Page 24 of A Taste like Sin

My body twitches in response to his deepening baritone.

“So what do you say? I continue to send you your flowers. You perform a daily task of my request,

and in return, you get to bargain something else from me.”

“Like what?”

“By now, I’m sure you know the answer.” He pauses for drama’s sake and then rasps, “Anything.”

“Fine. Then whatever you’re planning for when you take my… I-I have to agree to it,” I propose in a

rush. “You can’t force me to—”

“I’ll do you one better; I’ll make you beg for it. Fair enough?” He waits for a reply that never escapes

my throat. “As for now… I believe I am required to do something with my pearl.”

Heat runs through me like a lance.Hispearl. God, such a tiny object has never seemed so menacing.

“Do I have your permission, Ms. Thorne?”

He’s serious. If I say no, I have no doubt he’ll drop the pearl and leave—yet lord my fear over me in

some way down the road. A man like him demands his payment. An eye for an eye.

Always.

“Y-Yes.”

“Good.”

I track a sudden series of movements coming from near the end of the pedestal.

“Do you want me to tell you what I plan to do?”

I nearly jump as his touch teases my lower lip yet again, urging me to open. “Y-Yes,” I murmur against

his fingertips.

“I feel a demonstration may be more…telling.” He sounds closer, his scent strong enough to taste. All

of him. “So do I have your permission to utilize a pearl as I see fit?”

“W-Wait.” I jolt upright, braced on my elbows. Distant pings allude to the fact that the other pearls

have fallen, but I can’t even spare enough concern to truly despair. Damn, I almost wish he’d used the

drug instead.

There’s something about the idea of him hunched between my spread legs. I can hear every cadence in

his breathing, slow and deliberate. Labored. He’s disguising just how much he wants to touch me, but

his finger twitching against my tongue betrays him. I doubt he’s even aware of it. Wanting. This man

can display the deepest emotions of others so easily.

He has no clue how much he himself can give away.