Page 12 of The Upgrade

My dick throbs with desire as I gulp back the urge to agree.

There’s only one thing I’d love more than that. It’s a hunger that’s built up all day as I’ve watched her.

“Tell me something, Eve.” I take a step closer, crowding her back toward the bed. “At lunch, when that guy complained about not getting his vegetarian entrée, why did you give him yours?”

Eve blinks like I’m speaking Swahili. “I only pre-ordered the veggie one because it sounded tastier than the other two. I’m not technically a vegetarian.”

“I see.” I take another step closer, brushing a dark swath of hair off her face. “So you sacrificed what you wanted to make someone else happy.”

“I don’t…I mean…” Licking her lips, Eve tips up her chin. “It just made sense. The chicken sounded fine, and that man had?—”

“Had a wish that didn’t trump yours.” Stroking her cheek with my thumb, I look deep in her eyes. “Is that a thing with you, Eve? Prioritizing other people’s desires over yours?”

It’s a gamble, assuming like this. There’s a risk I’m a mansplaining asshole. But the flash in her eyes says I’m right.

She gives a shaky little laugh. “Maybe I just like making other people feel good.”

“A noble trait.” My thumb skims her cheekbone. “What if someone else likes makingyoufeel good?”

She doesn’t respond with words. Eyes locked with mine, she lunges. Her mouth captures mine and I’m so surprised that I stagger.

Recovering fast, I kiss her back, nearly forgetting my plan to take things slowly. Her lips meld with mine, soft and warm, as our tongues skim and tangle.

Gripping my ass, Eve presses her body against me. She starts to slide down, to sink to her knees, but that’s not where I want this to go.

“Eve.” Breaking the kiss, I drag my palms down her arms to capture her hands. Her wrists are so narrow I grip both in one hand. I try to be gentle, fully aware I’m a foot taller than her. Holding her hands at the small of her back, I look deep in her eyes.

“In a hurry?”

“I’m here to get fucked.” Eve licks her lips as she squirms. “You don’t need to bother with the foreplay.”

“What if I want to?” Lifting one finger, I tip her chin higher, exposing her throat. It rolls as she swallows and I dip down to taste her pale skin. “What if I want you begging for it before I slide inside that tight little pussy?”

She jolts in my arms as I kiss my way over her collarbone. I wouldn’t normally go straight to dirty talk, but her story in the limo tipped me off that she’d like it.

Eve deserves to have dirty talk be a little less traumatic.

“Idon’tbeg.” A strangled moan slips out of her. “Not even for you.”

“You will.” I kiss my way down her throat, feeling her shudder in my arms. “You think you want it right now, but I’ll make youneedit.”

“Cocky,” she says, but not like an insult. And her voice is more than a little shaky. “May I have my hands back?”

I’ve still got them pinned behind her. “Why?”

“So I can touch you.”

“Not yet.” I kiss her some more, then come up for air. Keeping her wrists clenched in one hand, I tug the knot at my throat.

“Wh—what are you doing?” Her eyes spark with intrigue, and maybe a little uncertainty.

“Let me make you feel good, Eve.” I walk her back toward the bed with the tie in my fist, leaving little doubt what I’ve got in mind.

She shivers, then nods. “Give it your best shot.”

She sounds plenty cocky herself, but there’s trepidation in her eyes. She’s doing her best not to show she’s affected. Faking bravado.

Eve won’t fake it with me. That’s a fucking promise.

---