Page 34 of Steal My Breath Away

His eyes blazed liquid heat. “You’re a bad girl.”

“You have no idea how bad I can be.” I trailed my fingers over the stubble on his jaw, rough with a five-o’clock shadow. “I’m not the Haley you left back home.”

“Haley is the last girl I would ever want to be with. She’s just a kid playing dress-up.”

I pushed away the memory of Ace’s words from a night when I was sixteen and crushing on him so hard I didn’t care if Matt found out. It was a long time ago, and there was no point dredging up the past humiliation of learning what he really thought of me. That Ace didn’t want that Haley. But the hard ridge beneath Ace’s fly told me that things had changed. Could I have him for just one night and put everything else behind me? I appreciated his heartfelt apology, but they were just words, and the pain of the broken trust between us was still there, although maybe not quite as sharp.

He groaned and buried his face in my neck, making me even hotter. “Be my bad girl, Haley.”

Answer: yes.

“I’m already your bad girl.” I slid my hands under his shirt and peeled it off his body. His skin was warm and slightly tanned, ridged with muscle and a six-pack that just begged to be licked. “I jumped out the window, remember? I would have escaped from Maverick to come to your hotel with you.”

His hands tightened around me. “That kind of behavior needs to be addressed. It can’t happen again.”

I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to be climbing out my bedroom window again. Aside from the fact that it wasn’t as easy as it hadbeen when I was fifteen, I wasn’t oblivious to the danger and had been careful to stay in the bushes near the window where I’d be able to get Ace’s attention if anyone came by. This was a one-time thing. Ace was an itch I wanted to scratch. I didn’t need anything more.

“What are you going to do?” I asked, breathless.

“First, I’m going to fuck you the way I always imagined.” He stood, lifting me against him, and walked us over to the desk. He settled me on the cold, hard surface, and stood between my spread legs. “And then I’m going to punish you for putting yourself at risk, and then I’ll fuck you again but I’ll take my time. Are you good with that? I need to hear you say it.”

I couldn’t answer fast enough. “Yes. I’m good with that.”

Ace opened his buckle and ripped his belt off with a crack that made my eyes glaze over and my mouth water.

“She likes that,” he said, his voice dangerously soft.

“She does.”

“Do you like this?” His hand moved between my legs, cupping me before he pushed my wet panties aside and slid two fingers inside me.

My back arched at the delicious intrusion. “Very much.”

“And this?” He thumbed my clit and my mind went quiet. All the noise disappearing as lust infused my brain.

“S’good.” I could barely get the words out as he pumped his fingers and circled my clit in teasing strokes.

“You’re so wet,” he groaned. “I want to fuck you so deep.”

“Please do. We don’t have much time. You made a very bad decision and ordered something to eat when there is plenty to eat right here.”

“Christ.” He groaned, and the desperation in his voice, the slow, steady thrust of his fingers, took me to the edge in a heartbeat. “If you keep talking like that I—”

“What?” I asked, my heart pounding in anticipation. “Tell me.”

“I’ll lose control.”

“I would pay money to see that, but since I’m almost nakedand have no cash hidden on me, I can offer you this.” I took his free hand and placed it on my breast.

“I always wondered what you were hiding under your clothes.” He withdrew his other hand and squeezed both my breasts, thumbs running roughly over my nipples. “You have beautiful breasts.”

“Thank—” My words were lost in a groan as he yanked my hips forward and leaned down to take my nipple in his mouth, sucking so hard white-hot heat shot through my veins.

A delicious shudder ran through my body. I’d never been manhandled before, never been treated with such delectable roughness. The men I’d been with had been gentle and caring. I never realized until that moment that what I really wanted was to be taken, my body devoured out of blazing need.

“Maybe we should wait.” His carnal gaze as he looked me up and down made me hot all over. “I should take my time with you, give your sweet pussy the attention it deserves.”

“No waiting. Not the first time.” Some part of me was struck by the irony of a person who rarely stopped talking being rendered incapable of giving more than two- or three-word answers. “Your turn to strip.”

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