Page 13

Reddington

“Well, I’ve done my duty and made sure you got to your front door safe and sound.

” I stuffed my hands in my pockets and shrugged.

“Now the rest is up to you. Lock the door when I leave. Wouldn’t want ours to be the shortest engagement in the history of the world.

” And with where she lived, it could just be.

Jade rolled her eyes and unlocked her door. “Something tells me someone’s had a shorter engagement. As I said, love is a con.”

Wow, the way she saw love was sad. And marriage, thinking it was a life sentence. Anyway, I liked to consider myself a decent human, but it was late, and, like I’d said, I’d done my duty, so there was nothing left for me to say.

That mixed with the fact that this night was slightly torturous, being so close to her, breathing her in, my hand grazing her, touching her when she wasn’t really mine. I couldn’t have her, not in the way I wanted.

My cock twitched every time I looked at—or even thought about—the way her blue dress molded over her curves.

Her cleavage was practically spilling out of the top, and I wanted to bury my head between her tits and lick, suck, and bite them and her nipples.

And that godforsaken slit. Slits were made to make a man’s balls ache.

They had to be because I wanted to follow the path with my hand, slide my way up, and caress her clit, to feel her beneath my palm.

The fact that I couldn’t was where the achy balls came in. Ergo my problem.

And, thus, my cue to leave. You know, before I did something stupid. Plus, the sooner I left, the sooner I could go home and get some relief. “Good night, Jade,” I said, not wasting another second.

I went to turn on my heel but was caught off guard when instead she pulled me to her by my collar.

I didn’t have a second to think about anything—literally my mind was blank—before her full, puckered lips collided with mine, her eyes a deep brown that held a ravenous, needy look in them—their gold flecks all but gone with the heat.

It was the first time I’d seen them burn that way.

I didn’t hate it. Honestly, it turned me the hell on. Like I needed any more turning on.

I closed my eyes and leaned into the kiss and whatever got into her that provoked her to take charge this way.

Again, she tasted heavenly, like she was going to become an addiction I didn’t need but couldn’t stop myself from giving into with every breath I took.

This was definitely not the show-pony kiss we’d had at the country club.

I trailed my hands up her sides, holding firmly onto her hips before tracing the seam of her lips with my tongue, asking for access. She parted on a delightful sigh, seemingly just as eager as I was to deepen the kiss.

She reached up and grazed my jawline before inching two fingers to my cheek, the delicate touch sending a wave of pleasurable shivers down my spine.

I pulled her closer, needing to feel her, all of her, against me.

Her tits pressed up against my chest, and she maneuvered her leg around mine to step further in, her center on my cock.

I could feel the pulse of her pussy through our clothes.

She wanted me as badly as I wanted her. Fuck, she was aching to be touched.

And as much as I knew she wanted this, she never actually said it.

I broke the kiss, letting my hands fall, and backing up so there was some distance between us. Jade hit my shoulder with her purse, gasping.

“What the hell was that for? You kissed me,” I reminded her, sincerely wondering what went on in that pretty little head of hers.

“You ended it.” She gave me a scowl. Liked it that much, huh? I didn’t want to brag or anything, but I liked to think of myself as a kissing pro. I’d been doing it since the nineties.

“Yeah, because I didn’t want it to go too far,” I responded.

She crossed her arms, her foot still holding the door open. “Oh, because heaven forbid either of us cross a line. We’ve already kissed.”

“My tongue never entered your mouth at the party.”

Her eyes narrowed, and her nostrils flared. “Hate to say it, but the line has been crossed. We’re so far away from the line, it’s a dot.”

I scratched at my jawline. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I’m this close”—she held her thumb to her forefinger, her brows forming an angry arch—“to losing my mind and it’s your fault.”

“Mine?” I placed a hand on my chest and cocked a brow. “How do you figure?”

She raised her hands in disgust, turned around and walked inside her apartment. “You said I couldn’t screw anyone but you, so I kissed you. I wanted to take it further, and you ended it.”

“Ever heard of using your words?” I followed her inside, closing and locking the door behind me, and scrubbed a hand down my face.

I needed a stiff drink. Actually, that was the second thing I needed.

The first thing I needed was this infuriating woman writhing beneath me, her cheeks red, and her nails digging into my skin as she came on an intense moan, screaming my name repeatedly.

