Page 24 of Desperate Needs

Give that is.

It was unsettling, in a way.

I’d always prided myself on control, on keeping a safe distance from anyone who might get too close.

But now, I was here, standing in the glow of her presence, with that sweet scent in my lungs, and for the first time, I didn’t mind the idea of losing a little control.

I wanted to—no, I needed to—give.

“You okay there, Stud Muffin?”

“Stud Muffin?” I snorted.

“You call me Darlin’,” she said and shrugged.

“Yeah, well, I’m not a fucking muffin,” I growled, squeezing her neck.

She grinned wickedly and her green eyes sparkled with mischief as she bit her lower lip.

“Just Stud then, alright,” she teased, and I growled, bending my head and nipping her lip myself.

God, she was fun like this. Sassy and sweet. I couldn’t help it, I savaged her mouth, driving my tongue deep.

I tasted vanilla oranges, and fuck me, it was the kind of flavor that I knew would linger on my lips like a soft whisper.

It was subtle yet undeniable.

It made me think of lazy summer mornings when the sun was just beginning to rise, casting everything in a golden haze.

Her presence was like that, refreshing and calming all at once.

My life wasn’t easy. My father had fucked things up for my family for as long as I could remember, but his final masterpiece had lasting effects.

I’d been in my twenties. A punk, really. But the things he did ensured I would have no place in the underworld where he conducted his business.

I had to find my own way. I had to claw and scratch and dig myself out of the shit pile he’d buried the Callahan name under.

So I learned to be hard.

Ambitious.

Cunning.

Relentless.

And I was close, too. So close to making it bigger than the old man ever dreamed.

Clementine was the means I intended to use to deliver the final piece of my plan. I had to remember that.

Only I wasn’t expecting this.

I didn’t think she had it in her to catch me off guard. But I was wrong.

I breathed in again, and her scent filled me just as the elevator doors pinged and opened up right inside her penthouse.

It was like her. Warm and bright.

High ceilings.

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