Page 71 of Succumbed

I squeeze my eyes shut, my breath catching as I try to exhale. “I know.”

“Do you?”

Nodding, my skin breaks out in goosebumps as he resumes his kisses.

“Say it.”

“I’m enough.”

“I think you need a reminder.” He hums a thoughtful sound. “I’d like to ask you for a favor.”

Shane straightens, taking his lips and heat away as I fight the urge to whine. I want his touch on me, want to feel him as he breaks me apart. Sitting up, I turn to look at him over my shoulder.

“What do you need?”

“I want to get rid of a rule. Linc mentioned nothing on Athena property. How strongly do you want to stick to that?”

I lick my lips. “Why?”

He cocks his head, that predatory look heating my blood. “I can feel the tension in your body, can hear the hesitation in your voice when you should be confident in your worth. I want to help, but you’ve set boundaries and I respect them. It’s up to you.”

“What do you want to do?”

His chuckle is dark. “More than we have time for, so I’ll settle for tasting that sweet pussy properly for the first time.”

My core clenches at the thought, my nipples rising. “Properly?”

Shane grins, tapping my hip to encourage me to move. I do, and he slips off the couch, then kneels on the carpeted floor in front of me, his hands stroking my exposed thighs.

“You’ve kissed Linc after he’s had his tongue buried in you, then kissed me. I want more than a secondhand hit.”

My skin flushes. The memory of kissing Linc, then turning immediately to Shane, fills my mind and quickens my breathing. I glance at my office door, weighing the risk. Miles blocked my lunch hour, and my door is locked. I can keep quiet, can't I? Shane’s grin turns wicked, and I know he’s watching me decide to say yes.

He stands, sauntering over to flip the lock on the door gently enough it doesn’t click and announce our intent to the office.

Shane walks back to stand on the other side of the coffee table, posture relaxed.“What do you say, Lex? Will you let me remind you that you are enough?”

“Yes,” I breathe, feeling one barrier around my heart crumble as I break yet another of my rules.

He reaches up, slowly unbuttoning his powder blue button down to reveal his tattooed torso. The black and gray ink, depicting a mountain landscape, a lighthouse, and a treed forest, stretches across his muscled chest and down his defined, veined forearms.

Shrugging off his shirt, he tilts his head again, eyes narrowed in challenge. And just like that, he’s in charge.

“Yes, sir.”

The weight of my day flows away as I utter those words and give myself over to Shane. Anticipation and desire roar through me as I wait for his instruction.

“Drop your skirt.” He speaks softly, respecting my desire to keep what happens next between us.

Standing, I finger the side zip on my tight skirt, drawing it down and stepping out of the material as it falls. I go to draw my thong down, and Shane tsks.

“Do only as I say,” he orders, stepping closer. “Sit down on the edge of the couch, thighs spread. Hands on your knees.”

I comply, wanting to whimper in protest of the order I suspect is coming.

“Not a sound,” he murmurs, kneeling in front of me. “Keep your position, or I stop.”

He wants verbal acknowledgement, I know. “Yes, sir.”

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