Page 55 of The Refusal

“I might want to kiss you again, and I’m not making out in full view of the restaurant.”

She blinks down at my hand in hers, and I close my eyes and take a deep breath, tightening my fingers.

The waiter bows and shifts away, giving us privacy.

“Your suite?” she says. “I’m not sure …” She shifts on her feet.

I lean back, raising an eyebrow at her. “It might be easier to continue this conversation somewhere more private.”

Her warm eyes roam over my face and then she nods, so I let go of her hand as we walk quietly past the other booths, diners’ heads bent over elaborately arranged plates. No one looks at us. I take her hand again when we reach the elevator, and she smiles at me while we wait. She tilts toward me, and I curl my hand into the hair at the back of her head, kissing her forehead. Stepping forward, she leaves a paper-thin gap between her body and mine.

“I thought I would die when I saw that guy Andy kiss your neck,” I say quietly into her hair.

“What? When?” She tips her head back.

“At the coffee shop.” I draw back slightly to look at her. “You don’t remember? Your hair was all piled up, and he …”

The elevator pings, and we move into it, pressing the button for our floor. I turn around to see she’s nodding, lips pursed.

“I remember.” She lets out a little laugh. “Andy’s a liability. I can quite safely say I have never been interested in him.”

Given where my head was a few days ago, she can’t say enough of this kind of thing. I reach out to snag her hand, rubbing my thumb over her knuckles.

“What do you want, Jo?” I’m liking the direct approach tonight.

“Oh God, Janus,” she groans. “Don’t ask me things like that.”

“Tell me. I’ve suffered through all this time with you, thinking you were attached to someone else, trying to keep things businesslike. I need to know …”

Everything tightens inside me, so I cup her face in my hands brushing my lips across hers. Her mouth opens, her tongue tentatively nudging mine, before pulling back, licking the bow of her lip like she’s tasting me. I can’t remember a time when a woman I’m with has been so obviously reluctant. My blood is thundering through my veins as my cock hardens painfully. I want this with a desperation I don’t think I’ve ever felt before.

34

Janus

Something washes through Jo’s face as she stills my hand creeping up her torso.

“What?” I raise myself farther up on my elbows on the bed so I can see her face better. “What is it?”

She purses her mouth, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth.

“I’m small, Janus.”

“What do you meanyou’re small?”

“My breasts are small,” she whispers, and her cheeks flush, eyes dropping away to the side.

I can’t help the smile that bubbles up, and I bury my face in her neck as she stiffens under me.

I lift up again on my arms, shaking my head. “Did you actually just say that? You need to understand how long I’ve thought about …”

She’s tense and motionless under me. “What …?”

I shake my head again. “Okay.” I close my eyes and let my lips quirk up. “So, let’s think. Small, beautifully pale, with a smattering of copper-colored freckles spilling across creamy white skin, perfect brown nipples sitting high and tight.” I’m getting increasingly hard describing what has been so vivid in my imagination for so long and, as I push my erection into her, her ribs shift as she takes a sharp inhalation of breath.

“Okay, I’m going to go for bust here and tell you that I even searched ‘redhead’s small breasts’ on the Internet.” Heat inches up my throat with this admission, so I collapse back down, burying my head back against her ear.

Her whole body slumps under me, and I feel her cheek curving against my temple, so I pull back as her unchecked grin dissolves into a delighted snort.

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