“Shit, fuck. I mean you don’t have to speak at all. Hell, I shouldn’t speak that way in front of you.”
“Sully.” I brush my fingers down the side of his jaw, enjoying the sensation of his rough beard against my skin. It was not proper where I came from to not shave. All the men had to be clean shaven. “I didn’t know you and Paulo had a thing, and I was upset you didn’t tell me.”
He cocks his head to the side like he’s trying to understand what I’m saying. “I know you’re starting to understand a little more about where I came from, but I want you to know that I don’t believe the things they do. I think love is love, and I would never judge who you loved.” I might hate Paulo because he has Sully, but like my father says, I’m full of sin. I’ll add that to the list.
I’d add any sin to the list for Sully.
9
SULLY
“Okay?” I’m of the same mind on not caring who someone loves. But I’m not sure why Orchid is telling me this now.
“Look, what I’m trying to say is that I don’t care if you and Paulo are togeth–”
I make a strangled noise as the implication of her words hit me full force. She thinks I’m with that sleazy asshole?
“Sully?” Her eyes widen. “Are you all right?”
No, I’m not. Not when Orchid has no idea how I feel about her, and it’s so bad that she even believes I’d look at another human being with even a fraction of the desire I feel for her.
I reach out, grip her kitten T-shirt, and pull her to me. When our lips touch, I swear to God it feels like fireworks go off in my chest. I’ve wanted this for so long.
She gasps against my mouth, and I run my fingers through her hair, holding her against me as I press my lips to hers.
That’s when she melts, her body going soft as she opens her mouth, allowing my tongue to delve inside. Fuck, she’s sweeter than anything I’ve ever tasted, and I want every ounce of that sugar on my tongue.
I rise and sit beside her, then pull her into my lap and kiss her again. Harder this time, needier. She wraps her arms around my neck, her body pressed to mine as I explore her mouth. Our tongues dance, and I angle her head so I can get deeper. Her hard nipples press into my chest, and I curse the clothes between us. I want to feel her, all of her.
This is wrong. I’m taking advantage of her after she’s had a rough time. But I can’t seem to stop. I want her. And it’s not a simple emotion. I might want a new lathe, or an ice cream, or a new car–but the want I feel for Orchid transcends everything else. She obliterated my senses the first moment I saw her, and I’ll go on wanting her for the rest of my life.
When she pulls back for air, I claim her mouth again, greedy for her. She twists in my lap until she’s straddling me, her body wrapped around mine the way it’s meant to be.
When I finally let her take a breath, I kiss down to her throat, tasting her soft skin as she squeezes my hair between her fingers.
“I …” Her voice is breathy. “I guess you and Paulo aren’t a thing, then?”
I snort a laugh against her throat and lick the shell of her ear. “I can’t believe you thought that.”
She leans back, catching my gaze with hers. “Well, I did see you two in a compromising position.”
I run my hands down her back to her ass and squeeze. “I’d say this is far more compromising than the ass-whooping I was about to unleash on that creep.”
She lets out a little moan and rolls her hips. When she does, I feel the heat between her thighs as it brushes against my painfully hard cock. I squeeze her perfect ass harder. “Don’t do that, Petal.”
“What?” she asks innocently.
“If you keep moving like that, I’ll take you right here, right now. I’m not a good man. Not one who would wait. Not where you’re concerned.”
Her mouth drops open, her swollen lips giving me plenty of ideas. “You mean you want to … to have sex with me?”
The fact that she would even ask me that is a testament to how careful I’ve been up to this point. I’ve kept my distance, letting her start her own life next door. She didn’t need a grumpy mountain man like me in her life, especially when I kept picturing the two of us together. Naked. Very naked.
I take her hand and draw it down my chest to my cock. Holding her gaze, I run her hand along the length of it, and I swear I could come just from her touch. “This is what you do to me, Petal. What you’ve always done to me.” I release her hand.