Page 37 of Sloth
“How come you went straight to dating some blond bimbo?” she pointed out.
“You know about Sammie?”
“Sammie.” Yeah she knew about Sammie. She knew where Sammie worked. She knew where she went to the gym. She knew Sammie liked to drink Caramel Moccacinos after her workouts and then go back for seconds. Oh, the many times Sloan tried to figure out how to poison those drinks from oceans away.
“You were jealous, too,” he murmured, confused.
She folded her arms and looked away.
“Bloody hell, Sloan. Sammie was a one hit wonder. If you know about her, you would have known that. If you needed more proof of your stubbornness”—he waved at her face—“Exhibit A.”
“I’m protecting my heart.”
“You’re the only one hurting it right now, not me. I’m trying to sort things out.”
She threw up her hands. “I want to get out of here.”
He laughed callously, and it made her blood boil.
“You don’t mean that.” He crowded her against the wall, using his sheer size to intimidate her.
She wasn’t afraid. Come at her. See what you get when you mess with the best. “Yes, I goddamn do.”
“No. You. Don’t.” Eyes blazing like the morning sun, he stared at her, jaw working, breathing hard. Then his eyes darkened and dropped to her lips. A finger lifted to touch the vein at her neck. “Your pulse is racing.”
His touch, so simple as it was, ignited something inside her. Heat spread from his fingertip like wildfire and warmed her entire body. She should say something. Say it was her anger that had her heart rabbiting, but it would be a lie. She was more attracted to him than she’d ever anticipated, and her pheromones knew it.
“I hate you, Maxi-Pad.” Brave words for a cowardly heart.
“No, you don’t.” His touch trailed down her sensitized neck, dipped over her collarbone and kept going downward. “If you did, you wouldn’t have made my office so hot that I had to strip half-naked.”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He only smiled. “Did you like what you saw?”
Yes. “You’ve changed,” she admitted.
His eyes flashed with pure masculine ego. “How?”
Bastard. He knew exactly how, yet, she couldn’t keep her gaze from trailing down his stubbled jaw to his open shirt and the flash of golden skin at his neck. Hairless. Smooth. Sexy. Her gaze dropped to the flat stomach hiding beneath his shirt, remembering the cut abs she’d seen on the video, wondering how he looked in real life, how he felt to touch. God, she wanted to touch. To feel that satin skin, that fuzz of hair leading down. Lower. Her thighs clenched as her eyes tracked to his belt. Lower. The bulge in his pants. She gasped, eyes darting back to his.
“Yeah, I’ve missed you, Sloan,” he rasped, finger still sliding up and down her strap. “It’s time you admit you feel the same way about me too.”
Frowning, he leaned in until their noses touched, until their hot breaths mingled. She arched forward, hating the whimpering sound that escaped her. Braless, she ached painfully against the friction of her dress, wanting his trail of sensation to landthere… but he stopped. His hand hovered gently where the curve of her bare breast met her dress. Already panting with need, she lifted her gaze and found him looking down at her with so much pain in his eyes that she felt it in her heart.
It stabbed and twisted and beneath it all, she felt desire.Raw, hot, powerful.For her. Was this her power? Was she sensing his emotion? Was that why she felt the erotic echo in her core, tightening everything with anticipation? The fact he remained so stoic, so calm, while that turmoil of want tumbled inside him…
“Do you know how many nights I dreamed of you?” he rasped. “All those cold nights, sleeping in the dirt, hiding from the enemy, wondering if I was going to make it back alive… The memory of you kept me warm.” He raised liquid eyes to hers. “The video didn’t do you justice. You’re beautiful, Sloan.”
“It’s just makeup,” she murmured, throat tight.
“No.” He grasped the back of her neck, angry. Lightning flashed in his eyes. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Belittle yourself. It’s not the makeup. It’s always you, Sloan.”
His lips crashed down onto hers. He was rough. Insistent. Demanding. Hot. And then his hands cupped her face, holding her in place, keeping her lips against his as if he feared she’d pull away.
