Page 14 of The Price of Power

OLIVIA

Icouldn’t believe my eyes.

There were people behind the glass wall…naked people.

Very naked people.

A man and a woman, both absolutely gorgeous, sat on a black leather sofa that looked identical to the one in our room. They weren’t screwing—not yet, at any rate—but given the passionate way that they were kissing, it looked like they would get there any second.

Their arms were locked around each other, their bodies pressed together so tightly that it was hard to see where one started and the other stopped. There was no denying the sensuality of seeing two people embracing each other like that.

It was almost as erotic as the feel of Gabriel standing so close behind me. He wasn’t pressed against me quite so close, but staring at the other couple felt like a wicked promise that he might.

Yeah, I definitely didn’t have a scene like this back in my hotel room.

I didn’t know they had this anywhere. Except maybe in the movies.

“Can they see us?” I asked, a wave of self-consciousness washing over me.

Gabriel wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me against him. It should have been illegal the way that his body molded against mine, my ass fitting as perfectly as a puzzle piece against his lower belly.

“Not unless you want them to,” he answered. “Do you want them to watch us?”

I shook my head. I’d never had a reason to question if I was more of an exhibitionist or a voyeur before, but now I had my answer. I would definitely rather watch than be watched.

“No, thank you,” I said.

Behind me, Gabriel laughed, his warm breath washing over the sensitive skin of my earlobe and sending goosebumps cascading over my whole body.

“ No, thank you? My God, you really are a good girl, aren’t you?”

I shook my head…or at least I tried to. I couldn’t move it much with Gabriel’s fingers tangled in my hair. “Like you said before, if that was true, then I wouldn’t be here with you right now, would I?”

“So you want to be bad?”

“Is that something you can teach me?”

His laugh this time was deeper. Darker. But the shivers the sound sent through me left me anything but cold.

“Liv, that’s like asking the devil if he can teach you how to sin,” he said.

Given everything that I’d heard and seen tonight, I had a feeling that the comparison with the devil wasn’t far off. “I think I’d like that.”

“I know you will.” His voice was as rich and smoky as the finest scotch.

As if to prove his point, he pulled my head back slightly, exposing the column of my neck. At first, his lips barely brushed against the skin there. The kiss might have been light, but the sensation it sparked off in me was anything but. My whole body tingled from head to toe, and I found myself trembling in anticipation.

I wanted more.

I tried turning around, anxious to stop the wordplay and hints of pleasure, ready to dive deeper. But the moment I moved, Gabriel tightened his grip, stilling me completely.

“So impatient,” he chided me.

Impatient? That was funny enough to make me laugh out loud. Now, there was a word that had never been used to describe me.

“Are you kidding me? I’ve been waiting my whole life,” I told him.

“Then another few minutes should be easy,” he argued, his lips against my ear again. “Besides, this will be so much better if we take our time. Trust me.”

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