Page 20 of Luck of the Draw

Brennan was notold fashioned. Not in the least. This wasn’t any different than anything else before. He was going to fuck her next to a dumpster, and she was going to let him. It was only slightly disappointing just because he’d seemed so different from other men thus far—but then Skye remembered herself.

She was leaving. She’d never have to deal with this again. One last time was totally fine, and at least he’d had the decency to feed her first.

Brennan continued to suck and nibble the side of her neck, and she grabbed his ass.

“Tell me how you want me,” she whispered. After all, she was still at the mercy of a man with money, but that would change, and soon, and this was the last time.

“Christ,” he graveled against her neck, almost like he hadn’t heard her. “You aredelicious.”

Okay, maybe he didn’t want to fuck her against this brick wall. Maybe he didn’t feel like contributing and just wanted to be serviced.

Skye reached for his belt and slipped out of his grasp, and then she slid down the wall. But she didn’t even manage to get his belt open before Brennan gripped her arms and pulled her back up to standing.

“Don’t do that.” He framed her face as he pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth.

“You bought dinner, and I said I’d give you whatever you wanted.” She reached for his belt again. “If that’s what you want, I’m happy to do it.”

“Come on now, honey.” He picked up her hands, pulling her away from the wall, and draped her wrists around his neck. He stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers. “That’s not what I want, and I know it’s not what you want either.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Yes, you do. And I’d sooner walk through fire than let a woman get on her knees for me in an alley.” He kissed the spot below her ear, and chills that had nothing to do with the weather scattered across her arms. “That’s not why I pulled you off to the side like this. I just wanted to kiss you properly without an audience.”

Skye didn’t believe him. Not for a second, but it was still refreshing to hear. She lifted her chin to smile at him. “Then kiss me properly.”

Drawing his thumb down the base of her chin, Brennan didn’t waste any time covering her mouth with his in a slow, firm, calculated kiss.

Proper indeed.

This wasn’t like the kiss at the bar. It was so hard and deliberate that desire she didn’t expect suddenly ignited inside of her, causing an involuntary moan that spilled from her lips into his. She was suddenly overwhelmed by a strange, out-of-place feeling of déjà vu as she breathed in his scent—something like citrus, incense, leather, rich espresso, and fine scotch—and tasted his essence while he devoured her mouth.

His fingers did that feathery-light stroke against her cheeks again; so tender and sweet that its contrast to his hard, thorough kisses caused the corners of her mouth to tip up with an involuntary smile. His tongue explored her mouth with long, leisurely strokes, and she threaded her fingers through his tousled hair, grasping it and pulling him closer.

Another shiver shot down her spine, and her defenses melted into complete arousal.

It felt like kissing someone for the very first time. Or at least, what she wished her first kiss was like.

Skye’s actual first kiss—if you could call it that—was vile and terrifying. Her first foster home at age nine. A forty-something-year-old man with lecherous eyes who lived with the family that had signed up to protect her from the violence of the world. He snuck into her bedroom after dark and did what he damn well pleased with her body, which included apparently trying to suffocate her with his mouth on hers. Which he apparently believed was sexy. He also apparently saw nothing wrong with attempting to seduce a child.

The memory caused Skye to shudder again, and she wrapped her arms completely around Brennan’s neck as she forced the disturbing images from her mind.

She’d known him for all of two hours, and there was already something about him that felt safe. He was still a complete stranger, and yet, there was just a knowing inside her that he wasn’t a predator. And apparently, all Skye needed to feel safe was to be in the arms of some guy who, at the very least, didn’t seem to be a child molester or rapist.

Someday, Skye would have much higher standards for men, but for now, the bar was still very low, and Brennan…

Let’s just say he beyond surpassed said bar.

Goddamn. The man couldkiss.

He moved one hand to cup her cheek while the other trailed down the side of her neck to her waist, and then he wrapped his large, muscular arm around her, pulling her even closer. She’d never felt such erotic intimacy before, and he clearly knew how to seduce a woman. He was also obviously interested in making this as good for her as it was for him. The slight disappointment she’d felt moments ago completely disintegrated into heated anticipation of what she knew was coming.

Meaning, she would probably coming in not too much longer. At the hands and body of a man who was absolutelyscrumptious.

It was a new dawn, a new day, and Skye was feelinggood.

Yes, she was going to get the hell out of this town, but first she was going to shamelessly indulge in what she could already tell would be the only good sex she’d ever had. And he’d fed her. And she wasn’t stupid and knew it would only be a matter of time before he suggested going back to his place, which meant she’d sleep in a nice bed for free tonight.

Brennan stroked her cheek again while still firmly holding her waist, and he broke the kiss to murmur next to the shell of her ear, “Honey, please don’t get a hotel tonight. Come home with me.”

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