Page 61 of Carnal Wagers

She didn’t, not that I expected her to. As I wiped my knife, ready for round two, she trailed after me around the building’s corner.

“I know you O’Learys aren’t big on respecting the rules, but could you limit the killings? Dealing with the authorities is not something I planned during my stay here.”

“No.”

“Wonderful,” she grumbled.

Arms crossed, she watched without flinching as I dealt with the three other eejits who’d thought it a good idea to jump one lone woman. Except there was a fourth man, knees to the ground and slouched over the footwell of the front seat of an opened Lexus LX I hadn’t seen from the road. I strode toward him, but she blocked my path.

“Leave him.”

I wasn’t leaving any witnesses. She grabbed my shoulder as I stepped past her.

“He’s with me. Leave him alone.”

Now that she mentioned it, his monochrome ensemble with slim tapered joggers didn’t match the other thugs’ oversized hoodies and baggy jeans. Not to mention his balaclava. This must have been her accomplice. The man who toyed with my car while she stole my attention.

“Perfect. I always teach a lesson to those who touch what’s mine.”

She tugged me back by my shirt and twisted me around, then shoved me into the wall.

“I said, leave him.”

“Let’s be clear.” I tapped the face of my knife against her chin. She didn’t recoil or wince, and that just made her more interesting. “You’re intriguing, síbhean, but I don’t follow your orders.”

A sharp prick pressed against my zipper, and I hissed as the pressure increased.

“Learn.”

She shoved a miniature knife against my dick, a sharp little thing no longer than a knuckle, but effective. A steady thrum of adrenaline pulsed into my veins, bolstered by the tiny claws she hid in that outfit.

“You keep surprising me.”

“You keep underestimating me.”

“This game isn’t one you’ll survive.” And that was a shame. This enthralling fairy awakened my body and mind like little else did these days.

“We won’t know that until we try.”

I cupped the back of her head. “You like tempting death?”

“I like seizing what I want.”

My lips curved up. “So do I.”

My mouth crashed into hers, and it was everything I had no place needing. Explosive, pulse-wrenching, and gut twisting. Her lips were soft compared to her verbal decisiveness. Her mouth was pliable in a way she wasn’t. In this, she bent. She submitted. Her lips gave way under mine, and it was sinful with a taste of copper mixed in.

Her arms wrapped around my neck, and I dragged her in closer, my erection spurring me on. The far-off blare of sirens, lumbering of engines, and buzz of building generators died down beneath the fumbling of our breaths, the rustling of our clothes, and the patter of our shoes as we shuffled around each other. Everything wavered with haziness, except this pulsing need to have her, take her, and dominate her.

My brass knuckles and knife clattered to the ground as I lifted her, and she wrapped her legs around my waist. She was the perfect height, her body sculpted to meet mine. The warmth of her core pushed up against my cock between our jeans, the fabric tugging up and down as we moved, like nothing else existed but us. There was just this moment and the feel of her clutching embrace, the building ache in my balls, and her delicious moans that I swallowed between breaths at each thrust of my hips. This time, I didn’t shove away from her. I sought more.

Just one night, I promised myself. One night to eject her from under my skin. Once was permitted.

With every strangled gasp she made, I ground into her harder. I kneaded the perfect roundness of her rump. My hands sank into it as they delved lower and lower down her backside until that taut, thick seam between her pant legs scraped against my fingers. I rubbed it into her, exactly where her tight entrance would be, and I swallowed down her little whimpers. Mine. They belonged to me. Just like she did. For now.

I rolled my hips harder and faster against her body and imagined us against this very wall with no clothes between us. It was something I hadn’t allowed myself to think about or have in a very long time. She chased what I gave and tossed her head back with a heady groan. The arteries in her neck pulsed. Her nails dug into my back and held on to me for dear life. I was close, the rush growing, and greedy for fucking everything.

When she crested her peak with a sharp gasp and sudden stop in the grind of her hips, I reached down to her waistband and slipped the button of her jeans free. A hand clapped onto mine.