Page 40 of Reckless Kiss

Chapter 13

The surge of possession I felt at Esme’s confession was not small. In fact, I might even say it was all consuming. “I’m not leaving.”

Her eyes flared and her mouth opened with what I could only assume was another attempt at shocking me into leaving. So I placed my index finger over her lips. “You can stop all that nonsense. I don’t care about any of it.” I stepped into her, brought our bodies flush. “I need you too, Esme. You’re killing me each and every time you push me away. I won’t stand for it any longer.”

Color rose in her cheeks, a distinct flush of arousal spread across her neck and breasts. Because of what I said? Most likely. She liked when I challenged her, but she also responded beautifully to being told what to do. She was a complicated little rebel like that.

I kissed her then, showing her I meant to have her, giving her an opportunity to demand I leave. She kissed me back, slid her hands up my chest, over my shoulders, and behind my neck. So I took the kiss deeper, grabbed her ass, drank in her moan.

“You were brilliant tonight.” I pulled back enough to slow us down. At the rate we were moving I’d have her naked in seconds. Not that being naked was a bad thing. I wasn’t leaving this office until she was satisfied and ready to accept the fact that I wanted more than a few stolen moments.

I wanted all of her moments.

“I didn’t do anything.” Her eyes blinked open, arms still around me neck.

“I suppose I should rephrase then. The presentation highlighted your brilliance.” I ducked down to place a soft kiss on her cheek. “Your brain is sexy as fuck.”

Her eyes drifted closed for a moment, her breath turning raspy. “In crowds and with friends you maintain your hybrid American/British English oddities, but when you’re aroused you drop into standard American slang.”

Why oh why did that turn me on so much? “Tell me more, Esme.” I ran my hands down her sides, over that delectable curve from waist to hip, all while sucking softly down her neck. Her head fell back, giving me all the access I needed.

“Many Americans incorrectly believe English is a Latin language because of the number of borrowed words from the French, but English is a Germanic-based language. It was the constant conquering back and forth between the English and the French that necessitated the sharing of common terms, which is why there are so many French terms in standard English, thus causing the confusion over English’s origins.”

I gave her hips a squeeze. “You know a lot about language.”

She smiled and shrugged, shrinking back a bit. “I see patterns. More than is normal or average, or whichever word you prefer.”

Her quick correction from ‘normal’ to ‘average’ told me she’d been informed she wasn’t normal often enough for it to bother her. “I can confirm that you are well above average in every way that matters, Esme. Being normal is boring.”

“Yes, well, tell that to the kid who could predict financial trends just by reading headlines, or accurately guess which teams would be in the playoffs each season.”

“It’s not a guess if you’re studying patterns and leveraging statistics. That’s an informed decision based on available information.” The hair on the back of my neck rose.

She searched my eyes, then nodded once. “True.”

“That’s an amazing skill to come by naturally.” Which made me wonder...“Did your father try to exploit that?”

She froze, just for a moment, just long enough for me to know it was true.

“You’re very good at reading people,” she whispered.

I ran my hand over her collarbone, watching her nerves settle at my touch. “I notice everything about you Esme. I can’t seem to help myself. You’re like a drug. I get high on your responses; I crave to understand the ones I don’t expect. I could study you forever and never get bored.” And because I needed my next fix, I ran my knuckles over the bodice of her dress, watched her tense as I grazed her nipples. “So your father saw that he had his own little financial wizard and what? Used you for guiding his investments?”

I had a very good feeling there was much, much more here, but I needed to start small, get her to trust me with her secrets, understand that I only wanted her, not her abilities.

And trust me she did. As long as I kept touching her, teasing her into a long, drawn out seduction, the information kept tumbling from her mouth. Was it fair to use her pleasure as a truth serum? Probably not. But she could also tell me to leave at any time and she wasn’t.

“I didn’t realize it at first,” she panted as I palmed her breasts and ran circles around her nipples with my thumbs. “I was just a kid babbling at the breakfast table before school as the newspapers were passed around. A few months later I realized Edmund was asking very specific questions, that his sudden interest in speaking to me was motivated by money, not affection.”

The fucking bastard. I hated him more and more. To reward her candor I unzipped her dress and let the top slide down. I mouthed her perfect nipples, causing her to lean back against her desk, thrusting her breasts up for me to feast on.

“And then,” she gasped, “and then he offered to pay me. If I kept talking he’d pay me.”

“How old were you?” I cupped her mound and she moaned in response, so I pressed and rubbed until she was practically crawling onto the desk.

“Thirteen.”

“You weren’t even in high school and he was investing based on your observations?” That was...well it was incredible, but also incredibly sad.

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