Page 34 of Hooked

“Hey. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

I’ve dropped my water, and once again I am soaking wet in Vinny’s arms.

“Sia?”

His voice is husky with sleep. The panic subsides, and my libido takes over.

He doesn’t have a shirt on.

Just soft cotton pants slung low on his hips.

I’m willing myself to say something but instead stare at his muscular chest. He’s got abs like you see in the movies, probably from all the physical labor he does. A layer of hair covers the upper part of his chest, and I want to run my fingers over it, feel it beneath my fingertips. Really, I want to touch all of him if I’m being honest.

“You alright?”

“Yes,” I choke out finally. “I was just getting some water. Not quite the way I wanted to absorb it.” I look down at my nightgown, which clings to me scandalously. My nipples stand at attention, more from the large, handsome, dripping-with-testosterone man in front of me than the cold dampness of the water.

“Let me get a towel,” he says. But he doesn’t move, just rakes his eyes over me in a way that makes my whole body quiver. Heat pools between my legs. We’ve been teasing each other all day.

He stares at me for a few, long seconds before disappearing into the kitchen. I pick up my glass and follow him. He pours a glass himself—I suppose that’s why he had come down in the first place—but then he pushes it back on the counter.

I place mine in the dishwasher. Should I apologize? I don’t know the right take here. He seems a little dazed, probably still half asleep, so I pick up a towel and leave to mop up the water.

He finds me on my hands and knees, and the intensity of his gaze almost frightens me.

“I don’t want Uncle Danny to slip,” I whisper.

He pulls me up to my feet, holding me by the elbows inches away from him. I drop the towel. We’re under the archway where the kitchen meets the front hall, and the heat I feel from him is scalding. But I want more. My hands itch to caress every inch of his body. I press my thighs together, trying to stave off my desire.

“I’m trying so hard,” he says, his voice caught between a whisper and a growl.

Trying hard for what? To avoid those messes he mentioned earlier?

My breath hitches, coming in small gasps. His eyes are dark. The tension and closeness of his body leave me light-headed. I want him so badly, and I want him to want me just as desperately. He’s holding me so firmly that I can’t move, can’t touch him. It’s maddening, and I let out a small, frustrated whimper.

His control snaps in an instant.

He crushes me against him, kissing me with a fierceness that makes my knees shake. His still calmness is gone, and I respond eagerly, opening myself up to him.

He sweeps his tongue into my mouth, his hands roaming down my back and over my ass, squeezing firmly. Our tongues and teeth clash, and I suck his lower lip into my mouth as I slowly draw my knee up, running my inner thigh over the outside of his leg. I’m too short to get what I want, though, and his erection presses into my belly rather than into my throbbing center.

“Sia.” His voice is a warning. Clearly, it’s been a long time for him, too. But I don’t care. I want him. I pull his head down so I can whisper in his ear again.

“Please, Vinny. Touch me and see how much I want you.”

His cock jerks against my belly.

“Goddamnit,” he rasps, pushing me away from him. He’s got a frenzied look in his eyes that makes me even wetter. But he’s fighting to get that control back. He’s breathing heavily now and draws a hand over his beard.

The intensity of his desire followed by the hard stop makes me feel faint.

I stumble over and sit on the entryway bench. I put my head in my hands for a second, waiting for the dizziness to pass.

When I open my eyes, Vinny’s squatting on the floor next to me. He takes my left hand and presses a hot kiss to my palm.

“Don’t think for a moment that I don’t want you too,” he growls. He traces a finger over the sweetheart neckline of my nightgown, over the curve of my breasts, before gently sliding one of the straps back over my shoulder.

“I want you so goddamn bad. You know I do.”

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