Page 7 of My Beautiful Sin

Honestly, he was terrified.

There. As simple as that.

He hadn’t felt real terror since the day he’d run from his father, but Ellie had brought it back into his life. Because of her, he had something to lose, something to risk.

More, he had something to protect. And that’s what he was doing, even if part of it meant that he was protecting her from him. From the dark places in his soul that, if she could see, would cast him in an entirely different light in her eyes.

Shit.

Without even realizing that he was on the move, he’d reached the door and thrown it open. She was in the shower now, the outline of her body visible through the steamy glass. The room was lit only by a tinted skylight, making the scene before him look like one from an erotic movie.

Despite his irritation, he felt his body go hard. Despite? Hell, maybe it was because she frustrated the hell out of him. He wanted to claim her again. Bend her to his will. Feel like maybe—just maybe—he had some iota of control over the maelstrom that was beginning to swirl around them.

And if that really did make him a goddamn caveman, well, so be it.

Her head was tilted back, her face in the spray, and she hadn’t noticed him enter.

He untied the sweats and let them drop to the floor, then kicked them aside. He was already hard, and he couldn’t even see her clearly. He reached down, slowly stroking his cock as he watched her. Had there ever been a moment in his life when this woman hadn’t turned him on? She’d been only sixteen when they’d met, and the impact of seeing her that first time had been like a kick in the gut.

She was his weakness, he knew that, and he didn’t like being a weak man. But it was worth it because she was his.

No matter what, she was the manifestation of everything he had fought for in his life, everything he was still fighting for, love and goodness and hope and a future. All wrapped up in one woman who belonged to him. A woman he would always fight for, even if it meant fighting her.

He crossed the steam-filled room and slid the shower door open, startling her. Then he looped an arm around her and tugged her toward him just as she was sagging with relief after that initial surprise.

“Dev—” she began, but he silenced her with a punishing kiss, then released her long enough to press her against the black tile wall, one arm caging her in place as the fingers of his other hand slipped between her legs. She was so damn slippery, and her lips parted in a soft moan that shifted into a gasp as he thrust two fingers inside her while pressing the pad of his thumb against her clit.

“If this is how you act when you’re pissed,” she murmured, “I’m going to make it a point to keep irritating the hell out of you.”

He bent forward and nipped her ear. “Sweetheart, I’m barely irritated. You haven’t seen me pissed. I doubt you really want to.”

He pulled back long enough to see her face, expecting a lashing from her sharp tongue. Instead, all she said was, “Ditto.”

He couldn’t help it. He laughed.

“I’m only doing my job,” she said. “And someone sent that message to me. I want to know who. And why. Why does someone want to scare me off you? Why should they even care about us? For that matter is it about us? Or is it about what I am—a reporter—and who you are? Is someone trying to position me to expose you? Or is there something bigger going on here?”

She reached down, holding his hand more firmly in place, then holding his eyes as she ground against him, her mouth parting as a tremor cut through her. “Maybe they think I’m their ally. That I’m just using you to get what I want.”

“And what’s that?” His cock was so hard he could barely form words.

“Maybe I want the danger,” she said. “Maybe I just want a good fuck.”

“Well,” he said casually, “who doesn’t? But, sweetheart, if it is danger you’re craving, you need to back away. Because you may not like what you find.”

She lifted her chin, her eyes flashing. “Won’t I?”

His heart pounded in his ears as if his blood was screaming at him to tell her. To tell her every goddamn thing. But all he said was, “Do you think I can stand to lose you again?” He moved his fingers inside her, gratified when she writhed against him and bit her lower lip in an obvious effort to keep from crying out.

He bent to kiss her, his cock so hard now he thought he would explode. He wanted to flip her around and take her from behind, the weight of her breasts filling his hands as he sank deep inside her.

But when he started to pull his hand free, she caught it, then met his eyes and shook her head. “The only way you can lose me is if you’re the one walking away,” she said. “And just for the record, no matter how much I might want to feel you inside me right now, there is no way in hell you’re going to fuck me into submission.”

She ducked under his arm and moved nimbly to the shower door. “I have work to do now,” she said. “And, I think, so do you.”

Chapter Four

“Ellie?” Brandy’s voice pierces the quiet hallway.