Page 20 of Pucks and Books

“Rude,” she practically moans.

“Right? I’m ashamed,” I mutter as her lips curve when she leans in, pressing her lips to mine. The kiss is gentle, sweet, and slow. She draws my mouth open, her tongue sliding along mine as I cup her boob in my hand. I can’t get over how good she feels, and I don’t want to ever stop touching her. She licks up the roof of my mouth, and I groan against her mouth. When her lips turn up at the sides, I can’t help but be breathless. I don’t want this to end. I don’t, but still, I have to ask, “Do you need to reopen?”

I see her pause, and the hesitation is there. “I don’t, but I probably should.”

“So, I should leave?” I don’t move, though, and neither does she.

“No way. Not yet,” she decides without faltering. “I’m just saying I should because I didn’t go visit my sister with my other sisters because I wanted the shop to be open and I’m waiting for a shipment.”

“How many sisters do you have?”

“Four. I’m the eldest.”

I move my hand up her neck and thread my fingers through her hair as I tip her head back. “Is your assistant your sister?”

“Eliza? Yeah, she’s the second eldest, then there is Austen, who lives in Nashville, and finally, Elliot and Clara, the babies.”

“You guys must be close.”

She nods. “They are my best friends.” I can tell; her eyes are shining with love and pride. “Do you have siblings?”

“I do,” I tell her, cupping her by the back of her thigh and hooking it higher up on my hip so she’s closer. “I’m the youngest of nine.”

“Holy shit!” she exclaims, her eyes wide, and I can’t help but smile. It’s a common reaction. “I thought I had a lot of siblings.”

I chuckle softly. “The eldest is almost forty, and I’m twenty-two.”

Her eyes widen at that. “You’re twenty-two?”

I eye her. “Is that a problem?”

She laughs nervously, which I know by the way her lip comes between her teeth, halting her laughter. “I’m twenty-eight.”

I have to fight back my grin as I graze my lips along hers. “Mm, a cougar has caught me,” I tease, and she laughs loudly, the throaty sound sending chills down my spine and heat straight to my cock. “I’m kidding. Age is just a number, love.”

She kisses my jaw then my bottom lip before meeting my gaze. She brushes her fingers along my cheek, and I’m lost in the blue of her eyes at the moment. I know once I’m between those thighs, they’ll go brown again, and I can’t wait to see the color shine as she screams my name.

Now that she knows it.

CHAPTER 13

Louisa

If I had to go through all the trauma with the cult, and then all the shit guys after, to get to Ciaran—ugh, I love his name—I would absolutely do it all over again.

The way Ciaran looks at me, the way he holds me, how he drops that little nickname of love in the most striking way, has me chomping at the bit for more. I want to drown myself in his words, in the pleasure he brings me and how good he makes me feel. I don’t want to let him leave. I want to kidnap him and keep him all to myself.

But again, I look awful in orange.

I run my tongue along his lips, and his grip on my ass tightens. I feel his cock coming back to life, and even through the exhaustion, I want him. Desperately. I feel as if I’m betraying my sisters by not reopening the shop, but I refuse to let that hold me back. I trap Ciaran’s gaze as I whisper, “I don’t want to open the shop back up.”

“Don’t.”

“If I don’t, would you like to come upstairs?”

He kisses my lips, then my nose, before his wanton gaze has me growing tight everywhere. “I was hoping to come upstairs if you opened or not.”

Yup, fuck opening the shop. My breath catches audibly, but I recover quickly by sitting up. I don’t know why, but I cover my chest with my arm as I go to stand, but he stops me by pulling my arm away, releasing my girls.

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