She shrugged and leaned against the side of the couch. “I wanted to make sure what I was committing to before I agreed to anything exclusive .”

I held up my ring finger and tapped it with another one. “You say it like it’s a dirty word.”

She tossed her hands up in the air. “It is!”

“Another thing, you’re wearing the ring. Like it or not, you did commit to me.”

She licked her lips and now that I knew what they tasted like, I wanted to demand she stop so that I could finish wetting them myself.

Tossing her purse down on the couch, she shook her head. “I promised to go along with this farce. I did not commit to being exclusive.”

“It was implied. Whether or not we actually sleep together would be up to you, though. But the option was never on the table for you to go elsewhere to have your needs met.” I shrugged. “Sorry. You should’ve read the fine print.” I sounded like an ass, I knew, but I couldn’t help myself around her.

“Nothing’s implied, Red. And there was no fine print.”

“I’ll tell you what’s implied. That you kissing me would relieve the ache between your legs.” I wasn’t a stupid man. I knew shit.

Biting back a grin, Jade crossed her arms. “I sampled a taste, and it turns out I liked it. I’m a woman who knows what she wants and goes after it.”

“Is that how we’re playing this?” I asked, pulling my tie from my neck and unbuttoning my vest. Next went the shirt.

Searching my eyes, I could tell I had her confused. Join the club, but if she was all about just going for shit, then I was going to go for shit, too. “Yes. I thought I made that clear.” Oh, you did, sweetheart. “I want you, Red. We can be exclusive, and you can—”

I took a few strides to close the gap between us instantaneously, cupping her cheeks and slamming my lips down on hers like kissing was a sport and I was looking to take home gold.

I could listen to Jade’s snarky, smart mouth all day long, but right now all I cared about was that she wanted this, she wanted me, and we all knew how I felt about her.

Her mouth wasn’t the only place I wanted to kiss, though, so I ran my hands down her arms and backed her up against the door.

As my teeth raked her bottom lip, I nipped at her before dropping down to my knees.

“What are you doing?” she asked, her breathing heavy.

Her tits were rising and falling with each breath she gasped for, and her eyes were wide as she stared down at me, wonder and lust apparent in them. I think we both knew what I was doing, but I’d appease her. “I already kissed your lips, so now I’m going to kiss your lips .”

As understanding dawned on her, her brows raised, and her mouth fell open.

“Remember that implication? Well, I got the message loud and clear.”

“I never—”

I reached a finger to her lips and shushed her. Sometimes she needed to know when to be quiet.

As I pulled my finger away, she spat, “Don’t do me any favors,” and rolled her eyes.

All right, then. If that was how she felt. . . . I shrugged and made a move to get up, but she placed her hand on one of my shoulders as she kicked her leg atop my other one, using it to push me back down. “Did I say to get up?”

“Use your words, Jade.”

I grinned when she growled, her lip grating between her teeth. It seemed she wanted to hit me with another one of her snarky comebacks, but she tried her best to fight the urge and push it down. “I want you,” she replied, removing her leg.

Was it bad that I enjoyed toying with her in this way? It wasn’t that I needed her to beg for it, but it seemed she wasn’t the best at asking for favors , as she referred to them. “Tell me exactly what you want.”

She placed her hands in my hair and tugged, pulling me right where she wanted me—at her center. “I want you to fuck me with your tongue. I need to feel you between my legs and on my clit.”

My heartbeat was going at a rapid pace in my chest as my cock twitched with her candor, the bold way she asked for what she wanted. “That mouth of yours is a beautiful fucking thing.”

She licked her lips, parted them, and exhaled, her hot breath hitting me squarely in the face. “You have no idea the things this mouth can do.”

My jaw twitched as I tried my best to control things.

At this rate, I was going to have a completely unbearable boner.

This wasn’t about me, though. This was about Jade and giving her what she needed.

And yet, I couldn’t help myself. “Don’t leave me in suspense.

” Motherfucker, I was a glutton for punishment. An idiot, plain and simple.

She bent down slightly and massaged my scalp as she continued raking her hands through my hair. “I give great head,” she responded in a low, seductive voice that had my pulse speeding up.

Fuck.

Me.