AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Cat was too busy listening to her friend to overhear his murmured threat. “Do it or I tell Cat.”
“Fine,” I snarled at him and stomped away before I was tempted to crack my hand across his cheek.
I made him wait a good quarter of an hour to teach his bossy ass a lesson before I inched toward the exit, inspecting the crowded room to determine that no one had noticed me, and ducked out into the hallway. I hurried down the empty corridor, doing my best to not click-clack my heels too loudly against the marble mosaic flooring.
I pushed the door at the end of the hall open and found myself outside, greedily inhaling the salty sea air through my nostrils. I followed the length of the house to the kitchen entrance. He was already there, waiting, his broad back to me. He whirled around at the sound of my steps, and I forgot to breathe for a moment. He was tall, so much taller than me, with shoulders that seemed to go on for miles and block out the setting sun behind him. I took a deep inhalation and instantly regretted it when I was assaulted by his delicious scent.
Shaking the fog of lust threatening to drown me, I skipped the pleasantries and hissed out, “Blackmail doesn’t suit you.”
“It does if I get what I want,” he replied smugly.
God, I wanted to hurt him. Smack. Hit. Punch. Any one of those would do to wipe the arrogant smirk off his gorgeous face. My gaze dropped to his sculpted lips, one side quirked up sardonically, as usual. The top one was plumper than the bottom by a smidge, and I recalled how pillowy soft they felt on mine and all the ways he used them, along with his talented tongue, to make me come.
“Thinking about anything in particular?”
His words snapped me out of my reverie. My eyes lifted to his, where he watched me with an all-too-knowing look I deeply resented.
“Shut up,” I snapped.
Not my best comeback, not by a mile. His diabolical smile only broadened.
“Now that you got me here, what do you want? I have an engagement party to get back to.”
His hand snaked up my arm, leaving goose bumps in its wake, and yanked me up the flight of stairs going to a balcony above the kitchen. Pushing open a set of French doors, he pulled me into a large, well-appointed library.
“You didn’t respond to my texts. Or my calls. No one ignores me, Jewel,” he warned.
“You already had me once,” I rushed out. “I asked Cat about you, and I know about your reputation. I’m not about to be your side whore.”
I tried to shake him off, but his hold only tightened. Frowning down at his grip, I went on, “Even if you wanted more, I can’t violate Cat’s trust again. It wasn’t right the first time, and nothing’s changed that.”
I kept the fact that he was a bad guy to myself. I wasn’t about to divulge my family history to him.
His fingers coasted farther up along my shoulder and curled around my nape. My eyes briefly fluttered closed. Fuck, his touch felt good. Strong, demanding, controlled, yet with an inexplicable undercurrent of wildness. Everything about it made my heart sing and my body melt. He gripped me by the shoulders and tugged me close until his lips were a hair’s breadth away from mine. Small puffs of air feathered over my skin, bringing back a cascade of memories from our night together.
“Normally, one time is just right. With you, it seems once is not nearly enough. As for Cat, everything has changed. She’s no longer engaged to the wrong man. Instead, she’s going to marry the right one. We’re their best man and maid of honor, for fuck’s sake.”
A shudder racked my body. He felt it and wrapped his arms around me, drawing me deeper into his embrace. His lips pressed against mine. Firm. Not demanding. Not yet. Too bad, because I melted when he got controlling and took what he wanted. I felt the slight tremble as he held still, grappling with his self-restraint. Considering I’d already been ravished by him, I admired the story his self-control told me. He was trying to respect me by giving me a choice.
I slid my palms up his chest. God, what a chest. My breathing picked up. What was I doing? I should be stepping away from him. Fleeing the scene as if a murder had been committed. Instead, my hands followed the chiseled outline of his pecs.
No, no, no. Cat, remember Cat.I still felt fiercely loyal to her and guilty for what I had done, but she was the happiest I’d seen her in her life, so that wasn’t working quite as well as before. Criminal, remember, he’s a criminal. Yes, that was more like it. It was like a splash of cold water in the face.
I shoved down the desire to explore and pressed hard, demanding space from him.
With a belabored sigh and a flick of his tongue that had me cursing my choice, he put a minuscule amount of distance between us. His palm slid up my spine and took hold of my nape. His fingers threaded into my hair, tangling in the long strands. Pulling my head back, he stared into my eyes, delving deep. So deep I feared there wasn’t a corner of my soul left unexposed for his perusal.
“You’re scared,” he declared, followed by a tsking sound as if he wanted to comfort me.
I clenched my jaw. “Of course, I’m scared. Cat’s my best friend, and while she may now be marrying Luca—”
“The love of her life,” he added.
“—she was engaged to you when you…when we…when you and I—” I cut myself off, snapping my mouth shut, refusing to let the words tumble out.
“Fucked?” he offered succinctly.
I ground down on my back teeth, a bonfire of fury simmering in my belly. “Yes, that. I messed up once, but I cannot do it again. Out of the question.”
