Page 45 of Fire for Effect

He planted his mouth firmly on mine in a searing kiss that was far deeper than any that came before. He was possessive and making a spectacle of it. He was making sure that I got his message loud and clear.

His hands cupped my ass with a hard smack, before he pulled me off the wall and stumbled towards the kitchen counter.

“You have a birthmark,” he said, his finger tracing over my shoulder blade. “Right here. It’s maroon and shaped like a firefly.”

Holy shit. Was that why he started calling me Firefly?

I had never thought about the birthmark. I had rarely seen it, after all. It was just a spiky thing I might see in the mirror if I was trying to look at the back of my hair, or dress, or something.

His thumb circled the spot where the blemish I had been born with - a wine stain birthmark - rested at my bra line. Only a lover would ever see such a mark, and none had remarked on it until now.

“Your townhouse had a bigger counter than this fucking trailer, but it’ll have to do.” He put me on the counter and spread my legs. And I let him. I didn’t want to stop him.

It was like I had been walking through the desert and he was holding a glass of water to my lips, offering me what I needed most. His hands went up my shirt, just as it had back then, finding my breast, and pinching my nipples, causing a delightful pain that went right to my core.

I groaned, my body leaning into his hand, wanting more… begging for it.

“And I remember a very cold bottle that I placed against your skin. Do you?” I blushed, remembering the dirty place he had put an Edelweiss beer bottle. How he’d used it as a fucking toy and made me lose control before taking me in every room of my Fayetteville townhouse.

Then he stopped, abruptly. His hands left me and I was left in the cold even though we were still so intimately connected at the hips. I opened my eyes, looking at him with despair.

But he wasn’t looking at my face. He was staring somewhere away from me, his jaw ticking with anger. Was he already regretting this? So soon?

“Pick a safe word.”

“What?” I gasped, feeling whiplash from the sudden change of direction.

“Pick. A. Safe. Word.”

He said it slowly, punctuating every single syllable.

“Why?”

“Because I’ve been thinking about this every day for five years. Resisting me, telling me no, pushing me away won’t stop me. I’m going in, no holds barred. So give me a fucking safe word. For your sanity and mine.”

“I don’t… understand.”

“I’m going to pin you down and fuck you to within an inch of your existence,” he growled. “Is that clear enough?”

Chapter 11

It’s mine now

Griff

Her skin was covered in goosebumps. She was too beautiful for words. The scent of her arousal surrounded me, and I wanted more. Memories didn’t do her justice.

That musk, that sweet sandalwood scent, the leather of her jacket still perfuming her skin… and even more, there was her scent.

It was earth, fire, and smoke. Strong, sensual. The scent of a warrior woman that would not be tamed.

And that was the appeal, wasn’t it? She’d never be tamed, but she could be taken. At least for a moment. Then she’d escape, and be wild and free again, ready to be chased and tasted. Each time, ever free, ever dangerous. And so beautiful to subdue.

“You think you could get me to do something I didn’t want to?” That single left brow rose.

I had noticed that about her. She could only lift her left eyebrow, or both. But never the right on its own.

They were probably the most expressive part of her face.

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