Page 31

Jade

I was brushing my teeth alongside Red as though we were an old, married couple, and it was both sickening and sweet. Geez, you spent too much time with these Newport people, and you began to see rainbows as miracles with pots of gold on the other end.

My stomach churned, and I was ninety-nine point nine percent positive it wasn’t due to the lobster we’d had for dinner.

“You’re still not going to talk to me?” Red asked, rinsing off his electric toothbrush before packing it up along with his water flosser while I still brushed.

Who the heck brought one of those on vacation anyway? Wait. Could you call this a vacation? Me, I brought a disposable toothbrush so I had less stuff to pack for the trip home. Don’t worry. Up until this point, I’d only used my intelligence for good.

Anyway, back to the matter of Red’s question.

I pulled my hair back with my hand, so I could bend down and spit without wearing it, and finally acknowledged his words.

“Let’s see. You just now decided to answer the question I asked you when the ceremony was starting.

I’m brushing my teeth. I heard you. I heard how your meeting with Mark went, and now I’m spitting.

” I brought water from the faucet to my mouth and gargled before spitting again, this time a line of saliva dangling on my chin.

Red groaned. “I wish that was from something else.”

I cleaned myself up, put the toothbrush away, and washed my hands. “I don’t gag or drool when I give head,” I admitted, matter-of-factly. No reason to mince words. “Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I have somewhat of a big mouth, and I swallow just fine.”

“Oh, I’ve noticed,” Red murmured, looking off to the side.

“I heard that,” I snapped, shooting him a deadly look.

He grinned. “If I wanted it to be a secret, I would have kept it to myself.” Then he tapped the counter and raked a hand through his hair. “I’m going to bed.”

Spinning around, I grabbed him by the arm to stop him. Immediately it felt like a jolt of electricity shot through my body. I flitted my eyes between my hand on his forearm and his eyes, which were staring intently at me.

I felt charged, and all the electricity suddenly landed right in my vagina because it was throbbing. Hard. “We have no choice.” But to sleep together because I’m going to die from my needs not being met.

He cocked a brow. “Come again?”

What again? I would have loved to come once tonight. See, yet another reason I didn’t like to share a bed. You couldn’t bring any reinforcements (read: toys) to handle matters. And, no, my own fingers never seemed to do the job, so that wasn’t an option.

I cleared my throat, pulling my hand away from his arm so I could think clearer.

“I just mean, we have no choice but to continue acting like we’re engaged.

” I swallowed and tried to ignore the fact that my lips were dry because if I licked them, I knew it’d grab his attention, and then I’d have no willpower.

I’d pounce him like a vampire desperate to keep themselves fed.

Vampires didn’t exist, but you got the idea.

I was famished for Red. I wanted his lips on mine, sucking mine, nipping and tugging my bottom lip until it was raw and swollen.

What.

Was.

Wrong.

With.

Me?

“Right,” Red replied, scanning my face for some hidden meaning.

Sorry, buddy, but I had a steely facial expression when I wanted to. You were never going to be able to read me and know that I wanted—

Red was gentle, slow in his pursuit at first, brushing his lips across mine, trying to make sure I wanted this, too, and that he didn’t misread my signals. I didn’t think I was giving him any signals, but maybe he read me better than I thought he could.

When he realized I wasn’t pulling away, he entangled his hands in my hair as his tongue shot out to trace my lower lip, licking it once, twice.

I couldn’t take this slow stuff for another second. Using my tongue to signal what I really wanted—greedy, fast, and hot—I darted it out and glided it over his.

Catching on, he met me greediness for greediness, hunger for hunger, and intensity for intensity. The tip of his tongue danced with mine before he opened his mouth wide enough to allow me to be sucked into his mouth. If you looked too quick, you wouldn’t know where my mouth started and his ended.

Placing a hand between us, I let my hand wander up his shirt and graze his chest, loving the way his sculpted abs rippled and how they felt beneath my palm.

Knowing it was going to be near impossible for either of us to stop, he removed his hand from my hair and cupped either side of my hips, holding on tight and hoisting me up on the bathroom counter.

The bathroom counter wasn’t nearly large enough to have sex. I’d hit the back of my head on the mirror so many times I’d wind up with a concussion.

