Page 80 of Sizzling

“You have peach trees,” I muttered aloud.

Storm moved up behind me, and I felt the heat from his body, wishing I didn’t want to turn around and bury myself in his chest. Cling to him like he was mine. Although nothing would ever be mine. I didn’t have that kind of luxury.

His arms slid around me, and I closed my eyes.

“Yeah, I have peach trees,” he agreed in a husky whisper before he placed a kiss on the side of my bare neck. “I picked some that were especially juicy so that I could lick their juices off your body tonight.”

Why was he doing this? Was it not enough that he’d gotten to me? That he had made me want him? Even after all the hateful things he’d said to me, I craved him. He’d accused me of voodoo, but it was him who was spinning some dark, powerful spell over me.

“Don’t,” I said, trying to step out of his arms, but they tightened around me and held me there.

“Don’t what?” he asked as he trailed his tongue along my earlobe.

Jesus have mercy. Or Satan. Whoever wanted to step in and take control of this situation. I was willing to take help from whoever.

“Storm, what are you doing?” I asked desperately.

He hummed, sending shivers down my body. “Tasting you. Thinking you don’t need any fucking peaches to taste delicious. You’re already the sweetest thing I’ve had in my mouth.”

I wrapped my hands around his wrists, wishing I had the power to rip them away and run. Save myself. If I was even salvageable anymore. I was perhaps too far gone. Wrecked by this man completely.

“I can’t do this,” I said, panting as he licked at the curve of my neck.

“What, baby? What is it you can’t do?”

I shook my head, trying to clear the lust haze that was settling in and about to take over. He made me so weak.

“You.”

A deep chuckle vibrated his chest. “You can absolutely do me. And you’re going to several times before we fall asleep in my bed.”

I tried to take a deep breath, but it was proving impossible. “You …” I said, then let out a small moan as one of his hands slid underneath my shirt, covering a breast. “You’re going to hurt me.”

He kneaded the breast he was holding. “Yeah, but you like it when I hurt you. That pussy creams like a good little kitty when I do.”

I shook my head, biting down hard on my lip until I tasted blood. “Not my body,” I gasped, letting go of my abused lip. “My heart.” There. I had said it.

I’d been honest. More honest than I’d ever been in my entire life. I had laid it out for him. He could say his cruel words and send me packing.

He stilled completely. My heart was already cracking. I was that far gone. He’d not been after my heart, yet I was so damn needy that he’d taken it without meaning to. He didn’t want my heart, and I knew that. I wasn’t naive. Storm Kingston only wanted women to fuck.

“How am I going to do that?” he asked as his hold on me eased.

As if I needed this to get any worse. The man wanted me to spell it out for him. Blurt out that I was falling in love with him. Or some messed-up version of it. I had never been in love, so how was I to know if this was that exactly? It was painful, agonizing, terrifying—all the things I had imagined love to be.

“Briar,” he said firmly, and then he grabbed my shoulders and turned me around to face him.

But I couldn’t look at him. I kept my eyes down, wishing I had said nothing. Just let it happen and licked my wounds in private. I wasn’t one to show weakness, yet with Storm, I had done a list of things I didn’t do. My survival instinct, which had kept me going for so long, had seemed to shrivel up and die when he walked into my life. Slowly, he’d suffocated it until it was gone.

He grabbed my chin and forced it up, making me lift my head. “Say it, Briar.”

I stood there, looking at his hard, demanding face. He was going to make me do this, and for what? To mock me? Was that what he wanted from this?

A whimper escaped me as another part of my soul seemed to crack. Damn him for this. All of it.

He leaned closer until I could feel his warm breath on my cheeks. “Use your words.” The huskiness in his voice sent a tremor through me.

“You know what I meant by it,” I said, wanting to look anywhere but at him.

---