Page 90 of The San Marco Heist

Shit. I froze, watching her pleasure herself, watching her writhe under her own touch. Scarlett Reynolds was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. And she was mine. Right now, in this moment, that woman was all mine.

This was a mistake. Our relationship was built on lies and mistrust. From the moment I’d first seen her, it was all lies.

Except the way my heart swelled whenever I saw her. The way it sank when I’d seen the blood on her leg. The walls I’d built up to protect my heart from getting hurt were crumbling one brick at a time, and I was useless to do anything about it.

Yeah, this was a mistake. But it was one I was going to make, no matter the fallout.

My hand wandered over the sheets to find the condom, while I leaned forward to press my lips against hers. It was slow and deep, our tongues exploring every inch of each other’s in a way that magnified the throbbing in my cock. I needed to sink myself into her wet heat.

She ground herself against me, bracing my shaft against her clit to give us both friction until I found what I needed.

The tightness at the base of my spine intensified, and I could feel my release coming. Still too early, so I pulled away from her to search in earnest.

“You’ll need to be better prepared next time.”

“I get a next time?” I snagged the foil wrapper from where it had landed by the pillow, and she took it from me.

“So far, so good.” She ripped the packet open and guided it over me with an inspiring speed and eagerness. “Check in again later.”

Before I had time to think of a witty response, she was on her back and had latched a leg around my hips, pulling me to her. I paused when my tip pressed against her folds, fighting against her insistence. From the moment we’d met, she was strength and control. A few tiny slips here and there, but she never handed herself over. “Now beg.”

Her leg tightened. She was stronger than I’d expected.

I slipped inside her, no more than an inch. Sharing the tiniest fraction of her heat. All I wanted was to see her vulnerable. That should have been what I saw, with her naked and sprawled on the bed, but she still thought she was running things.

“Let go,” I growled, rocking my hips from side to side. “Show me you want me. Don’t just tell me.”

She closed her eyes and clenched her jaw, obviously fighting with herself. What was going through her head? Angry she’d given in to the first orgasm so easily? Turned off because of my play?

I sank in another inch, her walls stretching around me. “Show me this isn’t just an itch, Scarlett.”

Her eyes flashed open and she blinked slowly, as though trying to absorb my words. “Why didn’t you tell me about the bruises earlier?”

The clowns—her former fiancé and whoever else was with him—had claimed they didn’t know which one of us had taken the Codex. But Noah knew. The second he spoke to her in the palazzo, I recognized his voice as my anonymous employer from the Codex job. The manuscript and the ring were definitely linked. By him. “I think we have other priorities right now.”

She lifted her hips, and I pulled away as she did. “You didn’t want me to think you were weak.”

“And you hide your feelings from everyone because you don’t want them to think the same.”

“Please, Malcolm?” She covered her face with her hands and let out a shaky breath. “You’ve seen me more exposed and weak than anyone outside of my team. At first, I couldn’t help it, but now…”

I pushed into her, sinking deep inside. My body screamed at me for going so slowly, but it would pay off in the end. I didn’t want just sex. I wanted the connection she’d tried denying me.

A full-body shudder wracked her.

“But nowwhat, Scarlett?”

“He hurt me, Malcolm.” Her voice quavered, and when she pulled away her hands, there were tears again. “I want to remember there’s good things and good people in the world. That I’m worth sticking—”

She didn’t finish, but she didn’t have to.

Fuck me, but that wasn’t begging. That was miles beyond what I’d hoped for. It was vulnerability. Honesty. “You’re worth so much more than that.”

She swallowed hard, the honesty obviously sticking in her throat as tightly as it did in mine. “Show me.”

I pulled out and slammed into her, and she cried out. I did it again and again. Harder and harder, until I was pounding into her like she’d wanted me to. I couldn’t go slow. Couldn’t stop the need. I wanted her too much. Needed her too much.

She wanted me too. The only words that escaped her lips were moans ofyesandmoreandplease. The tears vanished, evaporating in the furious heat between us.

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