Owned by Fate (Serve #1)(37)

She looked back at Eliza, wondering what the hell was going on with her best friend. Apparently their conversation at the stock exchange engagement hadn’t been enough to cure her curiosity of this place. Get your ass up, Gilmore Girl. Caroline kicked the couch a little, but her friend didn’t so much as flinch.

With a sigh, she followed Jonah into the kitchen. She found him pulling a mug down from the cabinet, looking completely out of place in such a homey setting. He looked more suited to standing in front of a roulette wheel with three women hanging off his arms. Caroline refused to examine why that image made her want to hack firewood with an ax.

“How do you take it?”

She hopped onto a stool situated against the marble island. “Just cream. No sugar.”

“You’re already sweet enough?” She gave him a pointed look, and he smiled tightly. “You didn’t wear a coat. Are you cold?”

Jesus, no. “I’m fine.” Hot, so hot. “I’m just worried about my friend.”

Jonah set down the coffee in front of her on the counter. He was standing way too close for her peace of mind. “Do you know why she came here?”

Caroline thought back to the conversation she’d had with her friend. Now that she thought about it harder, Eliza had definitely been quick to shift the focus from herself, questioning what had gone down between Caroline and Jonah. Not that she would let him know she’d been discussing him. That would be distinctly unwise. “I know she met a man here that first night. She couldn’t have come back here looking for him, right?”

“You want me to look into it?”

He was so close now, the hair at her neck moved with his warm breath. “How can you? I don’t even know his name.”

“There’s always a way, Caroline.” Her eyes closed involuntarily when he stroked his hand down the back of her head. “If there isn’t one, I’ll make one. If I haven’t made it clear enough, I’d do anything you asked of me.”

“Except let me go.”

“Except that.”

His fingers tangled in her hair, and she felt her bones liquefy under his touch, her neck go slack. “Did the article…hurt your chances to see your daughter?”

For just a split second, his hand paused before resuming its movement. “It didn’t stall them any more than they already were. You might have saved me by not mentioning my name.” He paused. “That doesn’t mean I’m any less unhappy with you, Caroline. Neither does my calling you here to retrieve your friend. I’m only doing what I’m compelled to do.”

“I didn’t like writing the feature,” she whispered, feeling a weight fall from her shoulders. He was too close, too overwhelming for her to explore why. “I almost didn’t publish it. It…felt wrong.”

They were breathing into each other’s space, mouths inches apart. Jonah’s hand coasted up her thigh, over the black garter outlined beneath her leggings, to rest just below her panty line. “You say you’re fine. But you’re still wearing my gift, so why don’t you tell me how you’ve really been, baby?”

She swallowed hard, trying to block the multitude of sensations rushing to the apex of her thighs. Move your hand higher. Don’t move your hand higher. His closeness jumbled her thoughts, but one major one stood out. He was still unsatisfied after our last time together. He was hard and aching and he’s here now. Right here. “Like I said. I’ve been fine.”

“That so?” He dropped a hand to the fly of his pants, gripping his erection without a hint of shame. “I haven’t been fine in days. Your punishment has ended up being one for me, as well.”

“What do you want me to do about it?” Caroline returned on a breath before she realized how loaded that question sounded. But besides a small eyebrow raise, Jonah didn’t call her on it.

Instead, his thumb came up to trace her bottom lip, not at all gently. “Caroline Preston.” He made her name sound like a chastisement. “The thought of this outrageously sexy mouth has caused me more than a few restless nights lately.”

Don’t ask. “How so?”

Jonah moved between the V of her thighs. “I don’t think I need to spell it out for you.” He searched her expression, appearing a little surprised by whatever he saw. “But you’d like me to? Very well, sweetheart. I’ve stroked my goddamn cock to the thought of your mouth so many times, I’ve made myself sore.”

Caroline’s chest shuddered, the lips in question parting on a moan. “S-sorry?”

“I don’t accept.” He moved quickly, sucking her bottom lip into his mouth and letting it go with a pop. “You shouldn’t be allowed to walk around with that mouth exposed, talking to everyone from corporate executives to cab drivers. It’s f*cking indecent.”

She worked to form a rational thought among the tangle of hot, churning want. “What would you have me do about it? Stay inside all day?”

“I can only tell you what I would do, Caroline.”

His dark retort begged for clarification. “What?”

Jonah dipped his head, wetting her lips with his tongue, before rubbing his own lips over them. “I’d train this mouth. Train it to give me pleasure. Only me.”

Caroline’s thighs shot together in a tight squeeze when chemical heat twirled through her. No stern warnings or resolutions could penetrate the cloud of lust enveloping her. The sexual intensity in his eyes, every word out of his mouth made her want to be reckless. As if that thought had given her permission, Caroline looked up at Jonah through heavy-lidded eyes. “Who said I need any training? Maybe I already know how.”