Page 105 of The Bossy One

I burst out of the water so fast a surge of water came with me. In a matter of seconds I was naked and kneeling behind her. I gripped her soft hips and nudged her thighs farther apart.

“Lower,” I ordered, my voice dropping in tone until it become a half growl. I laid my hand on her lower back, my splayed fingers caressing her smooth skin, and moved it up the grooves of her spine. I pushed her down until her breasts were touching the floor, her body bending into the most wicked of curves. “Yes, just like this.”

She shivered and complied, her body melting under my touch. “Yes, boss.”

I smacked her ass. “Stop that. You’ll give me some nanny fetish.”

“Only fair.” Olivia laughed, breathless, as she pressed her hips back toward me. But there was a helpless edge to her laugh, like she’d given up fighting how much we wanted each other. “You gave me a sleeping-with-my-boss fetish.”

I thrust into her, hard. She was wet and ready from my mouth, but she still gasped, surprised. That soft gasp echoed on the tile around us. She dropped her forehead to the towels and groaned. “God, Declan. It feels so good.”

I set a hard, punishing pace. One that wouldn’t let either of us think about anything outside of this room. One that would leave our minds and bodies spent for hours afterward.

Maybe I did want to bruise her a little. She was leaving marks all over my life. It seemed only fair to return the favor.

We used each other until I’d completely lost track of time. Then I changed the angle, and she started crying out again, little jagged things, as her back arched, and her hands spread and clenched on the towels. As she clenched around me, I felt her pull me toward delicious oblivion. I pulled out with a roar and finished on her back.

Then I rolled her over and gently laid her down, kissing her while we both got our breath back. I reached down with one hand and carefully massaged her knee. “Was that too much? Did I hurt you?”

She bit her lip, searching my face. “I think,” she said carefully, “we’ll hurt each other no matter what we do. We might as well have fun while we’re at it.”

I frowned. Some bone-deep part of me revolted at the idea of hurting her, even a little. “That wasn’t an answer.”

“I’m fine, Declan,” she said. She smoothed my hair back. “I liked it—especially that part at the end. You sounded like an animal. Positively feral.”

“You make me feel feral,” I said. I gestured to the mussed towels around us. “Obviously.”

She looked up at me, wide-eyed. Then she closed her eyes and shook her head. “Yousaythings like that, and I…I don’t know what to do with you.”

I stared down at her. She really had no idea what a miracle she was. I’dneverlet anyone tear open my life like this before.

“Believe me,” I ordered. I kissed her once, like her belief in me was a pact we could seal together.

Believe me when I show you how much you mean to me,I thought,Even if you can’t always understand me.

We went upstairs and cleaned up, too exhausted to think about the cracks in our relationship.

* * *

When I rolled over the next morning, Olivia was already awake and scrolling through her phone.

I kissed the back of her neck. “Don’t tell me you’re checking your email so early in the morning.”

“I always check my email first thing every day, in case Sunny Days Childcare sent me anything I need to respond to,” Olivia said. “Plus, I like the newsletters.”

“The newsletters?” I said.

“There’s a news round-up I like. Some nonprofits I give to. A few authors I follow. Local stuff from places I’ve lived. I like seeing what everyone’s up to,” she said.

“Aww,” I said. “You actually read your junk mail. How did I not know that about you?”

She rocked her ass against my cock in retaliation for that remark. I swallowed a groan and tried to roll her under me, more than willing to be distracted from this particular argument.

She giggled and wiggled away from me. “Hold on, I just got my first issue of theBallybeith Press. Molly signed me up—she said it’s a hoot.”

My lust-fogged brain took a second too long to process her words.

Olivia stiffened against me.

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