Tainted Kiss (Tainted Knights 1)

She grinned, making her lips move seductively against the flesh of my thumb. The grin grew bigger, and then she laughed.

When that laugh turned into a snort, I thought I was going to nut off in my jeans right then and there. Fuck, that little snort was sexy.

Santana gasped and slapped her hand over her mouth. Then that pretty pink filled her cheeks and spread farther down her neck.

I couldn’t help wondering if her entire body blushed like that. Would her luscious tits turn that sweet shade of pink? Would the color of her nipples match it, or be a darker rose? Did it spread down her stomach?

Fuck, my jeans grew uncomfortably tight, but I didn’t adjust myself like I was desperate to do. I didn’t want to embarrass her in front of a street full of strangers.

“I hate you a little right now,” she muttered sullenly, yet she still couldn’t hide the pleasure that was making her eyes dance.

“You’re beautiful when you lie like that, doll.” I dropped my hands, but not before I tossed her hair over her shoulder for her. She could have put it in a ponytail. I was glad she hadn’t. I liked watching her toss it out of her way. “Spend the rest of the day with me, Santana. I promise to be on my best behavior if you promise not to cut my body up and toss it to the coyotes.”

Her lips twitched, fighting a grin. “Okay, I promise.”

The valet pulled my car up in front of us then, and I reached for her door before the guy could do it. I gave him a tip, took the key fob from him, and practically jogged around the front of my car. Excitement at getting the rest of the day with Santana made my blood sing and put a grin on my face as I slid behind the wheel.

“Point me in the direction of your place, doll.”

When she sunk her teeth into her full bottom lip, I reached over without thinking, rubbing my thumb over it to make her release her hold on that delicate lip. It was damp, warm, and silky soft.

“Unless you want me to kiss that lip better, you shouldn’t try to eat it.”

Another little shuddery breath came out, her voice barely above a whisper when she said, “It’s not far from here. I actually walked this morning.”

I tucked her hair behind her ear, saw the little hoop in her daith, and nodded. “Tell me about your roommate,” I urged her as I pulled into traffic, needing to distract myself from the feel of her lips and the hungry ache I had to taste them.

“Sage?” Her nose scrunched up, then she laughed. “I met her in high school, and for about the first month, we hated each other. Honestly, I didn’t even remember why I hated her in the beginning. It was one of those insta-hate things. Or maybe it was envy.”

I glanced at her as I paused at a red light and saw her shrug.

“Whatever it was, it ended when two older girls cornered her in the locker room after gym class one day. They both had a handful of her blonde hair when I walked in after running my mile. I might have hated her, but I wasn’t about to let anyone gang up on someone like that.”

“Fierce.” I winked at her then drove through the now green light. “So, you kick

ed some ass that day, huh?”

“I tried. They were a lot bigger than either me or Sage, so we got our asses kicked pretty good.”

I shot her a quick look, saw she was smiling at the memory, and then turned back toward the road. Traffic was getting congested with people going back to work after their lunch break.

“But they didn’t walk away without a few scratches. And I might have—almost—broke Mandy Winston’s nose.”

“That’s my girl.”

“We all got suspended for a week.”

Something in her voice forced my eyes back to her, and I saw a flash of what looked like pain and sadness cross her face.

“I couldn’t stay home, so I ended up hanging out with Sage at her house that week. We became friends during that time, and I guess her family sort of adopted me. After that, I spent more time at her place than home, so it was only natural we ended up as roommates.”

I wanted to ask why she couldn’t stay at home that week, why she had looked so sad, and why the fuck she’d looked like she was in pain at the memory. However, something stopped me. Asking something that personal could get her guard up and send her running, and I wasn’t about to risk that. There would be plenty of time later for those kinds of questions, I assured myself while she continued to tell me all about Sage.

I loved listening to her talk. The way she became so animated and moved her hands when she got excited had me glancing at her as often as I possibly could while still driving safely. It was just one more thing that I found adorable about this girl. One more thing that made me want to dive in and discover every other layer she had that made up who she was.

It took no time to get to her apartment. I found a free space in the parking lot of the complex and carried her case up for her. Instead of letting me in, though, she barely opened the door, set her camera down, and then slammed it shut before I could get a glimpse inside.

Turning to face me, she gave me a tight smile. “We can walk to the grocery store from here.”