Sinners & Gin - Top Shelf

“Yes,” I answered softly.

Stepping back, he pulled me against him with an arm around my waist while his other hand roamed over my back, rubbing gently. Then he tipped my face up to his with a long index finger beneath my chin, his lips kissing away my tears then setting onto mine as if that was exactly where they belonged. Without doing anything else, he stopped the kiss as quickly as it started and walked toward the door.

“I take care of what belongs to me.” His final words were punctuated by opening the bedroom door.

“Wait!” I said.

He turned and looked at me. “You need your rest.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Not yet. Right now… right now I want you. I need you.”

15

Matthew

Never before had a woman responded with such passion to my touch. Hell, any woman I knew would do whatever it took to avoid my wrath. No woman would be foolish enough to taunt the beast within me. Any right-minded woman knew exactly where that would land her. And yet, there was Aria. There was no denying that, although Aria cried out in distress, her pussy became soaked in arousal. Her body revealed she loved the discipline just as much as she hated it. And never before had I craved a woman as much as I did this little vixen. Her moans… her gasps… her cries.

In pursuit of those aims, I cleared the distance between us, took her into my arms, and bent my head down and kissed her. I couldn’t hold back any longer. I wanted to hear her scream my name as she came into her own ecstasy. Even if it were just while we were at this house, just for a short time, I wanted her to be mine. Mine. Because in time, I had already made up my mind that I would return her to her father and never look back. Close this chapter of my life and get back to my cold, emotionless, and lucrative life I lived before. For now, though, I intended to indulge myself… and her.

Aria

I couldn’t believe the words I had just said and how bold I was being toward this man. I tried to demur, to turn my head away when his lips sought mine, but his hand came up and held my cheek so that I had nowhere to turn. And seconds after he’d begun kissing me, I knew that I didn’t want to turn away from him. Not now. Not ever. I wanted to turn toward him, toward the paradise that I already knew his touch would bring, despite all the warning bells that were already going off in my head. So, I ducked my lips out from under his, knowing that if I didn’t, I’d soon be completely lost.

His fingers brought me right back to where he wanted me, until I caught the tip of his wandering tongue between my teeth in warning.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, princess. That kind of thing will get you flipped right back on your stomach.” He didn’t specify, but his hands went to the thick leather belt at his waist and my eyes had followed their descent.

I released him immediately as if I’d been scalded, reprimanding myself silently for the coward I so obviously was. I should have bitten down then run away from him, stolen his beat-up truck and driven away. But to where? I had no idea where anything was, and it was nighttime again. Sense of direction was not my strong suit. And it was freezing outside, and I… So just like before, I had to push the foolish ideas of escape out of my mind.

Was it better to do that and probably die of exposure or worse in the woods, or to remain here, where I was so obviously going to end up crossing the point of no return with him again, whether I wanted to or not? Not to mention living under the constant threat that he was going to punish me—or whatever else his wicked mind came up with.

While I was debating, he was busy trying to remove my clothes—what little I had. His hand came up the insides of my tightly closed thighs, skittering lightly over my mons to my lower belly. The fabric fell away from me as his big wrist rubbed over bare skin, up over my navel, up the middle of my ribcage to my breastbone, then hung a sharp right and captured a breast whose tip was achingly tight in anticipation of his possession.

I wrestled my mouth out from under his and whispered, “Matthew, no. Part of me wants this, but another part is afraid.” I panted and tried to take a deep calming breath. “Matthew, no. We should stop.”

“I like the sound of my name on your lips, but ‘no’ is not a word I tolerate from many people, none of whom are you. I want to hear you this time. I want you to purr for me and moan. I want to hear your breath hiss through your teeth, and I want to hear you scream my name as you come.”