Page 33 of Tasting Sin

I hurried toward the door, turning the deadbolt and making sure the bright neon sign that welcomed people in was turned off. When I was sure he wasn’t going to come back out of the shadows covering the sidewalk and demand desserts I didn’t have, I turned around.

“What an asshole,” I muttered, walking into the back of the kitchen. I reached into the sink, grabbing a mixing bowl and turning on the water. “All of that over a couple cupcakes?”

I thought I heard a door close, and the hairs on my arm stood on end. I stopped scrubbing dried frosting from the metal bowl and froze. My mind flashed with images of the man’s angry face, but I locked the door. I knew I had. You’re being ridiculous.

Shaking my head, I returned to the dishes. When I heard footsteps, my heartbeat echoed against my eardrums. I took a deep breath, trying to convince myself it was all in my head. I chuckled. It didn’t make the consistent thud of somebody’s steps disappear, and I looked over my shoulder. The kitchen was empty.

I set the clean bowl on the drying rack, reaching in for a wooden spatula. I gripped the spatula harder when the footsteps I had convinced myself weren’t real got louder. When large hands closed firmly on my hips, I shrieked and spun around. My heart lunged for my throat, and the room around me went black. I gripped the wooden handle until my knuckles turned white and pulled my arm back, ready to swing and wishing I was prepared with more than a spoon. What was that going to do?

The surprise visitor grabbed my wrist in the air and squeezed. I recognized the familiar scent of vetiver and warmth before my blurry vision cleared enough to see his face. He tugged me to him, and my chest crashed into the hard muscles of his core. I gasped. “Nellie,” he said calmly.

“What the hell, Ronan?” I shrieked when the relief that flooded me was replaced with sudden irritation. “You scared me!”

“What would you have done if it wasn’t me?” Ronan looked amused, causing me to roll my bottom lip out in a pout.

I scrunched my nose, looking up at him. “What?”

Ronan chuckled, running his finger down my shoulder to my hand and taking the wooden spoon from me. “I said, what would you have done if it wasn’t me? Stir him to death?” He waved the spoon in the air before he set it back in the sink.

“I would’ve fought him.” I shrugged, lifting my arm and flexing. He lifted his brow.

“I overpowered you in a single move. What if they did too?” His voice was low and controlled, and he looked at me like he was equally concerned and thought my attempt was adorable. Why was he doubting me?

I shrugged, realizing he wasn’t wrong. What would I have done? “I don’t know.”

“Do you see why I want to protect you?” He brushed my hair behind my ear, and the gentle contrast between that and the intensity of his stare made me shiver. I blinked back surprise tears that lined my bottom eyelid.

“Because you think I’m weak.”

Ronan’s eyes widened. He hooked my chin between his finger and thumb, forcing my stare to meet his. “Not at all,” he said calmly. “I’ve never met a woman as strong as you, but these men are stronger. And they’re bad. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you.”

Butterflies in my stomach danced against my ribcage, and when I swallowed, they didn’t calm. “Why?” I asked. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer.

“Because you’re in my life again. Whatever that means, I’m not letting you go now.” I gasped, inhaling his exhale before his lips met mine. Ronan curled his hand around the back of my neck, framing the side of my face with his thumb and weaving his fingers in my messier-than-normal hair. “I was never going to be able to resist you.”

My body warmed, starting in my core and working its way down, and when he ran his tongue along my bottom lip, my toes curled. I whimpered, snaking my arms around Ronan to deepen the kiss. My chest heaved beneath quick, shallow breaths, and my heart skipped a beat.

Ronan trailed his lips from mine along my jawline to the sensitive patch of skin behind my ear. His tongue was warm, and when I shivered, goosebumps decorated my skin. When he turned me between him and the sink, I didn’t resist. Instead, I leaned back against him, reveling in the feeling of his breath on my neck.

“I can’t stop thinking about you, about your lips or how you feel in my hands.” His voice was raspy and muffled against my skin. When he bit into the soft flesh, my quiet whimper turned to a shriek, and my knees buckled.

He drew his hands from my hips to my breasts, cupping them, and it was like the room started to spin. I was swept up in a whirlwind of arousal and growing need mixed with resistance. My nipples hardened against the fabric of my bra when he squeezed, and when he chuckled quietly, I knew he could feel the hard peaks through the padding and lace.

“I’d say I’m not the only one.” He swirled his fingertips over my nipples before he grabbed the hem of my shirt. The air felt cold on my exposed skin when he lifted it, pulling it over my head and dropping it to the ground.

My breath shook. “I can’t stop thinking about you either.” I didn’t want to think about him, and I didn’t want my entire body to react to the simplicity of his touch the way it was.

Ronan’s lips found their way back to my neck while his fingers unclasped the hooks on the back of my bra. When it dropped to the bakery floor, I felt exposed. I was standing in front of Ronan Moretti with my hard nipples pinched between his fingers. I can’t believe I’m doing this.

His hands were firm when they followed the curve of my side to my waistband, and I didn’t stop him when he unfastened the button. I held my breath while the sound of the zipper dropping filled the too-quiet bakery before Ronan was sliding the denim over my hips.

I knew I should stop him. There was a time and place to be naked in front of your brother’s best friend, and I wasn’t sure that the time was now. Or ever.

I gasped when the tips of his fingers separated my lips and the cool air brushed over my sensitive clit. The nervous butterflies fighting for my throat changed direction and rushed down, settling between my legs. I started to press my thighs together, stopping when Ronan put his feet between mine, forcing them further apart. I whimpered in anticipation.

“Is this okay?” Ronan asked, brushing his fingertips over my pussy and circling my hardening clit.

I nodded. “Yes,” I whispered, spreading my legs further and grabbing hold of the side of the sink.

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