in real handy right now.

But then while looking at me, he started toying with tendrils of my hair, tugging at them. I cringed but the sensations...weren't all fear. Weren't even mostly...or even anger.

"You're a pretty little piece of ass," he said, "But you're a little tease thinking you're too good for guys like me."

"I..."

Then I felt one of his hands drawing up my silk dress up one of my thighs rubbing it up and down teasingly at first. I bit my lip, hiding my reaction.

"Be careful...things have a way of turning on their head in any given moment."

His hand pushed my dress up higher, his fingers grazing bare skin above my thigh highs. Then I felt a tug on my garter strap knowing he found it.

"Let me go..."

He released it and then lowered my dress.

"This night isn't over yet..."

With those words, he walked away from me down the hallway leaving me in the wake of what he started.

I tried to slow my breathing before heading back to the party like nothing happened. I felt more confused than angry or afraid. Not that it mattered, I had a job to do and I did it.

Our side had the disk. The other side would leave the party empty handed, or so I thought.

Nothing in my life prepared me for what happened next.