Page 45 of The Tempted

“I’m never celebrating my birthday again,” I mumbled as I threw myself back against the cushions of the small sofa. “I bet your twenty-first birthday wasn’t as exciting as mine.” I glanced up at Mikey watching as he sat down on the coffee table in front of me. “Or as terrifying.”

“Can’t say that it was,” he said hunching forward his hands resting on his knees as he looked at me. “When we get home I’ll take you out for your birthday. We’ll replace last night’s debauchery and make good memories.”

I smiled slightly. “I’m just kidding…,” I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t like making a big deal of my birthday anyway, but it just sucks that it happened on my actual birthday. I’ll always remember the date this all went down.”

He cocked his head to the side fighting the cocky grin that was creeping on his mouth.

“So you’ll always remember the date you were finally kissed properly,” he shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe the whole gunfire extravaganza has its perks.”

“Jerk,” I said, nudging his shoulder back a little as he chuckled.

“You do remember, don’t you? Or do you need me to remind you?” He questioned, as he stared at my lips.

Actually, I had forgotten he had kissed me, but his words brought back the image of us in the hallway. I guess he was right there was a distinct difference between the way Mikey had kissed me and any kiss I had ever had before. His kiss was more than just his lips meshing with mine. It was consuming and something I didn’t feel with just my mouth, I felt it throughout my body down to my toes even now just remembering I could feel it in those little electric currents that felt like fire running through my veins.

“I remember,” I whispered hoarsely as he reached forward, tucking a strand of my messy hair behind my ear.

“Damn…,” he said softly, holding my eyes captive to his own. He watched me so intensely that I couldn’t look away from him. I watched him swallow before he dropped his hand and put some space between us as he cleared his throat. “Did you like the flowers?”

“The flowers?” I asked before the arrangement of pink and purple roses flashed in my head. “They were from you? How come you didn’t sign the card?”

He shrugged before standing and walking towards the kitchen. “I wanted to do something for your birthday and I didn’t know what to get you or even do for you since you weren’t talking to me. I don’t know my mother always loved flowers and even when my father was working or whatever and he couldn’t be around, he’d send her flowers,” he poured himself a cup of coffee.

“Thank you for the flowers they were beautiful,” I said feeling remorseful for picking a fight with him just to put distance between us, especially since the reason I had cooled things with Mikey was out of guilt for the feelings I was having for him while I was involved with Rico. That prick. I had even defended him to Mikey when he tried to warn me off him.

“I text you before the opening, I wanted to wish you luck,” I said my words sounded like a consolation prize for being a bitch and walking away from him.

“Yeah, I saw that,” he confirmed, taking a sip of his coffee and turning around to meet my gaze. “Thanks,” his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Okay, I get it. I should’ve called, but— ““But you were too busy making it work with your boyfriend,” he shrugged his shoulders. “So, how’d that work out for you?”

I stood from the couch angrily crossing the few feet that separated me from him.

“You’re really going to play that card right now Mikey?” I asked furiously. I didn’t need him to throw in my face how much I sucked at pinpointing someone’s character. He didn’t know all the details hell I didn’t even know all the details. “Excuse me for being such a poor judge of character it’s apparently not my strong suit since I also told myself you weren’t really a dick.”

He set his coffee mug on the counter before stepping precariously close to me.

“Say it again,” he demanded, barely audible. He was close, too close to me hogging up all my air. I planted my palms on his chest and pushed.

“You’re a dick,” I hissed. He closed his hand around my wrist and leaned against the counter tugging on my wrist pulling me against him. I wriggled my hand free, but he took hold of my hips and flipped us around so that my back was against the counter. He let go of my hips bracing one hand on each side of me as he gripped the edge of the counter and boxed me in.

“Christ that mouth of yours is going to be the death of me,” he said huskily, his eyes diverting back and forth between my eyes and my lips.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that considering bullets were flying past your head last night,” I said my voice sounding raspy. I cleared my throat, wishing that I didn’t sound so much like a phone sex operator. I was mad at him—my voice should sound angry, not sexy. I let my eyes wander his body because I was the queen of mistakes. How was it that even in a rumpled suit he looked so enticing? I conceded that there was definitely something wrong with me because I was engaging in this ridiculous sexual tension while we were hiding out in a safe house waiting on word for why the hell we were shot at in the first place. My mind should’ve been on my dickhead ex-boyfriend trying to figure out what his part in all this was but instead, I was itching to hump Mikey’s leg like a bitch in heat.

“It didn’t work did it Princess?” he said looking down as my body betrayed me and arched slightly to his craving his touch. He smiled coyly giving me what I needed wedging his leg in between mine.

“What?” I croaked closing my eyes because Naughty Nikki the phone sex operator was back. Yes, I now named my alter ego.

“Staying away from me pretending this thing between you and me didn’t exist wishing that it hadn’t just been a phone call that sent you over the edge it didn’t work, did it?” His voice sounded so controlled making me resent him and fight the urge to knee him in the balls. “In fact, I’d say it backfired right in your pretty little face,” he nuzzled the side of my neck, pushing away my hair with his nose, his lips grazing my skin ever so slightly. “Should I do it, Nikki? Should I slip my fingers under your skirt and see how much it didn’t work?”

His hands began to fumble with the hemline of my skirt and I thought about stopping him but I didn’t want to. I wanted him to touch me. I wanted him to fuck me up against this counter, but I’d settle for his hand.

“Should I dip my fingers into that pussy of yours? Tell me, Princess, are you wet?” he whispered, taking my earlobe between his lips giving it a tantalizing suck. He shifted his body slightly pressing his erection against my thigh. I involuntarily wrapped my fingers around his wrist guiding his hand under my skirt.

“Are you going to let me watch you come this time, or are you going to be a coward again?” he asked, his words sounding like a dare.

Did he really just call me a coward?

His fingertips worked along my thigh inching closer and closer… almost there.

What was I saying?

I was a second away from taking his finger and sticking it inside my aching pussy myself, but the front door of the cabin slammed open. Mikey’s hand dropped away from me and he reached behind him for the gun that was tucked into the back of his pants. I didn’t know if it was because of my current state or if I had simply lost my mind but watching Mike hold a gun was incredibly sexy. His muscles were all taut as his arms extended pointing the gun at the intruder… my father.

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