Page 68 of Hate Notes

“Why?” I asked. Echoes of my insecurities came floating back into my brain. I supposed that was the thing with a lifetime of being told you weren’t good enough, pretty enough, or thin enough. Even when a gorgeous man was hungrily groping your body like it was a prize, your brain still found reasons to doubt.

One of his hands slid downward, skipping over the hem of my skirt and finding my ass. He squeezed hard, pulling my body into his. I closed my eyes as I wrapped my own arms around his broad, muscular back and squeezed myself into him.

“Because you were never afraid to stand up to me,” he said. His other hand gave my shirt a tug and untucked it from my skirt. He found the zipper on the back of my skirt and began to pull it downward. Before he even tried to lower my skirt, heslid his hand inside the fabric and across my bare, thong-clad ass. He hissed in with desire again, squeezing even harder as his whole body went rigid. “Because you looked at me like you thought you couldn’t be conquered. Like you were untouchable. Unreachable.”

“Did I?” I asked. All my usual spunk and cleverness seemed to have melted away into a puddle at my feet. I could hardly form a sentence, let alone structure my thoughts.

“But I knew I could make you come,” he continued. His hands were roaming me greedily—as if he was torn between his desire to undress me and his desire to touch each inch of skin the moment he exposed it. “I wanted to see the fight leave your eyes and watch you beg for more—for my cock and my touch.”

“Who says I’m going to beg?” I asked. None of the defiant flirtation I tried to inject into my words landed. I sounded small and delicate.

“Then I’ll learn and improve,” he said. Lowering his mouth to kiss my neck. “Kiss by kiss, your body will tell me what it wants.” Orion’s fingertip trailed a line from the base of my ear, down my neck, and to my exposed shoulder. “With enough information, I’m certain I can make you beg.”

“Confident, aren’t you?” I noted.

“You don’t need to believe me.”

I licked my lips as I savored the soft scrape of his stubble against my tender skin. I drank in the heat of his breath and the slick wetness of his tongue teasing me.

“So fucking beautiful,” he groaned.

“I’m not,” I protested.

Orion froze, pulling back to stare into my eyes. “What?”

I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it and lowered my eyes. All I could manage was a simple shake of my head. I felt myself trying to retreat inward, one hand raising to cover my exposed belly.

“Listen to me, Ember,” he said, voice very serious. “What I’m about to say implies nothing about any sort of…emotionalconnection. From a purely physical standpoint, you are fucking spectacular. Like I said, I wanted you the moment I saw you. I haven’t stopped wanting you, even when I know I should. That’s how much I desire you. How much I need you. Tell me you understand.”

His words lit something warm inside me, even if I knew some small part of me could never fully believe them. I didn’t sense any restraint or a hint of fakeness in his words. It seemed like he really meant what he said.

“Okay,” I said slowly. “I don’t know why you think of me like that, but I believe you.”

I gasped when he kissed a place just above my collarbone. He paused, lifting his head in the darkness and grinning. My eyes had begun to adjust and I could just make out the broad details of his face now.

“See?” he said, voice low and husky. He kissed the spot again and I felt my knees go weak with an explosion of pleasure. The kiss seemed to send jolts of molten heat straight down, where they gathered between my legs like potential energy waiting to be released. He punctuated each of his words with exploratory kisses. “One. Secret. At. A. Time.”

Who the hell was this version of Orion? He was playful, devious, and hot as hell. And I knew he wasn’t talking about my Northman Group secret. He meant the secrets of how to please me—how to bring me to the point of being willing to beg for his cock.

I just needed to remember that this was part of the deal we made. Physical relief and nothing else. We were just two adults with bodies and some mutual attraction acting out our needs. Once we left this closet, nothing would change.

I arched my neck and let out a soft moan as he cupped my breast under my shirt, one finger flicking over my nipple playfully.

Absolutely nothing was going to change. No matter how much I enjoyed this.

32

ORION

Ember writhed in the darkness as I pinned her against the wall. Her body was a fucking treasure I couldn’t explore fast enough. Her ass, her chest, her neck, her lips. It was all so tempting I couldn’t make up my mind on where to spend my focus.

So I didn’t.

I roamed her with wild hunger, kissing her mouth deeply as I clawed off more of her clothes—her blouse, her bra, her tiny little thong. I cupped the satisfying weight of her breast in one hand, relishing the hard point of her hardened nipple before taking it into my mouth and circling the sensitive nub with my tongue.

But there was one place I didn’t yet touch. Even as I ran a hand up her inner thigh and felt the radiating heat of her arousal mere inches from my fingers, I didn’t indulge.

Not yet.

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