I tried to think rationally and let the fog of desire for Red clear away a bit before pressing the palm of my hand down on his chest and pulling away slightly. He got the signal and ended things fully, backing away and running a hand along his jawline.

“All those kisses we put on for show are child’s play compared to what we do in private,” he said, his eyes wide as he looked a bit boggled. “I don’t want to make you keep pretending.”

Wait, what? That was out of the blue, and if I was being honest, it rattled me.

I did not see that one coming. If you had, giving a girl a heads-up would have been nice.

“What do you mean?” I brought my hand to my lips and touched where his once were, wanting nothing more than to tell him to get his ass over here so we could do that all over again, but this time not stop.

I refrained, though. “Red, I want to do this.”

He laughed wickedly, almost in a condescending way. Then he narrowed his eyes and shook his head as he looked me dead in the eyes. “You didn’t know it was going to last this long. I’m letting you off the hook. Why aren’t you taking the win?”

* * *

Reddington

I had to do this.

Let me explain myself, though, so I didn’t come across less intelligent than I was.

I wanted Jade. I’d never made it a secret. Well, Jade didn’t know, and neither did anyone else, but I felt like I’d been pretty forthcoming with myself, so I’d consider that a victory.

But I didn’t want Jade like this.

If I was going to win her over, I needed to know that part of her wanted me. Even if it was in the fake sense of the word. I’d take it. For now.

I wasn’t gluttonous, and I didn’t ask for much. I only needed an inch, not a mile.

Her lashes fluttered, and it looked like she’d just been doused with a bucket of ice-cold water.

I wished I could take a cold as fuck shower right about now.

After that kiss, after being close to Jade for any amount of time, my balls ached, and my cock wanted to spring free.

It told me by pressing hard against the front of my pants.

Fuck. I’d always thought it, but Jade was really going to be the death of me.

“I don’t want you to let me off the hook,” Jade confessed, blinking rapidly as she hopped off the counter. “You’re going to get this investment. Mark is an asshole. He’s trying to get you to fold, and although I don’t play poker, I will not lose this game.”

I grinned, in awe of the incredibly fierce and strong-willed woman in front of me. Watch out world because Jade Logan had a fire deep in her belly and a great head on her shoulders. And I wasn’t just saying that because she was hot as hell. Although, she was.

“So we’re going to do this for a little longer? And you’re okay with going along with what Sherrilyn wants with the charity event?” I assumed so because Jade always thought shit through, but I had to hear her say it.

She shrugged. “She’s having me come on so late.

Don’t you think this thing is probably almost done being planned?

What could there be left to do anyway? Really, I’m drawing the large stick.

” She licked her lips as her gaze fell to my cock, and it twitched behind my pants. “In more ways than one, I’m sure.”

Oh, it was so game on. I went over and scooped her up, carrying her over my shoulder caveman-style.

“Red,” she shrieked, her ass pressed to my face.

So I patted it before flopping her backward onto the bed.

Her chest was rising and falling at a rapid pace, and big fucking shocker, she wasn’t wearing a bra. The longer we stayed there, her inhaling and exhaling deeply and me staring at her, my eyes devouring her inch by inch, her nipples became more visible through the thin fabric of her night shirt.

“I think we should move in together,” Jade said, jolting me from my eye fucking mission.

Talk about a turn of events. I never thought she’d say that.

* * *

Jade

Shit. I couldn’t believe I just said that. I’d say I’d gotten caught up in the moment, which maybe I had, but I also knew that this could be good for Red. “Maybe Mark isn’t buying what we’re selling. Maybe we have to sell it more,” I explained.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked, his eyes searching mine.

My pulse quickened. “I wouldn’t have said it if I wasn’t.” Lies. I was beginning to regret it more and more, but you knew what they said—if you went back on something as simple as your word, then what kind of person were you? “It’s a good idea.”

“I know it is.” He brought his hand to the back of his neck and pulled on it. “I thought of it before you, actually.”

I rolled my eyes and sat up a little. “Unbelievable. Are you really going to try and take credit for my idea? You didn’t say it, so we’ll never be sure if you thought of it first or not.”

“But I did.”

“Your word against mine.”