Page 52 of Bitter Confessions

Roth didn’t ask what had happened, and for that, she was grateful. She bowed her head as she tried to temper the storm her sister had stirred up like the glitter in Bailey’s snow globe. She stiffened when her phone rang.

“Let’s go,” Roth said as Mo pulled up to the curb.

She ducked into the back seat and didn’t relax until they pulled away from Hennessy Tower. When her phone rang again, she rejected Lyle’s call and turned it off. She propped her arm on the window and took a shaky breath. They couldn’t have one family dinner without something going wrong. Maybe she should stop trying to bond with her sisters. Perhaps it was best they avoid one another as they had been doing most of their lives. Why subject herself to their criticism and ridicule?

Roth’s phone rang. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him pull it from his pocket. She contemplated knocking it out of his hand. Before she could act on her intrusive thought, the noise abruptly ceased. She turned her head as he powered his phone off too.

She slumped against the seat. “Thanks.”

Roth nodded and looked up as the car slowed. They crossed the lobby of 432 Park Avenue hand in hand. It was still busier than normal, but this time, the scrutiny didn’t bother her. They caught an empty car up to the penthouse, and when she turned toward the hallway that led to the bedrooms, she came to a stop, because he hadn’t released her. She hung her head, dreading the inquisition, but he didn’t say a thing—he just waited.

Slowly, he reeled her in and turned her to face him. When she had her emotions under control, Jasmine looked up. The intimidating stare that had chilled Ariana to the core soothed her frazzled nerves. As she took in Roth’s impressive figure, she realized how ludicrous it was to feel protective of him. He didn’t care what anyone thought of him and didn’t need her to fight his battles. Nevertheless, she wasn’t going to let her sisters slander him when he’d done nothing but help their ungrateful, entitled asses. As fragments of things she should have said zinged through her mind, she buried her face against his chest.

The base notes of his cologne—incense, amber, cedar, and sandalwood—calmed her. Her hands slipped inside his coat and ran up his sides. Roth was right. Her sisters didn’t deserve her. She would have given up her inheritance if Roth had been willing to negotiate with money. Instead, she’d sacrificed something far more valuable. Thankfully, things had worked out in her favor, but that didn’t take away from the fact she shouldn’t have taken on that responsibility in the first place. She’d always been idiotically loyal to those she loved, even when the sentiment wasn’t returned. That was her greatest flaw.

She raised her head and looked into those black-sapphire eyes that saw straight to her soul. Heart quaking, she reached up and clasped Roth’s nape. He obeyed the light pressure and leaned down, eyes watchful, as she went up on tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. She splayed her hand across his bristly cheek and deepened the kiss, desperate for connection, reassurance, and comfort. He tasted of coffee and pumpkin pie. He tasted like home.

She had always been misunderstood, dismissed, an oddity in her family of ambitious overachievers. She knew her family gossiped about her behind her back. This was the first time she’d interrupted their routine. Hearing what they thought of her hurt her in ways she thought she was impervious to.

Roth didn’t take over the kiss but accepted what she gave, once again demonstrating a level of patience and care that made her want to give him everything. He accepted the bold thrust of her tongue with an approving hum and let out a low grunt when she gripped his hair.

It was no mystery why she was drawn to Roth. His grit, perseverance, and raw intellect, untainted by the artifice of her father’s world, attracted her like a moth to a flame. He was the only one who’d taken the time to listen to the ramblings of a lost and lonely girl. He’d looked at her and seen a woman—one he desired enough to risk his livelihood for. He made her feel accepted, desired, happy, creative, strong, capable, safe. When it came to her family, there were conditions and expectations she would never be able to meet.

When she wrapped her arms around his neck, he picked her up and made his way to the bedroom. When he set her on her feet, she urged him to sit at the foot of the bed. He complied without hesitation. The fact this dominant man ceded to her eased the sting from the wounds Ariana had inflicted.

She hiked up her dress to straddle his lap, not bothering to shrug off her coat before clasping his face and taking his lips again. He let her feed from him. Encouraged it. And when her mouth traveled along his jaw, he tipped his head to give her more access.

