Living in Shadow(72)
Twelve years ago, Jack Grenville let Sasha’s powerful father intimidate him into giving up the love of his life. With the help of a sensei, he’s overcome his obstacles and accepted his sexual dominance. Now he’s back in Chicago to claim what’s his—Sasha.
One look at Jack brings back all the forbidden desires Sasha’s put on lock-down since that shameful night. No way can she turn down this money-is-no-object job…but can she resist Jack’s no-knots-barred determination to recapture her heart?
Warning: This book contains a woman with a sweet tooth, a man with a sweet obsession, a cupboard full of bondage rope, and some not-so-sweet kink.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Sweet Obsession:
Jack jumped to his feet, hands curled into fists. “You wanted everything we did together as much as I did.” Bewildered, he battled for control. “Sasha.” He lowered his voice. “Didn’t you?”
“What we did was…wrong.”
“Wrong?”
She sank her top teeth into her plush bottom lip. “Yes.”
How could she think that? Was that what the problem was here? “Why would you say that?”
She shook her head.
He moved closer. “Seriously, Sasha.” He brushed her hair off her shoulder. She still looked like she wanted to flee, but she didn’t move. “Why?” He clasped her hips, gently, his big hands spanning them. “Okay, let’s deal with this.”
“With what?”
He barreled ahead. “Do you blame me for what happened that night?”
“Oh.” She swallowed. “Yes. No. I don’t know. I’m confused. You confuse me. You get me all…”
“Aroused.”
She groaned and closed her eyes again, her cheeks washing even redder. Gorgeous.
“It’s okay, Sasha.” He pulled her against him and slid a hand up her back, then rubbed up and down in a gentle, hopefully soothing motion. “It’s okay. I’m aroused too. You turn me on. All I have to do is fucking look at you, and I’m hard.” He pushed his hips into her to show her, and she moaned again. “I’ve wanted you again from the minute you walked in here that day. We’re all grown up now. We can do whatever we want. It’s not like back in high school. Right?”
She said nothing, her pretty lips pressed together, her eyes still closed. Christ, she was acting more virginal now than she had when she was sixteen. Weird. But fuck it, he was still hot for her and clearly she was just as turned on. She was resisting for some unfuckinggodknown reason.
“You’re my client,” she whispered. “This isn’t professional.”
He laughed. “Yeah, whatever.”
Her eyes slowly opened. “You confuse me,” she repeated. “You do all these nice things for me, you touch me like that…I don’t know why you’re hiring me and paying me all that money—”
“Wait just a minute.” He cut her off, his voice hard. “Those are two separate things, honey. Hiring you and paying you all that money is because you’re the best at what you do and you’re entitled to be fairly compensated for that. That has nothing to do with…this.”
“Really?”
“I told you that before. Cross my fucking heart, babe.” He paused. That had sounded flippant. He held her gaze steadily. “I swear on my parents’ graves, Sasha. Two. Separate. Things.”
Her eyes widened and her face softened. Yeah. She was probably the only person in the world who knew what it meant for him to say that.
She touched his face with her fingertips, and he closed his eyes at the gentle contact. Her thumb brushed over his bottom lip and heat once more rushed to his groin.
“Are you afraid of me?” he murmured against her fingertip.
“Yes. For lots of reasons.”
After a short pause, he said, “I’m glad you are.”
She stared back at him. “What?”
“I’m glad you’re afraid of me. If you weren’t a little afraid, you wouldn’t be so turned on.”
“Jack.” She closed her eyes. “We can’t do this.”
He smiled. “Even so, you’re not running.”
“No.” She exhaled. “I’m not.”
He wanted to shout with joy and relief, and he wrapped his arms around her. Her soft breasts cushioned against his chest, her hips pressed against his and her hands slid over his neck and shoulders.
He bent his head and her mouth opened to his again. She melted against him, winding her arms around his neck, and he wrapped her up in his and crushed her to him. They kissed over and over, soft, lush kisses, tongues rubbing. Her hands slid into his hair and played there, teasing him, sending tingles cascading from his scalp all down his spine.