Page 40 of A Package Deal

The pride clearly shining in his eyes made me feel ten feet tall. Which made what I had to say that much harder. I felt like I was throwing his help in his face, but I had to stand up for myself. History could not repeat itself. I would not build another business around a man that could be snatched away from me once the man betrayed me. I folded my arms across my chest.

“Did you tell people about me? After we just talked about you not interfering with my business?”

Warrick frowned, the pride fading into a carefully blank look. “Talk about you? Who would I talk to?”

“Just answer the question,” I snapped. Cayden had never given me straight answers, just word soup that took me around and around until I gave up on the question.

Warrick’s jaw hardened. “No, I didn’t tell anyone about your work here. Even if I had, that’s not interfering in your business. That’s simply giving an opinion about the general contractor I’ve hired.”

“Are you sure?” Who else would have told people about me?

Warrick huffed and shook his head. “I swear, it’s always one step forward and two steps back with you, Slaywright. I actually thought after last night that you might trust me.”

“I do trust you.” To an extent. Could I really ever fully trust a man after what Cayden did?

Warrick’s eyes seemed to burn with anger. “I’ve tried being patient. I’ve tried proving to you over and over again that I’m trustworthy. That I want the best for you and Georgia. Fuck, I married you just to help you retain custody, Em! Do those actions say untrustworthy to you?”

I licked my lips, feeling a tad guilty for accusing him. He was right. He’d never done anything other than help me and my daughter. I just couldn’t seem to figure out why. Why was he helping us? Why would anyone go out of their way to help a stranger like this? I kept waiting for the “gotcha” moment. The moment where he showed his true colors and screwed me over.

“I just don’t understand why you’re helping us. Explain it to me.”

Warrick ran a hand through his hair, making it messier than usual. “I have explained it to you. Multiple times. Why can’t you understand that I simply want to help? That you’re a beautiful, hardworking, single mom who just needs a helping hand to dig out of this hole you’re in and I have the resources to do it?”

I lifted my shoulders and opened my mouth to offer some sort of reason for not believing him, but nothing came to mind. Other than my past, I had no reason to doubt Warrick. I was doing what he’d accused me of last night. I was painting him with the same brush as Cayden. It wasn’t fair to him at all.

“Fuck it. Talking about my reasons doesn’t seem to get it through your head. Maybe this will.”

Warrick invaded my space, his hands planting themselves on my hips and pushing me back against the wall of the barn. Something clattered to the ground when my back hit but I didn’t have a chance to look since his hand cupped my jaw and held me in place. His head descended and all rational thought fled my brain. His lips came down on mine. Hard. A grunt in the back of his throat seemed to ring in my ears and then his tongue was demanding entrance. For as much fight as I gave him every single day I’d known him, I had zero resistance to his kiss. I opened for him immediately and Warrick took full advantage.

His tongue claimed my mouth the same time his hips ground against my stomach, a hard, heavy erection digging into my stomach. Everything went fuzzy and all my senses zeroed in on the man devouring me. I whimpered into his mouth and it only made the kiss that much deeper and his hands that much tighter. His muscled thigh wedged my legs apart and I whimpered again when he ground that erection against my clit like he had carnal knowledge of my body and knew how to make me detonate on contact.

The kiss went on, lips angling, tongues dueling, and teeth sometimes nipping in something wild and untamed. I’d never been kissed like this. Ever. My heart rate was out of control and I couldn’t feel my legs. I nearly wept when his hand left my hip, about to beg him to stay when that hand slipped under my shirt and dipped inside the waistband of my jeans. I sucked in a sharp breath and Warrick didn’t give me any warning. His hand slid inside my jeans and under my panties, splitting me apart with ruthless efficiency. I cried out and he growled, swallowing my noises with his mouth.

I hadn’t been kissed or touched like this in years. Everything felt like the first time. Like my breasts and clit and mouth and skin had been awakened from a deep sleep. I was on fire for this man and he didn’t seem to have any inclination to stop anytime soon. A finger found its way to my clit, massaging the bundle of nerves before dipping inside me, spreading moisture as it came back to my clit. My whole body spasmed at his touch and my fingers slid into his hair to grip him tight. Warrick kept up the brutal rhythm, not giving me a single second to acclimate.

My breath came in pants and my toes curled in my boots. If I’d had a second to be self-conscious, I would have worried about the fact that I hadn’t even showered off the work of the day. Warrick didn’t seem to mind my salt-covered skin as he nipped at my jaw and neck. When everything swirled into an overwhelming pleasure lined with pain, I cried out again, my head hitting the wall behind me. Warrick’s mouth came away from my neck and I could feel him watching me as I exploded on his finger, rocking my hips shamelessly against his hand.

I’d forgotten how good an orgasm felt.

How every muscle locked up and then relaxed. Every bone softened, every care flitted away. My eyes flickered open as I came down, my breath still hitching on each aftershock that flooded my system. Warrick studied me with heat burning in his eyes. His hair was a mess from my fingers and his jaw was still locked impossibly tight.

“Oh my God,” I whispered. Referring to the incredible orgasm that ranked number one on my list of all-time greatest. Or perhaps I was referring to the way Warrick looked at me, like he still had plans to devour me all night long. Or it might have been when the thought hit me that I’d just let a client finger me in the barn while my daughter slept fifty yards away.

I must have said something out loud, because Warrick’s eyes narrowed and a tiny vein in his forehead pulsed with anger.

“Not a client, sweetheart. I’m your fucking husband.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Warrick

I’d lost my mind.

And I didn’t want it back.

Sliding my hand out of Em’s jeans, I lifted it to my face and sucked two fingers into my mouth. Her pupils dilated and her entire face flamed red in the dim light. I would have chuckled at her embarrassment if I hadn’t been preoccupied with her taste exploding in my mouth. It did nothing to tame what was happening in my own pants, which had gotten so tight I wasn’t sure if I could walk back to the house anytime soon. Her forehead dropped to the center of my chest. I knew she heard the rumbled groan as I tried to get myself under control.

“You taste like heaven,” I said so softly I wasn’t sure she could hear me.

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