Page 86 of Cashmere Cruelty

But not enough.

Nothing could hide that belly from me, swollen withmychild.

“Grisha…” I clear my throat. “You can go now.”

With a flourish of his hand, Grisha obliges.

I wait until his steps have faded into the hallway. I wait until I hear the telltaledingof the elevator. I wait for the doors to close.

“Hi,” April breathes. “The food’s already inside, if you want?—”

Then I don’t wait any longer.

I grab April by the back of her neck and tilt her head up to meet mine. My mouth is on hers in seconds, claiming those sweet, plump lips without a moment’s hesitation.

April is on me just as fast.

I kick the door shut behind me, yanked forward by eager hands pulling on my tie. We stumble inside like a pair of goddamn teenagers, too swept up to even look where we’re going. I bump against a chair and secure my arms around April’s waist, preventing her from tripping. As long as I’m here, I will never let her fall.

Butfall apartis something different entirely.

I don’t separate from her until I absolutely have to. I feel her gasping for air against me. “The food— Don’t you want—” she tries, but I silence her with a finger on her lips.

“Iwant,” I growl, dark and commanding, “something else.”

Then I dive into her again.

I kiss her until she’s moaning. Until she’s pushing against my chest with both hands, begging to breathe. I’ll decide if she gets that. I’ll decide anything she gets tonight.

And I’ll decidewhen.

Finally, I let her pull away. She’s breathing hard, chest heaving against mine. I want to rip that pretty dress off of her and strip her naked, expose those gorgeous breasts to the air and bite into them. To devour April Flowers whole.

She looks up at me, her hazel eyes now dark and hooded. Her pupils are blown to high heaven, letting only a ring of those forest-green irises survive my assault. If I had my way, there wouldn’t be anything left.

I drop my gaze to her lips: kiss-bruised, bitten, red. Shiny and ready to be claimed raw, over and over again.

I want.

Iwant.

But I won’t take any more unless she begs me to.

For a long moment, April doesn’t speak, just keeps breathing hard against my body, driving me insane. Those quiet little moans of effort… I want to hear them grow louder. I want them to haunt me.

But she must want it, too.

I see her steel herself. For one devastating second, I think she’s going to be braver than me. That she’s going to push me off and away, shove me at a safe distance once again. As she should.

But neither one of us is doing what they should tonight.

So April looks me dead in the eye and breathes the answer that seals it for both of us: “Then come and get it.”

I don’t need to be told twice.

I hook my palms under her thighs and hoist her up on the table. With one long swipe of my arm, I sweep everything away, sending it flying on the floor. It’s just a teacup and a cookie jar—the food’s still safely on the tray—but I wouldn’t have cared either way.

With April Flowers in my hands, I don’t need anything else to eat.

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