Page 115 of Twisted Steel

“Not stopping you.”I kiss the inside of one wrist.Then the other.“Watching.”

Her breath hitches.“You’re impossible,” she whispers.

“You love me.”The words leave my mouth before I can decide whether I should say them like that.Easy.Like I’m allowed.Like love belongs to me now.

Harper stills and the noise outside fades.Her hands rest against my belt, and her eyes lift to mine.

“Yes,” she says softly.“I do.”

Everything in me goes quiet, and I cup her face.“Say it again.”

“I love you, Marcus Holt.”My name in her mouth, and my heart in her hands.

I close my eyes for half a second because if I look at her too long, I am going to do something humiliating like feel an emotion out loud.

She laughs softly.“Are you overwhelmed?”

“No.”

“You’re a terrible liar.”

“Yes.”

I kiss her.This time, the heat is still there, rough and hungry, but something deeper moves under it.Something that makes my hands careful even while my mouth is not.Something that turns every touch into a promise I plan to keep until my last breath.

She opens my belt and pushes my jeans down.Her hand wraps around girth, and my forehead drops to hers.

“Fuck.”

“That’s the general plan,” she says.

A laugh tears out of me and turns into a groan when she strokes me slowly.Mean woman.

She leans in, lips brushing my ear.“You want to know what I’ve been thinking all day?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve been thinking about your hands on me in places you definitely shouldn’t touch me during a barbecue.”My hips jerk into her hand, and she smiles.So beautifully fucking cruel, and I love it.“I’ve been thinking about how hard you try not to stare when I bend over.”

“I fail.”My words are low and strained as she continues to stroke me.

“Constantly.”

“You do it on purpose.”I accuse lowly.

“Yes.”She chuckles.

I growl, and she laughs until I grab her hips and pull her off the workbench.Her feet barely hit the floor before I turn her around, press her hands to the scarred wood, and cover her body with mine.

“Harper.”Her head turns just enough for me to see her face.Her eyes are dark with desire.

“Yes,” she all but moans.

“Tell me.”

She swallows.“I want this.”

“How?”