Page 63 of Sunflower Persona
“See you in a few,” he says, and the line goes dead.
It takes several seconds for my sleepy brain to register what exactly is happening. Gage is coming. No, Gage is here.
Why is he here?
“Daisy, help. What do I do?”
I’ve got minutes, no, seconds until he’ll be at my door. I don’t have time to do anything to prepare. My fuzzy Big Bird pajamas are the exact opposite of sexy. If I try to change, I’ll risk him showing up when I’m half dressed, and that will only make things worse.
Or maybe then he’ll realize what he’s missing out on.
No—I refuse to pine after him. He made his position crystal clear in front of everyone at Cutter’s.
“Do you think he’ll go away if I play dead?” I ask my duck.
“No,” Gage’s muffled voice answers from the other side of my door.
Shit.
I pull the silk bonnet off my head and toss it away. I’ll deal with it later. My room is a disaster reaching post–kaiju attack levels of destruction. God, he can’t see it like this. Without a real plan, I kick the pile of clothes I meant to fold last week under my bed so there’s at least some semblance of order. My desk is a mess too. Maybe I can shove that in my closet—
“Open the door, Kori.” He interrupts myBig Comfy Couchcleanup extravaganza with a gentle knock, but the command in his voice is clear.
“Yes, coming,” I squeak.
My hands shake as I answer the door. Despite the buzzing of nerves, I glare as I take in his hulking form leaning against thedoorframe with a causal posture that doesn’t match the storm raging in his eyes. With agonizing slowness, his gaze roams over my body, and he makes no effort to hide the hunger there. A wave of molten heat floods my traitorous pussy, and my nipples harden into stiff peaks. The asshole fucking smirks as I cross my arms to hide the evidence of my body’s betrayal.
I should have left him waiting, misdemeanor be damned.
“What are you doing here?” I snap at the infuriating man.
“What I should have done the first time you kissed me,” he rasps.
His lips are on mine before the words have time to process, and the whole world is lost in an explosion of white-hot fireworks. There’s no trace of the gentle way he kissed me before. No, it is pure passion as the man devours me. His hand cups my face as his tongue and teeth work in tandem to tease my lips, coaxing them open, and I moan when his tongue brushes against mine. I’m vaguely aware of the door closing as his arm snakes around my waist before he pulls me closer to him, slotting his thick thigh between mine. The added friction pulls another needy sound from my throat.
“Fuck, Kor,” he groans, then deepens the kiss even further.
Both of his hands fall to my ass, and then I’m in the air. On instinct, I grip his shoulders and wrap my legs around his waist so I don’t fall. He chuckles and drops his lips to my neck while he carries me to my bed.
Panic grips my lungs. Kissing is okay—it’s more than okay—but anything beyond is moving way faster than I want to. My fears ease as he turns to sit on the edge with me straddling his lap instead of laying me out like I expect, and they disappear as his lips find mine again.
The thick denim of his jeans does nothing to hide his arousal. It burns against my aching core through the many layers of fabric between us. I grind down against him, desperate for somerelief from the pulsing need. He groans against my mouth and nips my lip as his hands travel up along my sides to my clothed breasts. His fingers twist and pull my covered nipples, sending a sharp wave of ecstasy through me. I arch my back, dying to get closer, and he takes advantage of the new position to trail kisses across my jaw to my neck.
Without his intoxicating taste on my tongue clouding my mind, I remember that I’m pissed at him. With a pathetic shove, I push him back, but he reacts as if it had the force of a man twice his size behind it, recoiling and taking both his hands and lips with him.
“Fuck. I’m sorry, Kori. I shouldn’t have—”
I slap my palm over his mouth, shutting him up before he puts his foot in his mouth again and says something stupid that makes me even madder.
“If you say this was a mistake, I’m going to smother you with a pillow. Got it?”
His eyes dance with a playful light as he nods under my hand.
“Good. Now what the absolute fuck was this.”
I release him and cover myself with my arms. My pajamas feel as revealing as lingerie after what we just did.
“This was me claiming my woman.”
