Page 21 of Father Figure

“I could wring your fucking neck!”

Nicky looked wrecked. Buzzed and glassy-eyed, disheveled and sweaty, with sand stuck to his legs, and more than half naked. And those teary fucking eyes that tugged at my heart.

“I’m sorry. I just wanted to dance, and you left, and I?—”

I hated myself for leaving.

Grasping his chin between my fingers, I forced his head up to meet my eyes. “What were you thinking? Those men could have—they…you were…” I couldn’t form sentences. My thoughts were scattered, and my pulse raced like I’d done speed or some shit. All I could think was, ‘What if.’ And hot on the heels of that thought was what I wanted to do. What I wished I could get away with.

Nicky peered up at me with teary doe eyes and pink lips, now glossy and plump from being bitten, and everything in my head—the anger, the jealousy, the fear—everything fled. I tugged his lip free with my thumb and he boldly snuck his little pink tongue out to lick my finger. A spike of adrenaline pounded through my heart. I’d never felt more affected by anything in my life, and I was completely powerless against the overwhelming desire I felt to soothe his lip with mine.

I crushed his lips with bruising force, my fingers tightening in his sweaty curls, and kissed him, until neither of us could breathe. Finally, when I backed away to pull air into my lungs, I felt wrecked, like someone had hit me over the head with a hundred-pound weight.

How had I gotten here? How had I gotten myself into this mess, and how was I going to get myself out of it?

And to make things worse, Nicky chased my lips until I pushed at his chest. “Stop,” I barked. “That was… a mistake. That was a huge fucking mistake. I didn't mean to kiss you.”

“But—”

“Get in the fucking boat, Nicky.”

And I got angry all over again, watching his pert ass scramble over the bow of the boat. The fucking bathing suit was so goddamn see-through I could make out the dark shadow in the crease of his ass. God, I was so tempted to put him over my knee and spank the shit out of him. Neither of us said another word as we motored back to the yacht. We climbed aboard, and Nicky went downstairs to change. I was too angry to follow. There was no way I could sleep below deck tonight, in the bunk beneath him. The room was too small—our proximity, my anger, it would suffocate me. Plopping my ass down on a lounge chair, I kicked off my shoes and folded my arms behind my head, peering up at the gorgeous starry canvas.

It wasn’t the first time I’d slept on deck, and it wouldn’t be the last.

Eventually, Nicky poked his head out. “Are you coming to bed?”

He was shirtless, wearing only his pink and purple plaid boxers. Did he have no regard for his own safety? Hadn’t he pushed me enough tonight?

“I think I’ll sleep out here.”

He climbed over the threshold, cautiously closing the distance between us. “Cass? I’m sorry. I guess I got carried away.”

“You guess?” I jumped to my feet. “Carried away was when you were dancing with me, rubbing all over me like a cat in heat. But getting into a hot tub full of men? That was just—I can’t even think what that was, Nicky. It was?—”

He folded his arms around my ribs and squeezed his head against my chest. Like popping a balloon, all the fight went out of me. I squeezed him back, brushing my cheek over his curls.

“Nicky,” I breathed.

“You shouldn’t have left me alone.”

His words were muffled against my shirt. I wished I weren’t even wearing it so that I could feel his breath against my skin. “No, I shouldn’t have. I also shouldn’t have kissed you. We just need to forget that?—”

“But I can’t forget, Cass. I don’t want to forget,” he insisted, looking up into my eyes.

Goddamn him.

He licked his lips, reminding me how delicious he tasted. “Your first kiss shouldn’t have been a punishment. It shouldn’t have been angry.”

“You’re right. You should do it again, but better this time.”

“Nicky, no, that’s—” Exactly what I want to do.

Ignoring my protest, he stood on his tiptoes, coming for my mouth. He was going to claim his kiss, whether or not I wanted him to.

I felt his breath before his lips, sweet and warm, and closed the distance between us, giving in to the inevitable. I was the first man who had ever touched his lips. The least I could do was show him how good it could be. He wrapped his arms around my neck and melted into me, moaning into my mouth, sucking on my tongue like he was thirsty for my kiss. My heart raced, my cock throbbed, and my conscience screamed at me to stop. I held him tighter, knowing it was the first and last time I would ever cross this line.

It only took a moment to commit an unforgivable sin.

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