Mine to Crave (Mine #4)(35)

“You’re my first.” She felt like she could tell him anything in that moment. “So if I do it wrong—”

“You can’t. No damn way.”

His hands bit into her shoulders.

She pressed a kiss to the head of his shaft. Then she opened her mouth and took him inside.

“Wanted you to…be careful…” His words were so low and rough. “Because you’re making me want you…too much…”

She liked his taste. Loved the tang. Wanted more. So she tried to take more of him as she licked and sucked.

His hands moved to curve around her nape. He tilted her head and she took more of him.

He was—

“Jasmine!”

He had her on her feet. Two steps and he had her on the bed. Her legs fell apart as she hit the mattress, and he was right there. He’d put on a condom in an instant and now he had her in his sights. Still standing, at the side of the bed. He pulled her toward him. Her hips were at the edge of the mattress and he thrust into her, deep and hard, filling every inch of her.

“Warned you,” Drake bit out. “Want you…too much.”

And there it was. The wild, frantic mating that she’d secretly wanted. The rush that wasn’t controlled. The need that wasn’t safe.

In and out. He drove into her again and again, and Jasmine loved it. Her nails scraped over his shoulders as she fought to get closer to him. To hold him as tightly as she could and take everything that he had to give.

She arched against him, her head tipping back against the bed. His mouth pressed to her throat. The sting of his teeth electrified her.

When she came, Jasmine felt Drake erupt inside of her. Biting her lip, Jasmine tried to hold back a scream. She didn’t want— “Give it to me,” Drake demanded. “Give me everything.”

So she cried out her pleasure.

And he growled her name.

***

He was watching her sleep.

Drake stared down at Jasmine as she lay curled in his bed. His arm was under her head. Hell, he was her pillow. And he…didn’t mind.

She looked innocent. Sexy.

Right.

And that was wrong.

No woman was supposed to look right in his bed. He had a rule—his lovers didn’t stay the night.

So why was he pulling her closer and inhaling that vanilla scent that clung to her?

She’d been so hesitant when she knelt before him and told him that it had been her first time. He hadn’t wondered if the words were a lie. Her eyes had flickered with nervousness and desire, and she’d touched him almost reverently.

She’d also nearly made him fall to his knees when that sexy mouth had closed around his aroused flesh.

But the desire was sated. The passion had cooled.

Or, at least, that was what Drake was trying to tell himself. The twisted truth was that he’d f*ck her again. And again. He wanted to take her endlessly. Sex with her had been even better the second time.

He loved to see her eyes go blind with pleasure. Loved her taste.

She snuggled closer to him.

His hand smoothed over her shoulder.

His phone vibrated then. He’d moved it to the small nightstand, and he reached out, being careful not to disturb her as he read the text.

Got info you need.

The text was from Trace.

Drake glanced at Jasmine’s sleeping face.

The phone vibrated again. His gaze slid over the screen.

Be careful. There’s more going on than you know.

Right. Because, of course, Trace would’ve found out that Jasmine was trying to screw him over.

He almost texted back…I don’t want to know. Because he just wanted to stay in that bed with her, and act as if the rest of the world didn’t matter. He wanted Jasmine to simply be the woman that she appeared to be in his arms.

No secrets. No lies.

That wasn’t the way his reality worked.

Carefully, he rose from the bed. Jasmine had said that she’d called Maxwell from the phone at his home in the Quarter, so getting that number hadn’t exactly been hard.

Instead of responding to Trace’s text, Drake called Maxwell Case. The call was already overdue.

The phone rang once. Twice. Then…

“Who the hell is this?”

Drake smiled. “I’m the man planning to destroy you.”

Jasmine stirred a bit on the bed, moving restlessly.

“Archer.”

“You shouldn’t have started a war with me.” Because if there was one thing that Drake knew how to do, it was fight a war.

“You’re the one who started this. You think I don’t know what you did? To her?”

Drake’s gaze narrowed on Jasmine. She was still sleeping.

“If she didn’t come back, she told me to look for you. She thought she could count on you.”

A cold fist squeezed his guts. “This is personal,” he said. Not about business. Not about casinos.

“She trusted you, and you killed her.”

A chill encased Drake’s skin as those words sank in. Drake realized that his past was coming back to bite him in the ass.

And Drake couldn’t take his eyes off Jasmine. Did she know? Did she realize what this nightmare was truly all about?

“What did she matter to you?” Drake asked. He didn’t make any confession.