Page 96 of A Deal with the Bossy Devil

Wow.

My knees wobbled as I slid my arms around Adrien’s neck, my awareness zeroing in on three things. One, he tasted like mint, fire, and forbidden fruit. Two, he wasn’t touching me. Three, I very,verydesperately needed him to be touching me.

I stepped closer, pressing my body to his as my mind slowly shut down. I could feel how hard he was, how his muscles vibrated if my tongue caressed him the right way. Still, he continued to keep his hands to himself.

I curled my fingers around his collar and pulled him closer as I tried to deepen the kiss.Triedbeing the operative word.

“Sanchez,” Adrien murmured as he peeled his lips from mine.

I didn’t realize he was capable of saying my name with such soft… tenderness. It sent a tremor of warm pleasure through me, and I had to stop myself from pushing him onto the bed.

I kissed him again.

“Ria.” He tugged at my bottom lip with his teeth; punishment for not listening.

Except I didn’t want to stop.

Stopping meant talking. It meant coming to terms with what had just happened and admitting things I wasn’t ready to acknowledge.

And, most undesirably, it meant putting distance between our bodies.

So I kissed him harder. Until I was drowning in his scent, his groans, and the overwhelming feel of his hard body against mine. Our limbs were vibrating, our movements growing heavier, harder, rougher.

But he still.

Wasn’t.

Touching.

Me.

He’d broken me. He’d broken my brain, shattered my willpower to bits, and still had the audacity to maintain enough self-control to keep his stupid hands to himself.

I wanted to break him.

I wanted him to lose every ounce of composure and restraint he possessed, to be engulfed in the same irrational, all-consuming fire he’d drenched me in. I wanted him to feel as frustrated and out of control as I did... which was exactly why I broke the kiss and took a step back. Then two. Three. Four.

Becausewhat the hell?

I pressed the back of my hand to my tingling lips, trying very hard not to show Adrien how much I was trembling.

“I think… I think that’s enough data.” I didn’t know whose voice that was but it sure as hell didn’t sound like mine.

Adrien’s hooded eyes stared back at me for a few moments, foggy and dazed. His fists were stuffed in his pockets, his arms and shoulders rigid.

Neither of us said anything for a solid minute, until Adrien finally cleared his throat, straightened his spine, and asked, “And?”

I shifted on my feet. “Um… it wasn’t… horrible.”

Technically not a lie.

“Be more specific,” he commanded.

“You were there, you know what it was like. Why do I need to—” I cut myself off when he scrubbed at his face in frustration, my fingers curling into my palms. “Fine. It was… good. Or, like, great or whatever. About as good as kissing can get, I imagine. Or better than what I could imagine. I don’t know.”

Okay. Shush. That’s more than enough.

Adrien dropped his hands, the tightness in his features easing as he studied my blazing cheeks. I averted my gaze.

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