Covet (Sinful Secrets 3)

“There’s lipstick on your jaw.” I touch my own, and his hand lifts to mirror mine. His face is emotionless, although his brow remains a slight bit furrowed.

“I saw you dancing at the bar, and now you smell like Holly.” I shut my eyes. Why did I have to love him? When I look at him again, I’m gripped by fury. “Why are you here, Declan? What do you want from me?”

“You were gone.” It’s whispered. He leans on the door frame, and then grips its top beam with his palm. I can see the liquor in his eyes, the way they’re wide and over-focused on my face.

“Is that how it works where you’re from, then? It’s just whoever is about will do?” Despite my anger, or perhaps because of it, my eyes ache. “Oh, I know—” my fingers snap— “you’re leaving anyway. That’s right! You’re leaving soon, aren’t you? And there’ll be other women. Ones who don’t hold court in your bed or force you into bubble baths. They won’t really know or care for you, or risk their lives to love you for mere weeks, as I have!”

His face twists again, and his brows notch in anger. Oh please, try that! I give a hollow laugh. “Go back to Holly, won’t you?” I wave at him, shooing. “Holly wants you, no doubt Rachel as well! Go be merry at the bar, and we’ll end this here! So much simpler. And that’s what you like, isn’t it? Keep it all risk-free and simple. Float through life without thinking too much beyond your animal-position fucking!”

He steps inside, his dark eyes flashing. “You don’t like to fuck me, Finley?”

My heart beats so quickly, I fear I might pass out. “No, I don’t in fact. I don’t like fucking you. I like making love, and you stopped doing that. You won’t look me in the eye now!”

He closes the distance between us. How he reek

s of alcohol. His potent breath sends me back to my childhood, makes me tremble.

“You’re a liar.” The words are like velvet, and his face is set like stone.

“No, I’m not! Now go away from me!” I shove his chest without forethought and then recoil as fear pounds through me.

“Tell me you don’t want me. C’mon, fucking tell me, Finley. Make it easy.”

“I want you, and I hate it. I hate you!”

“Tell me you don’t want my hands on you. My mouth right there.” His finger points to my throat. I can’t swallow. His hands run down my arms, the warm palms feather-light. His face is grave as all the universe.

I can say nothing. I’ve made unforgivable mistakes, so many errors in judgment. My foot is caught in moss I’ll never break free of...and still I crave him.

“I don’t want to want you,” I say, the words barely there.

To my surprise, he laughs, his prince’s mouth twisting before he tosses me over his shoulder and makes off toward the curtain, striking it aside to stride toward the beds.

“I don’t want to either, so I guess that makes it even.”

He takes his time lying me on my back, spreading my legs. For a moment, he stands over me, and our eyes lock. His are dazed and depthless. Were it not for his tight jaw, I’d have no clue he felt anything as he looks down at me.

“You thought you should stay away from me?” He shakes his head, the motion taut. He leans down, running his hand along my thigh. “You have no idea what I want to do to this body. God—so fucking thick. Nobody has an ass like this,” he murmurs.

He squeezes mine, and then leans lower over me, unfastening my pants and taking them down. As he does, he looks into my eyes; he’s giving me an out—but I don’t take it. I can’t.

He rips my pale blue panties cleanly at one side and then the other, snatching them away before he climbs atop me like a predator, lowering his face between my legs, rolling his tongue around my clit then dragging slowly in between my slit. It feels so glorious, I cry out, thrusting toward his mouth and grabbing at his hair.

“Heavens…oh…mercy!” He laps at me until I’m weak and trembling, unable to properly breathe. All I want is that crest of elation. I lift my hips, urging his warm tongue over me, hoping that he’ll fill me with his fingers.

I hear the rumble of his dark laugh. “Tell me what you want, Siren.”

He licks upward from my core, his tongue hot and slick, tracing a circle ’round my clit until I’m moaning. Then he lifts his tongue away. I grab his hair.

“Relief…please!”

He leans down, refusing me his mouth as his breath warms my inner thigh. “Tell me how you want relief, Siren.”

My belly coils, and then his fingers dip into my heat. It’s just the tips at first, but he pushes them slowly inside then drags them back out as his thumb circles my clit.

“I want to come,” I whisper, feeling my cheeks redden.

“That’s right. And I’ve been wanting to do this…” His gaze flicks up to mine, unreadable, before he rolls his tongue over my aching flesh. His fingers probe me sweetly as his tongue makes me feel slick and breathless. I lift my hips, urging his fingers deeper, even as my legs tremble.