Page 187 of Sin

“I missed you too.”

My mouth moves down her body. I take my time because I can. By the time I settle between her thighs, she’s trembling.

Then I enter her slowly. Her mouth falls open beneath mine, and I kiss the sound from her lips as I sink into her inch by inch. The heat of her around me is enough to make my arms shake. When I’m fully inside, I stop and rest my forehead against hers.

I start to move. Slow at first. Then deeper. She wraps around me, hands in my hair, legs around my waist, mouth open against mine as if breathing has become something we have to share. Every stroke feels like a promise I do not know how to make with words yet. So I make it with my body. With my hands. With my mouth. With the way I look at her and don’t look away.

She comes quietly at first, then all at once, breaking against me with my name caught in her throat. I hold her through it, watching her face, memorizing the way she looks when pleasure and feeling become the same thing.

I don’t last long after that. My release hits deep and slow and devastating, tearing through me until I bury my face against her neck and shake with it. For a long time, we stay tangled together. My body over hers. Her fingers in my hair. Our breathing uneven.

Eventually, I lift my head. Her eyes are closed, but tears rest at her temples. I brush one away with my thumb.

“Laurel.”

She opens her eyes.

“I love you,” I say.

Her face softens in a way that nearly breaks me.

“I love you too,” she whispers.

I kiss her again. And for the first time, there is no locked door between us and the truth.

27

Laurel

** One Year Later **

“And that’s why Sex Activity Pro is proud to introduce the Eden line.”

The slide changes behind me, revealing the apple suction toy in a glossy crimson finish, complete with delicate gold detailing and a silhouette that is somehow both sweet and scandalous.

People gasp. Actual gasps.

God, I love my job.

“The line will feature an apple, a serpent, and all the temptation a couple could want.”

A laugh rolls through the room, followed by applause. At the very back of the room, Sin claps, smiling at me. Not Mason Sinclair, CEO. Not the man I once loved in secret.

My fiancé.

He’s leaning against the back wall in a dark suit, no tie, his hair down because I’ve told him repeatedly that I like having something to pull. He pretends that isn’t why he wears it that way now.

The ring on my finger catches the stage lights, throwing a small flash of fire across the podium. A year ago, I stood in Amsterdam and told myself wanting him would ruin me. Now I’m standing in Amsterdam with his ring on my hand and a room full of people applauding the product line I built after walking through the wreckage.

Life is stupid. Beautiful, occasionally. But mostly stupid.

I smile back at him and his expression changes. It’s subtle. Most people would miss it. I don’t. Then his gaze drops to my hand, to the ring, and when his eyes return to mine, the heat there is unmistakable. My pulse stutters.

Sir. We are at a professional event. In front of several hundred people. Including two journalists, three distributors, and a very enthusiastic French buyer who has already asked if the serpent model comes in emerald. This is not the time.

Sin’s mouth curves like he can hear every thought in my head.

I turn back to the audience before my face betrays me completely.