Page 38 of Control

“Even when his brother is fighting for his life? Are you in trouble, Jai?” I had been born with great intuition. It was something that couldn’t be taught, only inherited, and in this case, it had come from my mother. My father, with all his sense, had still been oblivious to so much.

He pressed his lips together as if choosing his next words carefully. I knew in that whatever he was about to say would be yet another lie. How much of it would I take before I needed honest answers, not bullshit? Yet I was a hypocrite, expecting the truth from him when I gave him anything but.

“Everything’s fine. I just pissed off the new guy at the dealership who last serviced my car, so he did a half-assed job to stick it to me. Asshole was drunk with power.”

More lies.And they were growing more terrible by the minute.

I stared at him. Should I press more? Was it even worth it? I didn’t know what this was between us, but it couldn’t be good that we were building it over a foundation of untruth.

As if sensing my thoughts, he pressed his bagel up to my lips, offering me a way out of the web of questions and anxiety that I was spinning around us. And I caved, choosing the easiest option, escapism. It wasn’t a solution just a temporary bandage to what should be a temporary relationship, though I didn’t want it to end. I sunk my teeth into the chewiness of the dough, letting the sourness of the cream cheese silence me for the moment.

His eyes were glued to my lips as I chewed, hypnotized.

“What?” I asked, swallowing the bite.

Wordlessly, he dropped the piece in his hand back into the bag and threw it aside. The bag crunched as it landed on the floor. Before I could figure out what was happening, his fingers weaved into my hair, yanking me to him, his tongue swiping the corner of my mouth. “Mmm, tastes so much better on you.”

His tongue plunged through the passage between my lips, meeting my own tongue.Cinnamon and cream.His taste was deliciously decadent—like a dessert. Our pace was slow yet our kiss deep. Electricity pulsed through my body, causing the tiny hairs on my arms to rise.

I slipped out of my shoes as our mouths moved together, and folded my legs under me on the bed, sitting on my heels so my whole body could be closer to his. He pulled me near so his lips could trail down my neck, nipping the most sensitive skin right under my ear. The moan that left my body was so loud and desperate that it sounded foreign to me.

This wasn’t the Claire that I knew myself to be. She didn’t have strong yearnings for pleasure like this. Her sex didn’t tingle just from kisses. Whoever this person was, she had awoken from a lifelong slumber—alive and never wanting to go without this for the rest of her life.

My hand migrated behind me as I tilted my head back, giving him more access to my neck. I felt the rigid muscles of his thigh as my palms slid across his lap. Unexpectedly, he let out a feral growl. I pulled back to look at his face, thinking I had injured him, but instead, found his stare focused on my hand that I thought was on his thigh.Definitely not on his thigh anymore. And definitely naked underneath the sheets.

My eyes flashed back to his face, to find him with a sly grin on his lips.Mon dieu, he was hard. His eyes challenged me to keep my hand put when my reflex was to pull away in surprise.

Challenge accepted.I gripped his length, cloaked by soft Egyptian cotton, never taking my sight off his face. Coffee-colored eyes fought to maintain their focus as heavy lids drooped with desire over them. My hand squeezed his shaft, and the groan that reverberated through him sent my pussy pulsating with need.

Clenching my thighs to ease the ache, I pumped his shaft slowly through the sheets, careful not to go too fast and chafe him. His breath quickened, despite the lazy pace of my strokes. Wetness seeped through the fabric, cooling my hand on contact as I pumped near his head. His eyes rolled into his head, and he gasped as I gripped him tighter. “Baby girl, stop,” he ground out.

“Did I hurt you? Is it difficult to breathe?” I whispered as I removed my hand, worried I had taken it too far.

He shook his head. “Not at all. It’s perfect. So perfect that I’m about to blow if you don’t stop.”

“Not a bad thing,” I teased, moving my hand back to his dick.

“I need to taste you first. I’m thirsty, baby. Let me drink.”

His words cued my arousal to soak my panties. How the hell did he have that type of power over me?

“Strip, Claire.”

I rose to my knees and pulled the hem of my shirt over my head, only to catch him chuckling at me.

“What?” I looked down at my lacy light blue bra. It might not have been designer lingerie, but it was the prettiest piece I owned.

“Your shirt,” he said, eyeing the bundle in my hands. “The tiger.”

“What about it?” I asked, beyond confused.

He shook his head. Nothing, just reminds me of some ghosts from the past.”

“Ghosts?” My brows furrowed in confusion.

“It’s nothing. Just reminded me of an old enemy” he said, smirking as if he were the only one privy to the inside joke going on in his head.

His eyes roamed to my sex, picking back up where he’d left off. “Now those sexy shorts.”

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