Page 76 of Destroyed With You

Her bare shoulders rose and fell, making that thin dress all the more enticing. “About whether you believed me. Really trusted me.” She lifted the ring. “But I guess you do.”

He cupped her chin as he bent to brush a soft kiss over her lips. “I do,” he said. “I didn’t when I first saw you. I didn’t when I tied you down. I probably shouldn’t have when you held that broken glass at my neck, but I did. And now here we are, and I trust you completely. But maybe I should have actually told you that.”

“You just did,” she said, waving the ring. “Come on.”

She led him through the crush of the crowd, past the reception counter, and on toward the celebrated back room. He pushed the door open, and they stepped into the area. Darker than the first, it was lit by candlelight. The room was some sort of lounge for the staff, and there were padded benches, couches, and chairs scattered throughout the area.

Linda tugged him to a stop just past the threshold. “The door to the hall we need is over there,” she said, nodding to the corner that Renly had described. “Looks like we should have gotten here sooner.”

He frowned, noticing the couple in an intimate embrace right by that door. “Well, we have time before the staff leaves. They can’t stay there all night.”

Linda’s hand was still in his, and now she squeezed it before giving it a tug. “I have a better idea.” She started to lead the way toward the door and the couple.

“What are you doing?”

“They’ll either get embarrassed and leave if we go park ourselves over there, or they’ll ask us to join them, in which case we can suggest someplace a little more secluded. Either way, they clear out.”

It wasn’t a great plan, but it was a plan, so he followed her lead to within about a meter of the other couple, who were half-undressed and barely even acknowledged they were there.

Linda leaned against the wall, and he bent forward. “They aren’t even remotely interested in us,” he whispered.

“Good,” she said. Then, before he could protest, she took his hand and pressed it to her breast. He started to pull away, but she held it firmly in place with one hand while the other cupped his ass.

“Linda, no. We had a deal.”

“No, you had an ultimatum.” She took her hand away long enough to reach up and pull down the strap of her gown on one side, freeing her breast.

“Christ, Linda.”

She held his gaze as she loosened the other strap, so that his hand on her breast was the only thing keeping the material in place.

“Fuck your rules,” she whispered. “We’re here, and we have time, and I want you. I want this,” she added. “You say we didn’t know each other back then? So what? We never did anything like this in Hades, but I want it now. I want you now.”

She was breathing hard, her expression full of fierce passion.

“So you tell me, Winston,” she continued, as his heart pounded in his chest and his cock took control of his rational thoughts. “Do you want me like this? Or do you just want to walk away?”

Chapter Twenty-Four

I expect him to push me away—gently, perhaps, but I still expect him to say no. He’d set limits, after all, and I’m most definitely crossing the line.

Which is why I gasp when he moves his hands to cage me against the wall, then roughly closes his mouth over mine. It’s a brutal, claiming kiss, and the fiery passion of it shoots straight to my core. I want this. I want his touch. I want everything.

And I even want it here. Crazy, maybe, but I want to prove to him and the world that I belong to his man. That there is a raw, primal, unbreakable heat that crackles between us, wild and intense.

“I thought you didn’t want this,” I say.

“I want you.” The words have a hard edge, and I want to cling to them. To hide behind them and use them as shelter. Is it really me he wants, or is it the woman from long ago? Or simply a woman to touch?

As if he reads my mind, he unties the other strap, so that now both my breasts are bare in this hallway. “You’re mine,” he says. “Then, now, forever. I know it. And I’m going to make it my mission to make sure you know it, too.”

“I—”

He silences me with a kiss, one hand cupping a breast as the other slides down to find the slit in this skirt. “Is this really a conversation you want to have?” he murmurs, his mouth at my ear as his hand finds my tiny thong panties. He tugs them aside, his fingers sliding deep into me. “Oh, sugar, you do like this.”

“Yes,” I whisper. I’m desperately wet, my skin feels on fire, and my nipples are so tight it’s painful. I can hardly say no.

“Tell me you’re mine,” he says, pinching my clit and making me gasp. We’ve never played rough before. Tying me up at the hotel was a first. This is another one. And, yeah, I like it.