Page 17 of Fireball

“You, Addie.” He tips his head down and his lips brush mine. “I want you.”

Against every rational thought in my head, I open to him. The opposite of what I expect, he doesn’t plunge in and attack my mouth. His kiss is as tender as his touch with long sweeps of his tongue exploring and tasting.

I taste him back. Powerful flavors of mint and bourbon flood my senses. I can’t comprehend anything else until he shifts to his side and his hand slides from my cheek to my throat. Pressure and pleasure overwhelm me from his dominance, and I arch up.

Somehow, I’ve activated beast mode, and he groans deep and guttural. His grip tightens around my neck and his other hand shoves through my hair to make a tangled mess. The kiss turns savage, and I give him the control he demands. His tongue plunges inside like I imagine he’d fuck me, and my hips lift to cradle his cock against me.

“Jesus Christ, Addie.”

Heated breath pants against my skin, and he lays his forehead on mine. “What?”

“What you do to me. I can’t fuck you like this. You’re hurt.”

Oh god.

I hate him, and I was going to sleep with him. I squirm, trying to escape. Fruitless, of course. A moan rumbles in his massive chest, and he thrusts a few times, almost as if he can’t help himself.

And now I know how good he will feel inside me. Shit!

He curses too and rolls to the side. Not stopping me as I scramble to my feet. Both of us gasp for air while he scrubs his hands down his face and I attempt to look anywhere but at the huge cock tenting his pants.

Pete’s always the perfect distraction, and I focus on his wiggling butt as I approach him. His unconditional love solves everything. I scratch behind his flicked ears when I reach him and laugh as he flops over for me to rub his belly. Life is as simple as that for him. He doesn’t have to deal with clashing emotions, wet panties, and dangerous men with deranged sisters.

“Doc’s on his way back. Don’t give him a hard time about examining you.”

He watches me as he stands up and slides his phone back into his pocket. My normal response to argue against him ordering me around wanes from his expression. Despite his gruff tone, that I expect he always uses—alwayshas touse—as a crime boss, he seems worried.

About me.

Titan is worried about me.

Which I’ve never experienced before from anyone except Pete. The sensation feels nicer than I ever could have expected. “Okay.”

The simple response makes him smile. A rare yet brilliant grin. Made even more radiant when he invades my space again and cups my cheeks with his giant hands and tips down to kiss me. He smells as good as he tastes, and I lose myself in him until a bang thumps from the hallway and he pulls away. An inferno blazes between us.

“Be good, fireball, and I’ll reward you later.”

So damn offensive. I’m not a dog. I open my mouth to remind him I’m not his pet, but he glances toward the door.

“Enter.”

And just like that he releases me and speaks in a low, stern voice to the physician while Chelsea skips over to me and grabs my hand again. As if the last few minutes of us making out and him being so sweet and me being a push over never happened.

What. The. Hell.

Titan

Itake another long swallow of bourbon. I don’t usually drink hard liquor with dinner. Hell, I don’t usually start drinking in the afternoon either. But Addie’s got me fucked up enough to almost turn into an alcoholic.

My exquisite fireball appears dazed. She sits rigid in her chair watching silently as Mrs. Zirkelbach slides a plate of food in front of her. She murmursthank youto the housekeeper but doesn’t dig in. Unlike my sister who jacks around with her baked potato turning the spud into some kind of masterpiece with avocados, feta cheese, and salmon that she’ll probably only eat one or two bites of after she takes a picture to post.

No sense in arguing with her about how pointless her supposed social media career is. She thinks she’s an influencer, which at least keeps her safe at home rather than a job exposing her to too much risk. I let her work while I watch Addie again.

Wide eyes follow Mrs. Zirkelbach carrying a huge platter of steak to Pete’s spot. Even the dog seems shocked, glancing from the meat to Addie and back again as if uncertain about attacking the premium beef. I nod and click my tongue at him. “Go on, boy. You deserve it.”

Powerless to resist, he dives in gulping up the thin slices. I don’t think he chews half of them but he’s delirious and Addie’s content. At least I assume so from her soft laughter.

She glances from him to me. “Thank you. He’s never had anything so good before.”

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