Page 70 of Barristers & Bones

I took his nonresponse as a yes. “Does anyone know where Lionel is?”

“Not specifically right now, but we’re narrowing his location down.”

“Do you know why Klim paired Roman and me together?”

Gideon’s expression didn’t change, but I sensed a shift in the room. “I wouldn’t venture to speculate. You and Roman make a good pair, you know. I’ll help you plan a wedding celebration when things quiet down and we neutralize the threat.”

I shook my head. “You don’t need to do that, but thank you for the offer. When the police find Lionel, we’re getting the marriage annulled.”

Roman carefully set his coffee down. “Gideon, I’ll see you later at the office. Mywifeand I need to come to an understanding.”

Gideon raised an eyebrow, and his lip quirked. “Luna, I hope you feel better. Good luck.”

When he walked out, I turned to Roman. “Is the forty-eight-hour truce over, then?”

He pushed off the counter and came to me. Swiveling my stool to face him, he leaned in. “Not if you don’t want it to be.” He held up the band and studied me. “You have two choices. You can allow me to put it on, or force me to find another way. But you’re wearing it.”

Goose bumps broke out on my arms from the heat of his stare. “I don’t want to wear it all the time.”

He reached up and ran his fingers down my cheek to my injured jaw, then glided them over my throbbing elbow. “And I don’t want you to wind up in Strack’s hands.”

Cupping the back of my neck, he leaned in and brushed his lips across mine. Then he ran his tongue over my mouth, and I opened for him.

He groaned low in his throat and gave me a long, wet, open-mouthed kiss. When he pulled back, I panted and held onto him.

“Let me keep you safe. Wear the necklace for me,” he whispered softly in my ear.

His breath sent a ripple of lust through me. “Why does it have to lock? I don’t like… being locked in.” My breath hitched.

Until the words came out, I hadn’t realized it wasn’t the tracking device that sent dread through me, it was the lock. He didn’t know about the nightmares or my trauma. Maybe if he knew how scarred I really was, he’d be the one pushing for an annulment.

He stilled for a moment and sucked in a breath, then gathered me into his arms. “Wrap your legs around me.”

My thighs curled around his waist before I registered what I’d done. He pulled me to him and walked us to his bedroom, cradling me to his chest. My heart thudded, and untethered, random thoughts flitted through my mind.

Laying me across his bed, he leaned over and brushed my hair back. Then he ran his hands up my waist, pushing my shirt up to my neck. His fingers brushed lightly across my skin, leaving a trail of goosebumps. When he reached around and unhooked my bra, then leaned over and took a nipple in his mouth, my back arched and my breath stuttered.

He diligently worked me, and when my breast was swollen and throbbing in his mouth, he gave the nipple a firm suck, then went to work on the other. My clit swelled and throbbed, greedy for his attention. I felt empty, so I reached in and unzipped his pants, then slid my hand in and palmed his thick, hard cock. His size gave me pause until he bit my nipple and then flicked it with his tongue.

This was a spectacularly bad idea, and I knew giving in to my lust for him would end in pain and heartbreak. But I’d never ached inside for a cock before. Never felt that emptiness in my pussy that I’d read about in novels or heard other women describe. But I understood it now.

Stroking my thumb across the tip of his shaft, I ran it through his pre-cum.

His hips bucked. “I need to fuck you like I need my next breath. Say yes.”

I exhaled a long breath and admitted the truth. “Yes. I want you.”

His mouth slanted over mine, and he devoured me in a hot, carnal kiss. Then he crawled off, pulled down my shorts and thong, yanked his own clothes off, and came over me. His hand cupped my slit, and he pushed a finger inside.

“You’re soaked.” My hips thrust up to meet his hand, and he smirked and worked another finger in. “Look at you, panting for my cock like my good, slutty girl.”

My eyes rolled back and my neck arched when he called me that as he worked his fingers inside me. “Please, I need you.”

“Say it. Tell me exactly what you want–exactly what you need.”

“You, inside me. I need your hard–” I gasped as he replaced his fingers with his hot, solid length, and even though I was soaked, he had to work to get inside me.

“Fuuck me, your wet little pussy is choking my cock.”

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