Page 104 of The Devil Gets His Due

“It’s not Ebola, hon,” I reply, reaching for the toothpaste. “Ear infections are really common.”

“But you looked?” The water shuts off. “They did this study on—”

His words trail away as he steps out of the shower. I spit toothpaste in the sink, leaning over more than necessary. Iknowhe’s looking at my ass.

He steps up beside me with a towel around his waist. I wipe my mouth and smile at the sight of those two butterfly tattoos on his chest—one for me and a smaller one for Daisy—because he finally loved two things enough to mark himself on their behalf.

“I think you forgot to dry off,” I tell him.

He ignores me, his eyes grazing over the black lace as he reaches for his toothbrush.

“Is that new?” he asks, his voice rougher than it was.

“Uh huh.”

“It’s…very sheer.”

I look at my reflection. “Oh, look at that. It really is. You can seeeverything, can’t you? I’ll have to remember not to wear it around the house while they’re here painting next time.”

He stares at me in the mirror as he starts brushing his teeth. His Adam’s apple bobs. “I know what you’re doing.”

I hop onto the counter, and the slip rides up to my hip bone. He’d be able to see my panties…if I was wearing any.

“Remember the night your mom and Walter kept Daisy and we had the apartment to ourselves?”

A muscle in his cheek flickers. “Yeah.”

If I evenreferenceeither of two things—that night in the apartment or my vibrator—Graham loses it. I once waved the vibrator from across the room when he was in a Zoom meeting and he told them our power had gone out to end the call.

“That was so hot,” I purr. “I’m not sure if I ever told you this, but when you left the next morning, I started thinking about it and had to get out my vibrator.”

He flinches as he spits out the toothpaste and rinses his mouth.

“We can end all this very easily,” he says, voice lower than it was, rasping with desire. “Just admit you want it.”

My fingers move between my legs and his eyes jerk toward the motion. “I want to try what we did in the apartment again, but I want you to do it harder.”

“Fuck,” he groans, pushing my thighs apart and stepping between them. “You win.”

His hand slides around the back of my neck as he pulls my mouth to his. The towel appears to fall on its own, having realized it was no longer necessary, and then he’s pressed against me, hard as steel. I have to silence my groan, butit’s about fucking time.

“Whois it that has no self-control?” I ask as he lifts me up and turns us toward the bed.

The sound he makes is half laughter/half grunt. “It might not be me but it’s not you either.” He dumps me on the bed. “I guarantee you bought that lace thing in multiple colors and it cost a fortune.”

I laugh. Well, yeah, obviously. I haven’t changedthatmuch.

I get on my hands and knees and he growls at the sight. His hands grip my hips, squeezing for a moment as he considers how he’s going to do this, and then he flips me on my back like a rag doll and a large palm circles the base of my throat.

“I thought you’d want me on my hands and knees, like last time,” I say, sucking in a breath, arching toward him.

“I’m saving it,” he says against my ear. His hand skims down my chest and stomach in a smooth stroke, barely pausing before pushing two fingers inside me, inhaling when he feels how ready I am. “Because when we dothat,I want it to last for a goodlongtime.”

“Oh God,” I beg. “Please fuck me.”

He shoves inside me hard, without warning, just the way I knew he would, and holds my gaze under heavy-lidded eyes, watching me shiver with pleasure through the first thrust.

Instead of continuing, though, he pulls one strap of the slip down to expose a breast. His palm is gentle as he cups it, and then he pinches my nipple simply to hear me gasp.

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