Page 109 of Dirty Mafia Sinner

“Nothing to say?”

A soft sigh escapes me. “Not really.”

With a pensive stare, he pulls a joint from his pocket, places it between his lips, lights it, and reclining in his chair, inhales.

My jaw goes slack.

He watches my reaction with amusement, and then blows out smoke. “I’ve been neglecting our arrangement.”

Sometimes, like now, it feels like we’re so close. Other times, far, far away. “You’ve beenbusy.”

“I fired them.”

Everything within me stills. “Because they touched the clothing you purchased me?”

His expression gives nothing away, but his next words ring loud and clear. “No one hurts you but me.”

I duck my head to hide the ridiculous flush flooding my cheeks. He might be smoking a blunt, but I’m suddenly high, dizzying so. Caution has me asking, “What happens when you grow bored with me?”

He crosses his ankles, his gaze steady. “That’s the crux of the problem, isn’t it?”

Seconds turn into minutes as I wait for him to elaborate. Then he curls a finger at me, gesturing me closer.

I stand and round the table.

Without warning, he tugs me onto his lap. “Better.”

“Is it?”

“Twelve hours is all I ask.” He leans his head back and takes another drag, the sweet, woodsy scent tickling my nose.

“Right. Twelve hours isallyouask?” To do what, exactly? Dine on deck? Get stoned? Play with me, make me hope for more, then toss me aside on the shelf of forgotten toys?

He chuckles.

My eyebrows prop up the sky.

“Hyperbole.”

Insanity.That he’s offering me an English lesson along with twelve hours of God knows what.

“Smoke?”

“Um … I never…”

His face is close, so close, then he blows smoke over my head. “Always so perfectly corruptible.”

Everything about this situation is unfamiliar. I fully expected to be seated silently on an airplane and watching him work.

“And you enjoy corrupting me?”

“Press your lips to mine, and I’ll remind you that I do.”

I arch up, like a fool, and after taking another hit, he presses his mouth to mine. My lips part on his exhale, then he withdraws with a smile. “Close your mouth and suck the smoke into your lungs.”

I do, then cough.

He waits for me to recover before his lips crash against mine. Our tongues tangle, and his earthy taste hits my taste buds.