Ah, the litigator. The gladiators of the law, the Goliath to everyone’s David. They rule the legal world with their golden tongues and sensual style, bringing witnesses to their knees and juries to their feet. We may be backroom chum, but we are not immune to their charms. Though they torture us with long hours and impossible deadlines, our little hearts go pitter-patter at the mere sight of them. You cannot fault me for letting them into a fantasy or two. That is probably the only way I will have the privilege of luxuriating in their panty-wetting presence.

Laura McClintock sighed as Carmen Marinaldo stalked toward the jury with the exquisite grace of a panther.

The mass torts lawyer exuded power, sexual heat, and passion. He held everyone in the courtroom in his thrall. Carmen Marinaldo was a true legal warrior, a man with no win-loss record simply because he had never lost at trial. He was everything Laura aspired to be—glib, refined, and seductive. He was amazing to watch.

For the past week, she had planted herself in the gallery of the courtroom, only one row behind the plaintiff’s table, hoping to garner the man’s attention. She had applied for a coveted clerkship at Carmen Marinaldo & Associates, S.C., and the competition was fierce. Laura figured sitting in the cheap seats, appearing to be one of the man’s many cheerleaders, couldn’t hurt.

The Italian Bull, as so many called him, was mesmerizing. His voice was low and seductive, yet when he backed a witness into the proverbial corner, he attacked like a cat in heat. Even the most obstinate witnesses were reduced to quivering masses of flesh as Marinaldo deftly forced the truth from their mouths. When Carmen Marinaldo set his dreamy brown eyes on a target, there was no escape.

At a mere five feet eight inches, Marinaldo’s wiry constitution led many to underestimate his abilities. His thick curly brown hair, classic Italian nose, and full, firm lips made him appear more choir boy than enraged avenger, but his incisive mind and quirky wit charmed juries and judges. And when Marinaldo smiled—a lazy aw-shucks grin—everyone sat up straight and tuned in. That was his only tell, a sign that a witness was about to be emasculated.

Laura had set her sights on a clerkship in this man’s law firm to the exclusion of all others. She was convinced that Marinaldo was the key to launching her own career as a mass torts lawyer. All Laura needed was a chance to prove herself. When she spoke, Laura delivered legal arguments with such intellectual force that her opponents were often left dumbstruck. However, throughout law school, few were capable of seeing past her face and her body to acknowledge her scintillating mind.

That changed when Laura bullied her way into her law school’s invitation-only moot court competition. She breezed through the school, state, and regional contests, sacking opponent after opponent with her lilting soprano, shrewd reasoning, and calmness under pressure. After Laura obliterated her final opponent at the national contest, Carmen Marinaldo was among the competition judges who stood and applauded. Then he invited her to apply for a clerkship at his firm. Laura had no doubt she would be hired. She had been taught there was nothing she could not achieve if she believed, and Laura believed in Laura.

At her initial interview at Marinaldo and Associates, she had peered up at Carmen Marinaldo and thought, “This man is my golden ticket.” Yet, when she had looked deep into his eyes, she saw something more—passion, lust, and dominance. At that moment, her mind filled with images of being strapped to the bedposts, Carmen drilling her like a jackhammer or her tiny body bent over a desk while Carmen marked his territory. It was enough to make a proper little southern girl shudder in her petticoats.

When Marinaldo finished his closing argument, leaving the jury in tears, he turned and walked slowly back to the plaintiff’s table. His gaze caught hold of Laura’s and he grinned. His predatory eyes slowly took in every inch of Laura and then he mouthed the words, “Mine.”

Laura blushed and her eyes dropped to her hands as if studying a broken fingernail. She just knew his words confirmed that she had the job.