“What were you offering, Lia?”
I studied him. He was good at drowning his pain in his obsessions and my body was no different. The moment I’d put it on the table as an antidote, he folded. Perhaps I should have said no, that I wouldn’t indulge his coping mechanisms. But I was just as weak.
“Pleasure without the work,” I whispered. “You sit back and I’ll get on my knees and make you feel good.”
He froze and his golden eyes glittered. The tension sparked like a live wire. Maybe I couldn’t fix all the terrible things that had been said and done to him. But I could do the bare minimum, I could make him feel good for a few minutes so he could relax and let his mind fix on something better. I let my eyes fall to his groin and back up again.
Before I could make a move, he sank back and spread his knees. His mouth jerked.
“Do you know how to do that?”
Flushing, I shook my head.
He lifted his hand and beckoned me with two fingers, shifting his seat back to put room between him and the desk. My heart pounded in my chest and a spark of warmth burned between my thighs. His gaze narrowed and he leaned forward as I drew close, putting his hand on my inner thigh right below the heat of my pussy.
“Do you want me to teach you?”
My whole body had gone from tense to hot and aroused. His gaze fell to my breasts, to the outlines of my nipples beneath my slip. Unsure, I nodded.
“Fuck,” he breathed. “Get down on your knees for me, angel.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
PEREGRINE
Her dark eyes widened as she sank down between my knees. Outside, the wind whipped the house and shook the windows. But inside, we were wrapped in a soft fold of darkness and firelight. My body tingled as her slender wrists curved, her fingers tracing up my thighs. Stopping just above my knees. I bent and brushed back her dark hair to bare her throat and gripped it gently. Just enough to remind her who was in charge.
“You are beautiful,” I murmured.
Her lashes fluttered and dropped. God, I loved the way she just melted for me every time.
I traced her lower lip with my thumb, remembering the soft wetness of her tongue that day in her stepfather’s office. When she’d been handed over to me for a check and a promise. As I looked down at her, so vulnerable on her knees, I wondered if that ever fucked with her head. If she ever measured what she was worth by the money I’d gotten to take her off her family’s hands.
“Open your mouth,” I said.
She hesitated and obeyed. Her body shivered as I touched the soft heat of her tongue with my fingertips. Tracing all the way down before putting my finger in my mouth.
“How do I taste?” she murmured.
“Better than sex.”
A smiled tugged at her mouth. “How do you taste?”
I tilted her chin. “Tongue out for me, angel.”
She obeyed and I cupped her chin, letting my saliva drip from my mouth and onto her waiting tongue. Her lashes fluttered and the softest moan came from her throat as she swallowed. I cupped her face and she nestled her cheek into my palm, rubbing against me like a cat.
“Do you like it here, Lia?” I asked softly.
She hesitated. “I have the academy.”
Not the answer I wanted, but the one I expected. I checked myself—what did I care if she didn’t like me? We were nothing more than warm bodies to each other. I bent, resting my elbows on my knees, until my face was inches from hers. Until her breath burned my skin.
“What do you think of me?” I whispered. “Now that you’ve had me.”
She swallowed.
“You scare me,” she said, barely audible. She swallowed. “But I like the kind of fear you make me feel. I like how you take it just a little too far…and then you pull me back. I’ve…I’ve never met anyone like you before, Peregrine.”