She lost herself in him. The alluring madness that had tempted her at twenty-three was nothing compared to what consumed her now. She hadn’t thought their chemistry could get any hotter. She was mistaken. Now they weren’t holding back from each other and using desire as a weapon to best the other, it had morphed into something else. Something more. Something that terrified her with its relentless pull. Her only consolation was that Roth seemed to be under the same compulsion. Knowing this was temporary, that they would inevitably part, made every interaction special. They weren’t people who had committed to forever and took each other for granted. They’d experienced paradise and knew how fleeting that phase was. Life had a fickle habit of tripping them up and tearing their plans to shreds, so they luxuriated in the moment and gorged, knowing their time was finite.

She undid his tie and then the buttons of his shirt, tasting every inch of what she uncovered. When she splayed her hand over his bare chest, she felt his heart thudding beneath her palm. He wanted her. That was one thing she was sure of, but they both knew it wouldn’t last.

Men like Roth and her father weren’t good at maintaining relationships. They chased, conquered, and married because their need to possess was a part of who they were. But, like any businessman, they let go of the asset once they lost interest or got their money’s worth. Maximus’s marriages with Colette and Ariana’s mothers hadn’t gone beyond two years. If the rumors were true, her mother hadn’t even lasted three months. Once Roth had fulfilled his fantasies and gotten what he wanted from their alliance, his attention would wane. Their deadline protected her from his disinterest when it came.

She spread his shirt and clamped her mouth on his neck. He jerked and released a groan that made the space between her legs pulse. She wanted to hear more. She wanted him desperate, panting and moaning, so far gone he couldn’t hold back those sounds that made her fucking crazy. He was so proud of that hickey she’d given him in Denmark. She would give him one he’d have difficulty hiding.

Roth didn’t try to stop her. On the contrary, his fingers slid into her hair and held her to him as she branded him. For now, he was hers. Her husband. The only one who’d ever encouraged her bad behavior. He urged her to break the mold and be herself. Now, she couldn’t go back to walking the straight and narrow. She didn’t want to. Fuck her sisters and what they thought of their relationship. Her sisters didn’t strive for love but affection. They didn’t have fits of rage, just passing irritations. No high highs or low lows. Their lives were carefully controlled. What was life without passion, desire, risk, and obsession?

For the first time in five years, she let herself go. Her mind wasn’t consumed with grief, mindless lust, revenge, or anger. She blocked everything out and focused on him. On his animal heat, his smooth skin, the ripples of muscle and scars. When she pushed off his coat, jacket, and shirt, she was vaguely aware of him setting his gun holster aside.

She made her way down his body, nibbling along his collar bone before tracing his pecs with her tongue and then licking his nipple. His chest expanded as all the air left his lungs. She applied pressure to one nipple while laving the other with her mouth. He quivered and jerked. He wasn’t controlling his reactions to her; he was reacting on pure impulse, and she fed off it. Sounds of male appreciation filled the room as she loved on him.

When her mouth left his chest and moved down his ridged abdomen, his breathing stalled. She kneeled between his spread thighs and undid his belt but didn’t pull his zipper down to give him relief. Instead, she took her time tracing his six-pack and hummed in approval when he leaned back on his hands so she could explore to her heart’s content. As she worked her way down, she ran her hands up his thick thighs and rubbed her thumbs on either side of his bulge.

“Jasmine.”

She hummed against his skin. “Yes, baby?”

“A man can only take so much,” he warned.

“But you’re not just any man, are you?” The full moon played peekaboo with wispy clouds, casting half his face in shadow. “You can take more, can’t you?”

To fuck with him, she kissed him over his straining zipper. He bit out a vicious curse before dropping his head back in wordless surrender.

“Good boy,” she cooed.

He went rigid. “Call me a good boy again, your time’s up, and I’m fucking you on all fours until you scream.”

Not much of a threat when she was dripping, but she wasn’t done torturing him.

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