Page 45 of Horn in My Side
“Jasmine, are you okay?”Mal had found his phone, but didn’t pick up the call or even glance down to check the callerID.
“All good.You should probably answer that.”
He tapped at the screen without looking at it.“I’m not texting or talking to Leila.”
“You’re not?”
“No.”He slipped the phone into his back pocket.“A former client called me last night and asked if I was free to do some remote consulting work.So, we’ve been on the phone, working out the details.It’s good money, but he never lets up.He’s been calling me all day about his ideas, and he can’t stop.Then he gets anxiety over this project, and I have to talk him off a ledge.”
“I had no idea.”
“That’s what this job is, I’m afraid.Part contractor, part therapist.”He snorted.“So, I’m not talking to Leila.Or any other woman.”
“Oh.”A heavy weight lifted off her, and she felt so light she could float.However, she swiftly yanked herself back down to earth.“I mean, if you were, it’s totally none of my business.”
“But I’m not.”
“She’s pretty.I wouldn’t blame you if you did ask her out.”
Jasmine made a motion to brush past him, but Mal extended his arm out.She collided right into the steel-like limb as it caught her around the waist and lifted her up to press her against his hard body.Her stomach swooped as his mouth came down on hers.It only took half a second for the kiss—she and Mal were kissing!—to register in her brain, but after that, she was one hundred per cent all-in.
His mouth was ravenous, devouring hers like he hadn’t eaten in days.The tree-trunk-like arm around her waist tightened, the force of his kiss bending her backward like they were on the cover of a historical romance novel.He was the big bad duke dressed only in breeches, while she was the damsel spilling out of a low-cut gown who was trying to resist him.Except Jasmine wasn’t trying to resist him at all, not even a little bit.No, she poured her entire being into returning his ardent kisses.
His tongue licked at the seam of her mouth and she opened up to him, parting her lips.Their tongues danced together,tangling in an urgent rhythm.Her breath came in short gasps as he seemed determined to kiss her harder and devour her.His tusks were set wide apart enough that they didn’t harm her, but they did graze her cheek.They were smooth and blunt and surprisingly pleasant against her skin.
She gasped into his mouth as he bent down and hauled her up higher, pressing her back against the glass wall of the aquarium.Hooking one hand under a knee, he wrapped it around his waist.She didn’t need further encouragement to do the same with her other leg, her hands clinging on to his meaty shoulders, the muscles responding under her touch.
Digging his hips into her, he pinned her with his lower body, a significant bulge pressing insistently against her.Significant didn’t even begin to describe it.She shuddered as the ridge of his erection hit her at the right angle, hinting at things to come.
Oh Mother Goddess.They were going to have sex.Right here and now, against the beautiful tank he madeforher.That wouldn’t just be crossing the line; no, it would be coming in like an invading army and knocking down border walls.
Squaaaaawwkkk!
Mal’s lips froze against hers, then tore away.Slowly, he placed her back on her feet, then stepped back.Jasmine wasn’t quite sure if she should curse or thank the creature—probably the cockatrices or the kinnari—for interrupting their kiss.
“I’m ...Jasmine ...I’m sorry.I shouldn’t have done that.”
Chapter Eleven
MAL
Mal should not have kissed Jasmine.He was an idiot of the highest order.But he couldn’t help himself.
Mal had no idea that she assumed he’d been texting with the pixie from last night.Why would he?He was not interested in Leila.When Jasmine casually suggested he go out with her, something inside him snapped and he gave in to his impulses.
Should he not have kissed her?Yes.
But he didn’t regret doing it.After weeks of wondering, he finally knew how she tasted and how perfectly her curves fitted against his body.
“You-you don’t have to apologize.”
“I’m your boss.I shouldn’t have—”
“If you think you forced me, Mal, y-you’re wrong.”Despite the tremble in her voice, she sounded resolved.“I let you kiss me—I wanted you to.”
He let out an internal groan.She was not making this easy.“And I’ve been wanting to do that for the longest time.”Since he met her, really.“But I wasn’t sure ...You were so ...I couldn’t ...”The scent of her perfume hung in the air, doingsomething to the synapses in his brain so it refused to send the proper signals to his tongue.When he managed to collect his thoughts, he said, “We can’t do this, Jasmine.There can’t be anything more than a professional relationship between us.”
Disappointment passed across her face, but was swiftly replaced by a serious expression.“You’re leaving in five months.”
