Page 38 of The Penalty

She buries her face in her drink, moaning as she takes a swallow. A slash of the cream marks her upper lip when she comes up for air. On anyone else, it would be amusing. On her, it’s fucking delicious.

Now she’s taunting me. I reach over to wipe it away, slipping my thumb between her lips when I’ve got it. Her mouth is warm and wet, as she sucks the cream off.

“My cock is going to love slipping between those dirty lips of yours.”

The waiter does a double take as he sets our desserts down in front of us, and Cece giggles. At least we know he’s not a ghost. Something finally cut through his ennui.

Don’t love the attention, though. That was for her ears only. I hunch over my mousse, studying the patterns in the shaved chocolate.

“Cock? I’m just here for the dessert, right?” Cece has no problem pulling the attention back to herself. As if she can sense my unease.

The waiter makes a humph noise, stiffens his spine and walks off muttering about college kids, causing her to erupt into giggles.

“Poor guy.” I shake my head at her.

She laughs, scooping up a mouthful of her apple concoction. My mouth waters, watching her slide the morsel between her lips, but it’s not the caramel oozing off her fork that’s got meinterested.

She’s half finished hers as I’m taking small bites, savoring every mouthful of the sweet but light mousse. I jerk it back toward my chest when her fork swoops in to steal a bite.

“I’m so sorry,” she says, pulling away.

Guilt steals my air as the joy slides off her face, leaving it crumpled and unsure. I did that to her.

I shut my eyes. “It’s not you. It’s me. A food thing.” The explanation is lame, but I can’t tell her why I’m so protective of my food. Why I savor every bite, and begrudge anyone who tries to take any? No matter how innocent. I know she’d give me her entire portion without batting an eye, and here I am, a massively damaged asshole unable to share. But there’s no way she can understand the way I grew up. She and Beau have never suffered a single day of hunger in their lives. She’d never understand.

“Oh. Well still. I’m sorry. Do you want a taste of mine? You don’t even need to trade. I probably shouldn’t finish this entire thing, anyway.”

“Thanks, but I’m good. Why shouldn’t you finish it?”

Her head tilts at me, and she’s staring at me like I’m not the sharpest blade on the ice. “Um.” I follow her hands as she waves them in front of her body. “Don’t need all those calories.”

It dawns on me. She’s referring to that gorgeous body. As if there’s something negative about those curves. “I hope you’re not saying what I think you’re saying?”

“That I could stand to lose some weight?”

“Don’t say that. Your body is perfection. Like everything else about you. If I hear you saying anything negative about itagain, I’m going to have to have to show you just how wrong you are. Those thighs, those hips. That fucking ass. They’ve been haunting my dreams all month.”

The deep pink flush of her cheeks doesn’t give away whether she’s embarrassed or turned on by my words, but the way she’s squirming in her seat gives me some idea. I bet if I slid my hand down her pants right now, I’d find her wet.

“Maybe so, but it’s kind of hard to shake a lifetime of people telling you that you need to lose weight. I try to be all strong and confident, but you know, sometimes those insecurities creep in.”

“I get it.” She arches a brow at me. “Not that, but your past creeping in to tear you down.”

Her lips are pressed together, and she’s frowning. That’s not where we want this night going. Maybe I need to show her how excited I am to make her come.

I mirror her action from before, slipping a hand up her thigh. She’s wearing jeans under the Lakeview jersey, but there’s an obvious damp patch even through the thick fabric. She lets out the softest moan when I make contact, but it’s not enough. It’s a bit of a struggle to snap open the button, but I pull it off one handed.

Her eyes drop to my left hand that’s still scooping tiny bites of mousse into my mouth.

“You’ve got skills on and off the ice.”

“Too many words.” I need to get her to the point where the only word she can whisper through those lips is my name.

As soon as I’ve got her zipper gaping open, I slide a slow trail over her mound until I reach the top of her cotton panties.

“This okay?” I ask.

She nods. “God, please.”

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