Page 88 of The Art of You

He shrugged. “I saw it on your desk. Untouched from the looks of it. Thought you might want to?—”

“Touch it?” I licked my lips, eyes on those strong hands of his, remembering the way he’d touched me with them, craving for him to do that now.

When he didn’t respond, I forced my gaze up to his face, and the heated look pointed my way sent me another step closer to my very own Man of Steel.

“I may have checked your dresser, too.” He smiled. A wicked, dark one, and he nailed the landing with it.

Heat flooded my stomach, coursing down to kindle an achy need between my legs. “What’d you find there?”

“A vibrator you won’t need anymore.”

Oh. My. Damn.

“You feeling color again?” His smile traveled to his eyes, forming crinkles at the edges.

“Yes. Red-hot, in fact.” My tongue raced along the seam of my mouth as images and possibilities infiltrated my imagination.

“So, what did you take from my dresser?”

He removed the bear from my hands and set him asidebefore hooking his arm behind my back, surprising me by drawing me against him. “Now, I don’t remember saying I actually took anything.” Lifting his fist between us, he urged my chin up, pinning me with those gorgeous Mediterranean-blue eyes.

“No sexy lingerie, then?” I teased.

His hand at the small of my back flew up to my neck. “I couldn’t take the chance you’ve ever worn anything there for someone else.” The possessive bite to his tone as he gently fisted and tugged my hair woke up some primal need in me to be controlled by this man.

“So, you want me naked, then?” I pushed up on my toes, anxious for his mouth to claim mine.

“Oh, I want a lot of things. To not have waited seven years to wake up and get my shit together for one.”

Seven years? What are you talk?—

He silenced my thoughts by giving me what I wanted. The kiss of all kisses. Hot and passionate.Dominating.He let me know I was his and only his.

I latched on to him, desperate for more, then trailed my lips down to the side of his neck.

“Mmm,” he groaned before guiding my face to his. “You kiss my neck like that again, and I won’t be responsible for what happens next.”

“Like christening your desk?” I’d be his first in this office. While I wasn’t in denial about his old reputation, I also knew he’d never bring a woman here.

He brought his hands to my face and met my eyes. “Like getting you pregnant.”

Welp, there went my ovaries. But did he really mean that, or was it one of those in-the-heat-of-the-moment things? The man kept giving me hope we had a future, and I was still engulfed in the fear that hope would be snatched away fromme the way my sister’s life was stolen. Good things always came to an end at one point or another.

Deflecting from my dark thoughts, hating they were spoiling a sexy moment, I offered, “Guess you checked my medicine cabinet and correctly assumed I haven’t taken the pill since before the accident.”

I’d somehow forgotten to have Callie pack my pills and Rugby when she’d thrown my things together over the weekend.

I narrowed my eyes. “The fact I’m turned on by this violation of my privacy would suggest I may have issues.”

He nipped my lip with his teeth. “Don’t we all?”

Fair enough.“So, is my birth control in the bag, or . . .?” Why did this feel like one of the most important questions I’d ever asked him?

His brows tightened, and he quietly stared at me for a long moment. “Of course it is.” Eyes racing to my mouth, he murmured what I assumed to be a tease, “Up to you if you take it.”

Chapter 33

Hudson

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