Page 40 of Twisted Secrets
Shut up.
She ran her hands up his chest, taking her time and enjoying the way his muscles flexed beneath her fingers. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“It’s not.” Still looking at her, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a phone, and dialed. “Yeah, Liam? Send a car around. One with a divider.” He hung up.
“You’re just going to do me in the backseat of your car? We’re really moving up the class level, aren’t we?” She gave a nervous laugh. “I don’t even know how I feel about that.”
Cillian leaned in, his breath brushing her ear. “You know exactly how you feel about it. And no, I’m not fucking you in the backseat, sweetheart.”
Disappointment closed her throat. Of course he wasn’t. Because he was classier than that, and it was becoming increasingly obvious that she wasn’t.She’dbeen the one to haul him into that alley the firsttime, and if he’d been down for a repeat, she wouldn’t have said a word otherwise. No, she would have dropped her pants right there in her desperation to have him. Shame rose to tangle with her disappointment.God, I am so messed up.
He leaned back enough to study her expression. “What did I say to put that look on your face?”
“It’s nothing.” Nothing except her mind being twisted into a tangle that she could barely navigate. He didn’t have a problem with anything that had happened to date—shewas the one creating the complications.
“I know what nothing looks like, and that’s not it.” He tipped up her chin. “Tell me, Olivia.”
How was she supposed to deny him when he said her name in that tone of voice? A tone like he actually cared if he’d hurt her. Like he wanted to make it better. Every instinct she had demanded she close down and retreat to lick her wounds—opening up only gave the world more chances to stab her in the back.
Instead, she told the truth. “I’m just feeling awfully easy right now.”
“Sweetheart, you’re not easy.” His brows dipped in a frown. “There’s nothing wrong with seeing what you want and going for it—whether it’s sex, money, or something else.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
“It is.” He glanced over his shoulder as a black town car with darkly tinted windows pulled up to the curb behind them. “Come on.”
“Cillian, I’m not sure this is a good idea…”
“Trust me.” He stopped, and looked at her. “Just this once. This stops the second you want it stopped. Say the word and I get you to Jameson’s—noquestions asked.”
He’s too good to be true.
Maybe, but that didn’t stop her from taking his hand and letting him lead her to the car. He ushered her into the backseat and climbed in behind her. Sure enough, there was a dark glass divider between them and the front seat, though it was cracked a few scant inches.
Cillian glanced at his watch. “Drive around for the next forty-five minutes, but stay in this general area.”
“Yes, sir.” The window closed before she could get a good look at the man in the driver’s seat.
She crossed her arms over her chest, and immediately reversed the movement. “So, what now?”
“Now, sweetheart, we do whatever you want.” He leaned back and draped his arms over the back of the seat. The position put his hand close to the back of her neck, and he trailed a finger across her spine.
She shivered. “Whatever I want.”
“Exactly what I said.” The tension in his body belied the ease of his words. “Normally…Well, it doesn’t matter what would happen normally. We’ve played that game before and, I don’t know about you, but I like the reality better than any alternative thing we could dream up. I like you, Olivia. I want to take you out again. So I’m willing to do whatever it takes not to spook you.”
“I’m not a wild animal.”
“Aren’t you?” He traced some abstract pattern over her skin, drawing forth another shiver. “It’s not meant as an insult. My point is that what happens in the next forty-five minutes is completely within your control.”
“My control.” She tasted the words, considering them, and then scooted closer. “Anything I want.” She liked the sound of that. She liked it a lot. Maybehe was right—there was nothing wrong with seeing what you wanted and taking it. She might have been fighting it since that first time, but the truth was that she wanted Cillian.
“Anything you want.” He didn’t blink.
“Tempting. Very tempting.” She ran a hand down the center of his chest, undoing the buttons one by one. It took a few minutes between the vest and the shirt beneath, but then she had his bare chest laid out before her. She spread his shirt, and then traced over the dragon. “How old were you when you got this done?”
“Eighteen.”
