Page 38 of Forbidden Protector

I gather her hair into one hand and pull.

Her back arches, giving me the perfect angle…

When Roisin screams, it’s with unbridled ecstasy. I can barely hold myself back as she rides through her orgasm.

My cock twitches inside of her. One more thrust, then another. Then.

I see stars.

Chapter Nine

Arnie

I’m not usually an early riser.

My skill set is much better suited to the cover of darkness—besides, it usually takes at least two coffees before I’m anywhere near ready to face the morning.

But today, I wake up before the sun.

The cool light washes the color from my room, casting everything in gray shadow. Rain patters against the window in waves.

I stare up at the ceiling, wondering why I feel like I need to hold something hard against my chest.

There have only been a few days I’ve woken up like this.

The morning after I received word that my parents were dead. That Uncle Tony was dead. Not because I felt the need to mourn them, but because I knew despite my best efforts, I would be dragged back into a life I had no intention of leading.

The morning after I was supposed to kill Connor Maguire also felt this way. Like I might have made a huge mistake. But really, I think I was more afraid of the retaliation from Padraic Duffy for walking away from our contract.It’s worked out better than I expected, but that’s a rarity in my line of work.

Now this.

Everything is as it has always been, the furniture I dragged here from my old apartment, the artwork that would need a certified appraiser to remove from the walls. The warm sheets pool at my waist as I take it all in. No, something is missing.

Someone is missing.

There is no one lying next to me.

The events of the night before come flooding back—Roisin’s lips on mine, her nails digging into my skin. Her steady breathing as we both fell asleep.

“Roisin?” I whisper, stupidly, into the gray room.

Brilliant. Fantastic. Well done, Arnold. You just had to go and sleep with her, she probably went back to her room after she saw the mess you’d made.

The cold light of day has more than one effect on my still-dazed body. It illuminates all the gray areas of our night together. She was upset, vulnerable. She wasn’t in a good place and I took advantage of that.

She came on to you.

And I should have stopped it before it got out of hand.

But there’s something just so devastatingly captivating about her, the confidence in the way she approached, how she matched me every kiss, every touch. It was like our bodies knew exactly what the other needed.

Only now, I’m not so sure. The way I behaved… She probably thinks I’m some kind of monster.

A monster she’s engaged to.

I sit up in bed, suddenly feeling sick to my stomach. Of all the secrets I could have told her last night, the fact that her brother promised her to me was one I couldn’t bring myself to share.

I rationalized it in my head, telling myself that she wastoo overwhelmed, that it wouldn’t go well. But for me to go ahead and sleep with her, knowing what I know and what she doesn’t…

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