Page 23 of Forever Touched

He lightly scoffed as if I’d said something funny. “I have a better idea. Tell me about the secret operation you’re running here, and I’ll tell you who I am.”

I nearly swallowed my tongue.

Before I could compose myself, he said, “You flinched again.”

“Flinched? I didn’t flinch. I just didn’t expect you to say that. If that’s why you came back, I hate to disappoint you. My employers work very hard to keep everything at Dreamscape legal. You could even check the cameras.”

Please don’t check the cameras, please don’t check the cameras.

I didn’t think it was possible for me to get embarrassed anymore, but the thought of him seeing footage of me being intimate with countless other males was mortifying.

He abruptly reached up to touch my cheek, and I definitelydidflinch this time. Silently cursing, I commanded my body to hold still. But it was too late.

“Your pupils are dilated. You’re scared.”

“Scared?” Breaking into a cold sweat, I desperately tried to steer the conversation to safer waters. “How do you know I’m not just turned on? I’m straddling your lap, after all.”

He slowly cocked his head to the side, the predatorial move rattling me more than I wanted to admit. “I can find out easily enough.”

He let go of my waist, only to place both hands on my upper thighs. I stiffened all over, unable to stop my reaction. A wicked gleam entered his eyes, all challenge and no mercy. Before I could prepare, his hands began to move. Inch by inch, they trailed up my widely spread thighs. I knew exactly where they were headed, and there was absolutely nothing blocking their way. My robe easily parted, allowing him to carve a path toward my quivering center.

“Does this turn you on?” he said in hushed tones, watching me closely with those piercing amethyst eyes.

“Mmm,” was all I managed to say, gripping his shoulders a little too tightly.

“You pleasured me last night,” he went on, torturing me with a slow smirk. “Maybe it’s time I repay the favor.”

Spirits save me. There was no way out of this one. He meant business, and I had no choice but to play his game.

“I’m a witch,” I reminded him, hating how nervous I sounded. “You think I’m disgusting.”

“True, but I’ve done far more terrible things than have sex with a witch.”

The confession should have terrified me, but it somehow spoke to my own darkness. I’d done some pretty terrible things too.

Still, I needed to deter him. The farther up his hands went, the more my body trembled.

“Maybe you should let me finish what I started first,” I said,struggling to breathe. His thumbs were skating up my inner thighs now, inches away from their goal.

His smirk grew, the tilt of his mouth decidedly bitter. “No. Ladies first. It’s the gentlemanly thing to do, even though I’m anything but a gentleman.”

My heart jackknifed inside my chest.

“Well, I’m not a lady, so—”

His thumbs found my center and pressed on the bundle of sensitive nerves, stealing the words from my mouth. My hips bucked, and he gripped my thighs to keep me in place. I squirmed against the hold, squeezing my eyes shut as he began to rub my clit with both thumbs. While he did, a feeling stirred low in my belly, one that I tried hard to deny.

Pleasure.

I was experiencing pleasure at the hands of avampire.

Shocked by how unexpected and good it felt, I arched my spine and breathlessly cried out like a brazen hussy. Which was what I was, I supposed.

His mouth was suddenly on my neck, nuzzling the throbbing vein there as if dying for a taste. This was my chance. I arched my neck back even more, encouraging him to bite me. He groaned against my skin, massaging my clit harder. I bucked against his thumbs again, quivering as a familiar sensation rushed through me.

Euphoria.

I’d only ever experienced it through venom, not touch. This was . . . this was bad. Really bad. I shouldnotbe feeling like this right now.

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