Theirs to Keep

“Something like this.”

There was alarm in his expression, like he’d suddenly done something he shouldn’t. I was trying to decide if it was cute. If it was maybe his way of being respectful, rather than coy. After all, one of his employees was about to—

“Karissa…” he said hesitantly.

“Or maybe this.”

I took his other hand and settled it over my ass. My sleep shorts rode high, leaving half the cheek exposed. His palm — rough and rugged from manual labor — felt abrasively wonderful.

We were face to face again now. Nose to nose.

“Really you could have whatever you wanted,” I breathed softly. “A bet’s a bet.”

I reached downward, between our bodies, and a wrist closed firmly over mine. Our eyes locked. My fingers were just inches away from the prize.

“Or… we could just sleep,” I shrugged. “Like you said.”

I took my hand away. I saw his eyes soften.

“Karissa it’s not like that.”

“Apparently not,” I said, pulling back.

“It’s just… it’s…”

The struggle was deep-seeded. Rational and real. Roderick’s expression was filled with sorrow and regret, but also a thousand other emotions as well. I saw longing in his eyes too. Desire. Need.

“I can’t just—”

Lust.

I dipped my chin, and suddenly he had my face in his hands. Roderick’s lips crashed against mine, his mouth moving with a hunger and passion that sent waves of heat crashing over me. His body surged forward, enveloping mine, as his tongue slipped into my mouth and made me his.

Holy fuck.

His kisses were fierce and fiery. Full of passionate promise. I felt almost consumed by him, engulfed in the burning heat of his suddenly insatiable appetite. His hands were back on my body. Squeezing me. Possessing me…

There was zero resistance as he rolled me onto my back. Straddling my body, his two big arms on either side of my head, Roderick stopped kissing me just long enough to look deep into my eyes.

“Say you want me,” he breathed. “It’s all I need.”

His words knocked the air from my lungs. I took only a second to recover, though.

“I want you.”

Nudging my thighs apart, he crushed me into the bed.

Eighteen

RODERICK

There weren’t words, really. None that came close to describing the violent storm of conflicting emotions, raging through my head.

But my body…

My body was full-blown lost. Corrupted by feelings so base, so primal, I couldn’t stop myself from being overwhelmed by them. Not tonight. Not in a million years.

No, not ‘corrupted.’ That’s just wrong.