Page 15 of The Wrong Boss

“Cole,” I gasped.

He hummed against my skin.

“I’m not— Whatever happens here—” I closed my eyes as his teeth tugged at my nipple, then he soothed the hurt with his tongue. I wondered if I’d orgasm before he even had the chance to take my clothes off.

“Tell me,” he said, straightening. With one arm around my waist and the other running over my skin from my breast up to the side of my neck, I felt completely consumed by him. Trapped and protected and exactly where I wanted to be.

“I’m not ready for anything other than sex,” I said, my voice raw. “I don’t want to lead you on…”

His eyes flicked between mine. I didn’t know him well enough to read the emotion hidden in their depths. “Just this moment,” he said. “This doesn’t have to be anything more than that.” With his hand curled around the side of my neck, he let his thumb fall down across the front of my throat. He stroked me softly, eyes flicking between mine.

I nodded. “Okay. Good,” I said, even though something akin to disappointment settled over my skin like a fine mist. But how could I want more, when I’d just left a long-term relationshipthe day before? When I didn’t know this man at all? When I knew, down to my marrow, that whatever happened in this room would change me?

I wasn’t the kind of person who made rash decisions. Or at least, I’d never been the kind of person who did before.

This was different. This was the kind of chemistry that ignited and burned entire cities to the ground. It couldn’t be denied—and I didn’t want to deny it. I wanted to feel his hands on my skin. I wanted to kiss him and touch him and free myself of whatever shackles my ex had left behind. I wanted one encounter where I could forget about what I was supposed todo, and justbe.

Pulling Cole’s shirt out from where it was still tucked in his pants, I pressed my lips to his chest. The touch of his palms down my sides sent desire spiraling through my core, and I shimmied to help him push my dress over the widest part of my hips. Silky peach fabric puddled at my feet, and then Cole’s fingers skimmed up my curves as he let out a low groan.

“You” he rasped, “were made to drive men insane.”

I pulled away to glance at his face. The reverence I saw there, the raw need, sent any regret or hesitation fleeing from my mind. This man wanted me in a way I’d never experienced before. His touch was gentle yet unyieldingly possessive, as if he was using his hands to memorize the shape of me.

It would only be once. It could only be once. I wasn’t ready for anything more, and I had the feeling that any time I spent in this man’s presence would put me at risk of total ruin. He was too magnetic. I wanted him too much. If this were anythingmore than a feverish, desire-fueled one-night stand, I’d fall for him.

I was weak, but I wasn’t stupid. I knew myself well enough to realize that Cole was exactly the worst kind of rebound after coming to my senses and leaving Derek. He was unbearably attractive. He had a hidden core that I suspected was kind and loyal. He was closed off and overbearing. I could already feel myself wanting to unpick the laces that tied him together so I could get at the real him.

That’s what had gotten me into trouble with my ex. I’d wanted to see the best in him. I wanted to be that special someone that reallyknewhim, the real him, the version of himself he’d kept hidden in a broken box. I’d wanted to fix him—and by the time I figured out it was an impossible task, it’d felt like it was too late to walk away.

So I knew that I had a weakness for selfish men who seemed like they were better than they were. I’d only spent an hour with Cole, but I could spot the pattern from a mile away.

He’d never love me the way I wanted to be loved. He wouldn’t burn down the world for me. After today, he probably wouldn’t think of me again.

But if this was the only encounter I allowed myself to have with him, then I could limit the fallout. It was rare to feel this connection with someone, to have my body react so strongly without my mind reeling me back in. It was rare to feel so close to orgasm before even being touched below the belt.

Just one little fling—that’s all this was. It would clear my mind. It would feel so good.

I met Cole’s gaze, and I saw nothing but darkness and sin inthe depths of his eyes. My thighs trembled, already slick with need. Gently but inexorably, he pushed me onto the mattress behind me and curled his body over mine.

I lost myself in his kiss. Cradling his hips between my bent knees, I stroked his tongue with mine and let my hands explore the hard, broad planes of his back and chest. When he kneeled on the floor at the edge of the bed, my heart began to thump. He stripped his shirt off completely, letting the black fabric fall to the ground next to my dress, and I sighed at the sight of him framed by my thighs.

Leaning on my elbows with my feet propped on the edge of the bed, I watched him watch me. I was utterly exposed, but I felt powerful. His palms slid under my thighs as he fit his shoulders between my knees, pressing them wider.

“Cole—”

“Don’t tell me I can’t eat your pussy, Carrie,” he interrupted, eyes flicking up to mine. “Don’t say that to me right now.”

“I…”

His gaze broke from mine and settled between my legs. With his hands wrapped around my hips, he stroked me softly and pressed a kiss to the inside of my thigh. I fell back on the bed and curled an arm over my face, chest shuddering with every inhalation.

His lips moved closer to my center, and I began to wonder if one night would be enough. My body was untethered from the earth, wound so tight that I wondered if I’d come as soon as his lips touched my clit. As if he could sense my desperation, Cole slowed down. He kissed up one inner thigh, then the other. Heused his thumbs to massage the crease between my thighs and core, inching ever closer to the slick heart of me. He had me trembling and whimpering, and I still hadn’t really been touched.

“You’re glistening,” he said as he used his thumbs to spread me wide. “So wet for me.”

Panting, I climbed back up to my elbows to watch him. My cheeks burned, but I loved the way he looked at me. It wasn’t embarrassment, exactly. It was the feeling of being completely exposed before this beautiful man, and seeing the reverence written on his face.

His thumb dipped to where my arousal had gathered at my opening, and I had to close my eyes. He slid the digit up to my bud, and his touch was too gentle and too intense all at once. I bucked as soon as he touched the bundle of nerves, and Cole rumbled his approval.

---