Page 29 of Tasting Sin

“Kiss me.”

Ronan’s mouth crashed to mine, stealing the breath from my lungs. His hands moved to grip my hips, tugging me against him. Then, his tongue traced my bottom lip, and when a moan slipped from between them, he swallowed it, deepening the kiss.

I snaked my arms over his shoulders, hooking them behind his neck and pulling myself as close to his body as I could get. His chest was hard against mine, and he inhaled, allowing me to feel the swell of his muscles. I swore he could feel my heart pounding against my ribcage.

Our bodies crashed against the counter when he snaked his hands into my hair and kissed me harder. For a moment, between the pangs of pain, I lost track of where his body ended and mine began. Ronan’s grip on my hair stung at the scalp, and I whimpered. The sound turned to a moan when he sank his teeth into my bottom lip.

A low groan rolled from his chest when he moved to grip my hips, and when he lifted me, it was effortless. He dropped me on the counter, settling between my legs and tugging me to the edge. I straddled him, suddenly aware of the warmth of his body against the insides of my thighs. I shivered, and a rush of arousal settled between my legs.

Reality crashed over me with my next breath, and the taste of guilt replaced the taste of wine on his tongue. I gasped. Pulling back, I turned my head away. “What are we doing, Ronan?”

“We’re kissing.” He leaned in, pressing his lips to my neck while I pushed against his chest. His kisses lined the sensitive skin beneath my ear, following the trail along my jaw. Before he made it back to my mouth, I looked down.

“We can’t do this.” The butterflies dancing in my stomach objected, crashing into my chest and reminding me they weren’t going anywhere. I swallowed the lump that swelled in my throat when he looked at me disappointed.

“Yes, we can,” he argued, leaning toward me again. I shook my head.

“No. We have to stop.” I blinked away the stinging that started in my eyes, warning me that tears I didn’t want Ronan to see would follow. “What would Dickie say?”

That made him stiffen and step back. “I think he’d be happy to know you’re well taken care of.” Ronan lowered his voice, sounding confident, even though he looked as guilty as I felt. “And I know you want more. I could taste it. I can practically smell it.”

I inhaled sharply, pressing my legs together as much as I could with Ronan still standing mostly between them. Ronan’s stare followed the lump in my throat when I gulped. “I don’t.”

Ronan chuckled, stepping away from me and grabbing his jacket from the stool. His muscles rippled when he pulled it on, and my mouth dried out. Was I sure I didn’t want more? Yes.

“I know you do. You want it as badly as I do.” He buttoned the top button of his suit before he fixed the cuffs. I watched him while he crossed the apartment to the front door, my heartbeat matching each of his pronounced steps. “I’ll see you soon, Sugar.”

Chapter 19

Nellie

“So what happened last night?” Ava asked, dropping her towel onto the prep counter and leaning against it. She crossed her arms over her chest, tilting her head to the side like she already knew the answer to her question. If only she really knew.

I shook my head, using my own rag to swipe at a spot that was already clean. I didn’t look up from the overly-shiny counter. “Nothing.”

“Nothing?” The disbelief in Ava’s voice was high-pitched and echoed off the mostly-steel kitchen. “The dishes were still in the sink this morning when I got here, and you never do that. And you’re blushing, and you only do that when—”

“Okay, stop.” I interrupted her, earning a wide grin when I put my hands up to stop her mid-assumption.

Ava pumped her fist in the air and squealed. “Something did happen! I knew it!”

“Ava, drop it.” I covered my face with my hands, pressing into my temples with the tips of my fingers. “It was nothing. Nothing. Happened.” I emphasized both words to convince her, but I felt my cheeks getting warmer.

Her eyes got wider, and she clapped her hands together. “Oh my God. You slept with him, didn’t you?”

“What?” I shrieked, taking a stumbling step back from the counter and frantically waving my arms in front of me. It was important to stop her excited train of thought before she convinced herself it was true. Nothing happened. “No! I did not sleep with him!”

My best friend tilted her head and rolled her eyes, scoffing overly dramatically. “You’re lying. I know you are. Something happened.” She slammed her hands into the counter, widening her eyes. “Spill.”

“Okay, fine,” I sighed. I never could resist telling her everything. She was my best friend. I lowered my voice to a whisper to stop the empty bakery from overhearing. “We kissed.”

“Oh my God, I knew it!” Ava screamed. If anyone had been in the bakery, they heard the whole thing. “You kissed him! Tell me everything!”

Before I could figure out how to put into words the way Ronan’s kiss made the world around me disappear, or the way that same world came crashing back as soon as I remembered who he was, the bell above the front door rang. Relief flooded me, and I shrugged, as if to explain that I couldn’t possibly tell her the story because we had a customer. She grumbled behind me when I hurried to the front counter. I knew she was going to bring it back up later.

When I turned the corner, I recognized the man looking at the pink counters with a concerned stare. He looked more intimidating when he wasn’t snatching macarons from the table and skipping away. He looked scarier. A lot scarier. It was the reckless look in his dark eyes.

“Enzo?” I asked, trying to figure out why Ronan’s cousin was standing in my bakery. “What are you doing here?”

---