That might have something to do with how cold I usually keep myself, purposefully so, as a way to stop myself from getting too involved or thinking about Mom and Dad, about what the fucking Cartel did to my mother especially.
“Oh,” she murmurs like she was expecting more.
I snatch my hand away, knowing it’s that or I slide my hand through her hair and lean into her, claim her plump kissable lips and then bend her over the damn table to get a proper look at her curvy ass.
How the fuck does she do this to me?
One second I’m flooded with emotion, and the next my manhood is flooded with need.
“What’s your book about?” I ask, changing the subject so I don’t fall into the abyss of my need again.
I was so close to leaping on her right then, grabbing her like the beast I am, dragging her into the apartment, and throwing her down on my bed. My body flares when I think about the way she’d roll onto her back and gaze up at me, stunned and surprised but also needy, excited for how I’m going to claim her.
“My book?” she smiles, her whole face lighting up. “You want to know about my book?”
“Of course I do,” I say, unable to stop the passion from rising in my voice.
Her passion is easy to read on her face, her whole demeanor changing as she leans forward and her smile grows even wider. “I’m sorry. Nobody’s ever asked about my writing before. Well, Dad did, before he… But that was before I really got started.”
“So.” I spread my hands. “What’s it about?”
“Guess.”
I chuckle, which must be the fiftieth time since she got here. If that’s accurate, that means she’s made me laugh ten times more than anybody other than Alex in years.
She’s just so damn adorable.
“Okay.” I nod, leaning forward when I see she’s serious. “It’s a book about the Irish mob…”
“Hmm, am I that predictable?”
“No,” I growl, with more force than I intended. “It’s just you’ve been cooped up with those animals for so long. It makes sense.”
It’s the only thing that does make sense right now, I don’t add.
“Oh, I see,” she murmurs, with a note of playfulness in her voice. “You’re using your fancy detective’s logic on me.”
I’m drawn in by her tone, my insides thrumming and burning and singing out that this is it, the moment I’ve been waiting my whole damn life for. I try to beat down the feeling, focusing on the conversation and not its multiplying implications, but it’s difficult.
Damn difficult.
“So I’m right?” I smirk.
“Yes,” she says. “That’s one of the reasons I’d be surprised if they managed to put a tracking device on my laptop. I’m very protective of it because I know how much Uncle Aaron would freak if he knew what I was working on. I don’t have characters named after any real-life people, but the similarities would be pretty obvious to him.”
“But your phone…”
She nods, biting her lip for a moment, something she wouldn’t do if she knew the effect it was having on me.
Everything about her, every gesture – no matter how small – causes a flood of want and desire to blaze through me, roaring out at me to claim her, to claim her right this moment.
“Maybe,” she says a moment later. “I’m not sure… so yeah, it’s possible. I hope not.”
“Me too,” I growl, my predator’s instincts throbbing at the thought of anyone trying to hurt my woman. “Even if they know you’re here, there’s no way they’re getting past security unless they’re willing to get into a full-scale gunfight. Even Aaron McCarthy isn’t that stupid. He knows it would mean Federal attention, something he’s been avoiding for years.”
“I wanted to ask you, actually…”
She trails off, drumming her fingers against the table.
She has a strand of her gorgeous hair across her forehead, begging me to reach over and brush it out of the way. I’ve never felt myself wanting to engage in such an intimate gesture before, but with Ruby, I can’t help it.
I’m hungry for the chance to be close to her, truly close in a way I’ve never been before.
“What?” I urge when she bites her lip again.
The base of my cock pulses at the shyness in her expression, the way it shivers through her whole body, her chest rising and falling in a way that draws my eye to the gorgeous shape of her breasts.
The tip of my cock buzzes, the sensation moving up and down my hard shaft.
I’m biting down with the effort it takes not to leap across the table and grab her, pushing her up against the ceiling to floor windows and sliding my hand down her body, to her sex, pressing firmly as I draw wave upon wave of pleasure out of her.