Page 59 of Ghost

His lips brush mine—a breath away. I wait for him to pull back and disappoint me again. My heart races to try and catch up before he does. But right as he shifts back, I grab his wrist, and it shatters his resistance.

Ghost’s lips meet mine in a brutal kiss. The full force of his irritation floods out. Anger that I won’t let this go. Frustration that he can’t hold back. He punishes me with his kiss as the stubble on his jaw roughly rubs my skin.

But I don’t pull away. I grab his face and kiss him deeper.

He tips my head back, holding my jaw and claiming me. His fingers pinch my cheeks, forcing my mouth open, and his tongue tastes like whiskey. His kiss deepens, and it turns into something more intimate.

“Fuck, Luna,” he mumbles against my mouth as he pulls back, brushing his lips over mine. “What are you doing to me?”

I drag my hands down the sides of his neck, sliding my fingers over his cut as I trail lower. But just as mypalm grazes the large bulge growing behind his zipper, he snatches my wrist and stops me.

I wait for him to pull my hand away, but he doesn’t. He holds my palm over him, pressing it to his thickening cock.

“How long has it been, Marcus?” I rub my palm over his length.

A growl vibrates in his chest. “Five years. Give or take.”

“Are you really going to keep that countdown ticking forever?” I tighten my hold over him, aching to feel him inside me. “Or am I worth breaking that streak for?”

His gaze softens as he looks down at me. “Worth it?”

“Or, you know—” I stutter, suddenly nervous that was the wrong choice of words because what if I’m not?

Up until now, everyone in my life has considered me disposable. Using me for my worth and then throwing me out. I don’t know if I can handle Ghost feeling that way about me.

He dips down for a kiss. It’s gentler this time, even if it’s somehow even more intense. And when he pulls back, he stares deep into my eyes.

“You’re worth more than you can comprehend, Luna. More than a man like me is owed in twenty lifetimes. You’re worth bargaining my own damn soul.”

Warmth floods my chest with his words. Tears sting my eyes, but I manage to hold them back. I think I’ve loved this man as long as I’ve known him, but to hear him say that makes everything swell to the surface.

“Then stop holding back, Marcus. I need you.” I try to reach for a kiss, but he resists me. “I know you’ve keptyour distance, and I respect your reasons for it. But I can’t keep doing this. My whole life, things have been fleeting. I can’t be just another person’s temporary landing place.”

Pressing my lips together, I wish I’d kept that to myself. But Ghost brings out every insecurity. He reveals every truth. Which is what that is—if he can’t give me more, I can’t keep trying forever.

“Fuck me.” It’s nearly a whisper. “Don’t you want to?”

“Want to?” He releases my jaw, dragging his hand to my throat and pinning my back to the bed. “You don’t understand, Luna, and that’s the whole fucking problem. Wanting to fuck you doesn’t even begin to describe what I want from you.”

Ghost keeps one hand on my throat, using the other to reach between my legs. He pulls my panties to the side, slowly dragging his knuckles over my pussy. His touch is barely a whisper when I’m desperate for the pressure that will bring me my release. He skates his thumb up and down my wet core, teasing a moan from my lips, and only then does he sink two fingers in.

“Want you?” He brushes his mouth over mine with the gentlest graze that has my nerves prickling. “I want you so bad there’s no getting enough of you. If you give me one taste, I’ll swallow you whole. I have control over most things in my life, but needing you—craving you—isn’t one of them. You like to run, but if you give yourself to me, I can’t let you. I’ll hold you so tight you can’t fucking breathe.That’swhat you make me want. You hand yourself over, there’s no going back.”

His confession should terrify me because it’s a threat as much as it’s a promise. And he probably expects it to scare me away, but instead, I tip my knees open, hoping he means what he said.

“If you want me, then do something about it.”

“Fuck.” Ghost releases my neck and grabs my thighs, widening them as he dives between them.

His tongue skates in a circle over my clit, teasing me before he fucks me with it. I grip the comforter overhead, trying to hold on. But his warmth, paired with the rough scratch of the stubble on his jaw, makes my hips buck. For a man who’s spent five years refusing to touch a woman, he kisses me between the legs like he’s after a reward.

Ghost hums against my pussy as he drives two fingers in, and when he sucks on my clit, my fingers fly into his hair. He moves from sweet to rough. From slow to intense. Ghost watches me as he drags his tongue up my pussy, and I ache with the need for him to give me something to grip.

“Take off your shirt,” he commands.

I do as he says, stripping off my shirt and bra while he rips my underwear down my legs.

I’m completely exposed. And while I’ve imagined this, nothing compares to him standing over me, stripping his cut off his thick shoulders. He drapes it on the back of a chair before grabbing the back of his T-shirt and tugging it off in one swoop. The planes of his tattooed chest ripple with the moonlight shining through the window, and every inked inch of muscle is bare to me. His tattooedfingers slip to his jeans, and he strokes his cock, watching me wiggle in desperation.

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