Full Contact (Redemption #3)(27)
Ray raises his hand from my lap and cups my jaw, brushing his thumb over my cheek as he tilts my head up, forcing me to meet his gaze.
“What’s wrong?”
My cheeks flame and I try to pull away. “Nothing. I’m done. That’s all. You can go. I have to clean up and lock up the shop.”
He tightens his grip. “Is this about what happened in the alley?”
“There’s nothing to say about what happened in the alley. Adrenaline was running high. We had a moment. It was what it was, and that’s all that it was.”
“You don’t believe that.”
“Sure I do.” My heart pounds as the lie slides off my tongue, and I pray he’ll just go and leave me to wallow in my misery. He is everything I have been running from. The ultimate temptation. The ultimate danger.
His jaw tightens and his body stills, like a predator about to spring. Then he leans so close I can feel his breath on my cheek.
“Tell me again that’s all that it was. Tell me I shoulda stayed away.”
I open my mouth to say just that, but before I get the words out, he leans down and kisses me. Shock, then heat, run through me, straight to the juncture of my thighs. He tastes of whiskey and coffee, sex and sin. All the tension of the evening, my confusion and indecision, coalesce into a red-hot ball of need. I thread my fingers through his soft hair and pull him down hard, deepening the kiss.
“Jesus,” Ray murmurs against my mouth. “Don’t know what I was thinking.” And then he breaks our kiss and slides his arms under my shoulders, tugging me out of my seat. “Up on my lap. I wanna have you up close and personal like.”
“I’m wearing a skirt.”
“Oh, I know.” His voice drops to a husky growl. “Been thinking about that tiny skirt and those f*ck-me boots since the second I walked in the door.”
“I might lose my job or, at the very least, a whole lot of professional respect if someone walks in and sees me on your lap.”
He pulls me closer. “I’ll deal with them.”
“What if it’s Torment? Or Rampage?”
Ray frowns. “You doubting my fight skills?”
“I’m doubting your sanity.”
He turns in the chair and pulls me between his legs, his hands tight on my hips. “Man like me meets a woman like you, throws him for a loop. He’s gotta take a step back. Get things straight in his head.”
“What kind of woman am I?”
His hooded gaze locks on me; then he stands and pulls me into his arms. “The kind that can bring a man to his knees.”
Mindful of the bandage on his chest and with my usual reticence washed away in a tidal wave of desire, I lean up and nuzzle his neck. “I don’t see you as an on-the-knees kinda guy.”
“Neither did I.” His hands sweep up my body, in and out my curves, and then down again, curling around my ass, his fingers digging into the tender flesh as he yanks my hips against his hardened length. “But then I never met a sexy artist before, watched her put beauty into the world where most of us destroy it. Never thought I’d cut corners to get my work done early so I could see her again. Spent a lot of time thinking about you, so soft and sweet, your heart-shaped face, the way your eyes turn green when you’re scared, your lips—”
“I thought you weren’t coming back.”
“I was coming back as soon as I walked away.” His gaze fixes on my mouth. “It was just a matter of time.”
One hand still on my ass, holding me tight, he traces my lips with his thumb and then slides it into my mouth.
“Suck, beautiful girl. Show me what those lips can do.”
Oh. My. God.
Although I know I shouldn’t, that this is taking me one step too close to the danger zone, I tighten my lips and draw his thumb into my mouth. His skin is salty, tangy, sinfully delicious. I suck, stroking him with my tongue, imagining it isn’t his thumb in my mouth but something else. Ray curls his fingers under my chin, locking my head in place as he pulls his thumb out and traces the bow of my lips.
“So f*cking soft. Perfect.”
My body tingles, heats, my clit throbs, and all I can think about is getting more. And yet, this isn’t me. I go out with nice guys who invite me for dinner or a walk in the park, and if things go well, then they give me a peck on the cheek and promise to call. Not once has a guy slid his thumb in my mouth and held my head, watching, breathless, as I did to his thumb what I desperately wanted to do to his cock. But, oh God, was it good.
Ray glides his thumb down to rest in the hollow at the base of my throat. His hand curls around my neck, his fingers stroking my nape, sending a wave of sensation cascading down my spine. I am at once unnerved by my vulnerability and intensely aroused by his control. A soft moan escapes my lips and Ray stills.
“That makes you hot.”
“Yes.” Understatement of the year. I’ve never had such an incredible endorphin rush. The dip in my throat seems to be directly connected to my *, and I’m pretty sure I’ve never been this wet in my life.
His hand tightens around my throat, and my sex throbs in response. Never could I have imagined such a controlling gesture would turn me on. I should be afraid, screaming, running away, but he is watching me so intently, I know that the second arousal turns to anxiety, he’ll let me go.