Page 7 of Bred

Great.Anothermanwhodoubted my ability to make decisions for myself, I thought. How original. “And what if I did? What if I understood exactly what it would mean?” To make my point, I rolled my hips forward, catching him off guard and giving myself a tiny slip of joy as his body brushed mine once again. It sent a shudder of need down to my thighs, where they clenched and pulsed with it.

This man, he was going to change everything. He already had, but it was as if he was afraid of me. Maybe that was the reason I kept finding myself pressed between ice and fire that seemed to barely balance out in this man.

I bit my lip when he stepped away, breathing hard through his nose as he stared down at me, disbelieving. “You know nothing, princess.”

I doubled down on my stare, forcing myself to meet that ice gaze. Ice could burn. I would show him how.

After a chuff, Loren turned away and moved back to his side of the island just as the timer went off. Silence fell between us, but it was different than before. This was strangely relaxing. I felt that I might have passed whatever test he was planning on putting me through. At least for the time being.

I grinned but ducked my head, hiding from his eyes for the first time since I walked in. That brought my gaze perfectly level with the clothing I had stolen from his drawers.

I gnawed on my lip, watching him cut the brownies into neat squares. He slowed, wide hands so careful as he scooped out a large servings and placed them on the small plate I now noticed sitting just a few feet from my elbow.

He picked up the whisk from the whipped cream and began to drop a large dollop on to one of the brownies before he looked up when I cleared my throat.

“Can I try?”

“I figure you’d want one.”

“You figured correctly.” I ignored his sour line and moved around the island until we were side by side, watching as he scooped the second dollop of whipping cream out of the bowl then hovered above the brownie.

“Yes?”

I jerked, realizing he was waiting on me. “Oh yes, please.” I smiled as he dropped a dollop of the fluffy white cream right on top of my brownie. I leaned against him as I tucked my face close, inhaling the sweet fumes of the brownies as I eyed the rapidly melting cream.

“Oh no. Did I rush you?” I asked before chasing the melting cream as it cascaded down the edge of the dark chocolate brownie. Tucking the melted bit and my finger into my mouth, I glanced up at the man beside me, worried I’d ruined his dessert.

A dark chuckle slipped from Loren’s mouth. “Oh, you are. But I’m having a hard time telling myself it’s not worth the sweetness.”

“What?”

The plate went skidding away from my fingertips, and suddenly I was trapped between hard, powerful male and the solidness of the countertop.

“I promised I would stay away, that I wouldn’t sully your pretty body with mine until you were completely sure. But Wren, you are torturing me.”

Loren stepped up against me until I could feel every part of him against me. He leaned down, his nose against my hair as he inhaled me. “You were built to tear me down. Your smile. Your kiss. Everything you represent is what I crave.”

“Why is that bad?”

“Do you really want to know?”

His tongue traced my ear. I shifted, nervous but also tingling against his body. “Yes.”

“Because I am used to taking what I want.” His hands fanned out across my jaw, holding my face still as once again, he pounced.

Loren’s body curled around mine, practically dragging me out of the chair as I was pulled up against his chest while his lips held mine captive. First, I rose to my knees, letting the painful pinch of the metal against my skin ground me as his mouth drove my mind even more away from everything I knew until today.

He was not careful.

He was deliberate.

He owned every touch on my body, and I loved it. I reveled in it. I needed more, or else I would simply float away, back into the nothing that I’d come from.

For whatever reason, I couldn’t stop the words that fell from my lips when he finally pulled back. “You want me?”

His silence was telling enough. SI smiled up at him, letting my fingers echo his movement, copying his touch as my touch absorbed the feel of him. Loren didn’t need to say anything. I could feel it as clearly as if he had spoken the words, his body heaving towards me, every part of him craving more of me. Even as his face stayed impassive and quiet.

I threw my nerves aside. This was my life now. Not my grandfather’s, not my father’s. Even if I had been set upon this path by him, this was my life now. I was going to own it.