Page 40 of Midnight Secrets

I stole another kiss. This time his mouth followed mine when I moved back. “You got a portfolio?”

“I have several.”

“I think you’re safe enough then.”

“Lucrezia…”

“Ash…”

“Ah, fuck it!” His fingers gripped my hair and hauled me against him as his mouth devoured me. I pushed forward until my breasts were pressed into his chest.

“I don’t want you to fuck it,” I taunted. “I need you to fuck me.”

“You should be careful what you wish for,” he grated out.

I kissed him one last time before climbing off his lap and holding my hand out. “Time for bed.”

His fingers wrapped around mine. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

I stared up at him fearlessly. “Not a clue. The banana lessons didn’t extend to this part.”

A smile curved his lips and he grabbed me to throw me over his shoulder. “You are the road to sin and debauchery,” he muttered.

I moved my legs to circle his waist and hold on for dear life.

I’d dreamed about this moment for so long that I never thought it would happen. I would deal with the obstacles he’d throw in my path tomorrow, but tonight belonged only to us.

***

Chapter Sixteen

Lucrezia

My back hit the mattress and Ash settled himself between my legs, his eyes boring holes into my soul.

“My moral compass is broken right now, Angel. Tell me to stop.”

I couldn’t because he was the one man I’d always wanted. Now that I knew him as a person, I couldn’t resist the attraction between us anymore. Ash was more than I ever imagined and I was falling harder for him every single day.

“I can’t,” I whispered. “There’s nothing wrong with your compass.”

His hands pinned my wrists beside my head as he glared down at me. “I’ll hurt you.”

I may not be able to move my arms, but I could move my legs. So, I wrapped them around him. He wanted me to push him away, and I was beginning to understand that was what had happened to him in the past. I refused to do that because I knew what it felt like to be the odd one out in your family and to be judged by your name instead of your talents.

He groaned, his forehead pressing to mine. “You need to let me go.”

“You need to stay with me.” His sapphire gaze bored into mine, confliction in his depths. “Please, Ash, I know you feel what I do.”

This was the crossroad that could take us in two different directions. One would lead us back where we’d been, nothing more than passing acquaintances bound together by mutual friendships. The other would forge a new path that only we could travel. The stakes were high, but the rewards were higher.

I sucked his bottom lip into my mouth and gently bit down. He swallowed and heat gathered in his eyes, burning away all his resistance until the Ash from that morning in my room reappeared. He was the Ash who chatted to me on the phone and sent me texts with photographs he took in nature that I could use for my designs.

My Ash.

His hands released my wrists to cup my face, his lips parted mine as he took control, and I flopped back onto the bed and dragged him with me. From resisting me, it now felt like his hands couldn’t touch me enough. They skimmed over my skin and activated pleasure zones I didn’t know existed. He trailed my top over my head and I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten to pop up earlier and put on the sexy lingerie I brought with me. My normal attire wasn’t what the models wore in the magazine or the women wore in books to seduce men.

Ash’s laugh vibrated against my skin. “This is really inappropriate, but should I really have an erection right now?”

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