Page 13 of Snowed In with the Bosses

Her trembling rocked through me. “S-s-sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. You’ve not done anything wrong.” I palmed the curve of her spine. “Do you want to talk about what’s bothering you?”

She sighed, then nodded into my chest. “I lost my dad.” A hiccuping breath, then. “I was young. Just five years old. He went out in a snowstorm and died.”

Well, fuck. If that wasn’t enough to cave my insides, nothing ever would. “I’m sorry. No one should suffer a loss like that, especially so young.”

“I thought I was over it. It’s been twenty-three years.” She sniffled and picked at a button on my shirt. If she felt uncomfortable in my lap, she showed no sign of it.

I ran my hand up and down her spine. “Losing a parent is not something you get over.” It also explained why she had such fear for her mother. Even though she tried to hide it. She had every reason to be afraid. No one wanted to lose a parent, but she’d already lost one, and at a delicate age. Cradling the back of her head again, I tucked her closer.

“I wish he’d stayed home.” A bit of spark returned, and she tugged harder on the button. “That’s what always pissed me off. He went outside because he wanted to see the storm. He was supposed to come right back. They found his body three miles away, frozen to death. The official report said he must have gotten turned around in the storm. Why did he leave?”

She lifted her head, tears in her eyes and her lips trembling. “Why did he leave me?”

There were no words to answer that question, nothing I could say to calm her fears. Promises held little weight without actions to back them up.

Her hair spilled from the makeshift bun and fell down in waves around her face.

I should have given her something to ease her pain, but words failed me. I dropped my head, my lips hovering over hers in a last-ditch effort to change my mind and not cross this line.

I brushed a thumb over her chin, and her lips parted. The last of my control evaporated. I had to taste her. Our lips met in an achingly slow caress. Any second now, she’d slap me and call me a bastard for taking advantage of her vulnerability. Any second. In the meantime, I explored her lips.

Her hand slid between the buttons on my shirt to touch bare skin. She groaned low in her throat and opened to me when I ran my tongue along the seam of her lips. I reminded myself toslow down and sucked her bottom lip, lightly nipping at it. Her fingers were firebrands on my skin. I wanted them everywhere, touching every inch of my body.

My cock thickened and pressed into her ass. Her lips rose in a delicious smirk as she broke the kiss and leaned away from me.

6

CLARA

What the hell was I doing kissing Ethan? I gave myself all of two seconds to consider the repercussions before I brought our lips together again. He kissed with a slow passion that boded well for his skills. Every stroke of his tongue against mine sent my pulse fluttering. The long length of his cock in my backside promised me a good time…if he knew how to use it.

I’d never been one for conventional relationships, but up until now, I’d never kissed one of my bosses before.

I’d never had bosses this fuckable before either, so there was that to consider.

Ethan’s hands slid down my back and around my hip. I sat sideways on his lap, my legs stretched out across the couch. One turn and I could straddle him. The thought crossed my mind about the same time the rough edge of his palm traveled up my knee, stopping at the hem of my skirt. I cursed my leggings preventing him from touching bare skin and used my thumb to pop the button on his shirt open, then undid a second one. He’d removed his jacket at some point during the day, and his sleeveswere rolled up to his elbows, showing off strong forearms and lean muscle.

Alexander and Liam were in the room somewhere. I’d lost sight of them when Ethan pulled me into his arms. But I felt them watching. It excited me in an unexplainable way. I’d never really believed there was one right and true way to fall in love. Love came in unexplainable ways sometimes, and I refused to pass up a chance to feel something I’d never felt before, especially in Ethan’s arms. Or in Alexander’s or Liam’s. Or, if I was really lucky, all three. Who wouldn’t love being around three impossibly gorgeous men? Who was I to pass up this chance to have all of their eyes on me? If they wanted to stand back and watch, let them. This made me happy. Fuck anyone who thought they should take that away from me because of some conventional bullshit about happiness.

Ethan’s hand roamed higher up my leggings, the touch slow and hot enough to burn through the thick fabric.

I angled my head for a better position and ran my free hand around the back of his neck and into his thick hair. The salt and pepper strands felt like silk in my fingers. His pulse hammered beneath my other hand, but he never tried to rush. If anything, he took things slower than I’d like. I broke off the kiss. “Touch me, Ethan.” I released the rest of the buttons and spread his shirt wide across his chest. Sculpted muscles tensed beneath my fingertips as he gripped me tight.

“Clara.” His rich voice held a warning.

I shook my head. “If you’re going to tell me this is a bad idea, don’t. This is what I want. Do you?”

He lifted his hips. “I would think it’s obvious what I want.”

“Good.” I shimmied off his lap and reached for my boots. Kicking them off, I risked a look over my shoulder. Alexander and Liam stood on the far side of the room, their eyes on me and so much hunger in their faces that I shivered at the power I heldover them. I wanted all of them, but that was a big ask, especially when I had no idea if they’d ever shared before. I winked at them and turned back to Ethan. It took seconds to hike my skirt up and peel off my leggings. I left everything else on, but I needed to feel his hands on my skin.

Ethan reached for me, his hands delving beneath my skirt and locking onto my hips. He guided me back into his lap, pulling my knees to either side of his legs and letting me straddle his erection. “Are you sure?”

I kissed him to stop the questions and tugged his belt loose. The zipper slid down with a grating sound that danced in the air. It held the promise of freedom, of completion.

Ethan tugged on my shirt, pulling the wide neck down over my shoulders. My bra straps moved with it, allowing cool air to brush over my breasts. My already pebbled nipples tightened. Ethan palmed both breasts and dropped his head from my lips to my tits. He rubbed his face over one, then the other, before finally pulling a nipple into his mouth.

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