Page 31 of Glorious Sinner

I nodded, holding his direct gaze, wanting him to see it for himself. “Well, I made a couple of dozen, actually. I thought you might like one now.”

His nostrils flared and I knew he saw it. My acceptance. It pleased him. “How do they taste?” he said.

“Do you remember…” My face heated, and suddenly I was that sixteen-year-old girl again, trying to impress the hot tattooed guy who worked for my dad. “I used to make them for Dad and drop them off to him at work.” I cleared my throat. “I mean, this isn’t the same recipe, but I tried to find one close to it.”

“Do I remember when my boss’s beautiful, innocent, tempting as fuck daughter used to drop off chocolate muffins? In summer, wearing short pretty floral dresses or shorts that hugged her ass? In winter, coats that made me hungry to see what she wore underneath?” He licked his lips. “When seeing that girl was the highlight of my shitty life, and every time she came to see her dad I’d lock it away, those images, and take her home with me.”

I blinked up at him, heart pounding. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

He tucked my hair behind my ear. “And later, when I went to bed at night, I’d imagine she was mine, that that pure, innocent, fucking gorgeous girl was mine. I’d imagine the beautiful, warm smiles she gave her dad were for me. I’d imagine taking her out on dates, picking her up in my car after school. Laughing, holding her hand, kissing her. Taking her for rides, parking up somewhere, stripping those pretty floral dresses off her, and uncovering all her secrets.” He brushed his thumb over my cheek. “I’d stroke myself with those images in my head, desperate for my next glimpse of you.” He shook his head. “Do I remember? Yeah, Angel, I remember. I remember ever single time I laid eyes on you. Every. Single. Fucking. Time.”

I stood there speechless, feeling almost dizzy. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, but I knew it was the truth. It was there in his eyes.

“So?” he said. “How do they taste?”

“What?”

His beautiful mouth curled up. “The muffins?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know.”

He glanced down, swiped his finger through the frosting, brought it to my mouth, and carefully smeared it over my bottom lip. My tongue darted out, tasting the sugary goodness automatically, and Tomas’s eyes darkened.

“Good?”

I nodded.

God, I wanted him to kiss me, and he wanted it, too. I could see it in his eyes. If I wanted something I needed to ask for it. I’d forgotten how. For so long, I’d been letting life happen to me. I realized that for the last year Tomas had been waiting for that from me. He’d been waiting for me to tell him I was ready, for him, for this.

I’d nearly lost my chance.

Hand trembling, I did the same as Tomas, scooping a little of the frosting up, bringing it to my mouth, and sliding it across my lower lip. I lifted my chin, looking up at him, doing my damnedest to exude confidence. Given it was fueled by a lust so intense my legs shook, it wasn’t as hard as I thought, because right then I needed him. This went way beyond want.

“Why don’t you try it for yourself?” I said.

A breath huffed from his nose and his dark gaze dropped to my mouth. “I want to, fuck, do I want to.” His eyes lifted back to mine. “But kissing you won’t be enough, not today, not when all I’ve been able to think about is the sweet way you kissed me last night. The fucking sweeter way you came for me on top of my desk. And not after some asshole who can’t follow instructions came to my home, compromising my security, and putting you at risk.” His gaze dropped to my lip again then back up. “I’m on edge, Angel, and if I kiss you, I’m gonna want to make you come. Because leaving you in my room this morning, in my bed, the way you looked there?” He shook his head. “That’s all I’ve been able to think about. And honestly, it’s taken everything in me not to come find you.”

“Find me?” I whispered, the pulse between my thighs a steady beat that had me swaying closer.

“You have no idea, do you? Christ, I want to drop to my knees and make you come against my mouth so bad I fucking ache. The last thing I want to do is pressure you, but that’s just where I’m at right now, this moment. If that’s too much for you, if you’re not ready, I need you to leave my office. I’ll pull my shit together and then I’ll come find you, and I’ll kiss you sweet and slow and hot and we’ll watch a movie, and I’ll love every fucking second of it. But not now. I can’t give you sweet now.”

I could see that saying that to me tormented him, but he meant every word of it. And I knew that I could pull him down and kiss him hard and he’d still let me walk away. Despite what he said, he’d never force anything on me. But at this moment, he wanted more.

Pressing my hand to his chest, I curled my fingers in his shirt and tilted my head back. “I’m not leaving,” I said to him.

He wasn’t the only one who wanted more.

9

Stephanie

He didn’t ask if I was sure. He didn’t assume I didn’t know my own mind. No, Tomas curled an arm around my waist, tugged me closer, and dropped his face to the side of my neck, growling softly when he felt the shiver move through me.

“Fuck, you smell good,” he said, then lifted me off my feet and kicked his office door closed on the way to the couch opposite his desk.

He didn’t lower me straight away, though. He hitched me higher so my legs had nowhere to go but around his waist, and thrust his fingers in my hair. His other hand went to my ass so he could hold me up while his lips moved up my neck, finishing at my ear. “Ready for that kiss, Angel?”

I nodded, shivering again when his cheek slid across mine. I gripped his wide shoulders as heat curled low in my belly, anticipation spiraling behind my ribs. Then his mouth was brushing mine, sucking off the frosting, coming back again and again, but maddeningly not taking it deeper, until my heart was racing and I was squirming against that strong hand still gripping my ass.