Page 41 of Hart of Redemption
I rubbed my nose over hers, testing the waters to see if she would run. The other night, I had her caged between my legs. I didn’t at the moment. She should beat feet if she knew what was best for her.
She moaned ever so lightly, a beautiful sound that massaged my soul.
“You should run, babe. Run like the wind from me,” I whispered.
“I know,” she said on an exhale. “I can’t, and I don’t know why.”
My fingers were tangled in her silky strands, holding her in my grasp as she gazed up at me.
“One last chance,” I warned her and myself, but I wasn’t going anywhere. My feet were toe to toe with hers and glued to the floor. My body would beat the crap out of me if I walked away. My heart might stop if I did as well.
She didn’t move, her tongue sliding out to lick her lips. As if that was her answer to engage, I pounced.
My mouth crashed to hers as I dove in and took what was mine. And whether she knew it or not, shewasmine. I would destroy any guy who dared to lay a hand or even his damn mouth on her.
The second her tongue collided with mine, I was transported to another planet. Her and me. Wild and free. No guns. No cartel. No gang members.
She shook slightly in my grasp, tense and skittish.
I slid one hand to her lower back and pulled her to me.
She mewled, a sound that drove my dick to jerk in my pants.
I continued to tease, take, and devour the best thing I’d ever tasted, despite her unwillingness to engage.
“Duke,” she said in a pained voice. “Is it terrible that I want what I can’t have?”
I hedged away, inhaling her vanilla scent. “Not at all. Forbidden fruit is always decadent,” I whispered, nibbling on the shell of her ear. “I want to throw you up against a wall, strip the clothes off you, and run my tongue over every inch of your gorgeous body.”
She turned her head toward me until our mouths were aligned.
Then she struck. We were all tongues, hungry for one another in a kiss that was wet, wild, and sloppy. I hardly did anything like this with the women I slept with. The time in bed with them was nothing but cold fucking. No emotion behind the act at all. Yet a sensuous kiss was all it took to send me into the stratosphere.
I was fucked. My heart knew it. My body knew it. Even my damn brain knew I couldn’t walk away from her after this.
There was something about Joy that affected me far more than even Savannah. Suddenly, guilt was a razor’s edge, slicing my veins one by one.
Someone behind me gasped. “Duke?” Grace’s voice was loaded with shock and a whole lot of excitement. Too much for my liking.
Joy and I froze, mouths fused, until Joy giggled, a sound that gave me goose bumps. What was happening to me?
Sighing, I pivoted on my heel, intent on kicking my sister out and picking up where I’d left off. But that glimmer in Grace’s eyes stopped me. I couldn’t allow her to think Joy and I would become a couple. On the surface, Joy was everything I liked in a woman—tough, tomboyish, beautiful, and not afraid to stand up to me. But I wouldn’t dare risk her life with the shit I was caught up in.
“I knew you two had chemistry. You make the perfect couple,” Grace gushed.
“Please don’t get your hopes up.” Joy took the words right out of my mouth.
“Why are you two fighting the connection you have?” Grace planted her hands on her hips. “I don’t understand. It’s clear you two like each other. So why deny it?”
I could feel my forehead creasing. Grace knew exactly why I couldn’t or wouldn’t start a relationship, especially after the recent debacle of the stolen guns.
“Fine,” she huffed. “You’re both missing out.”
“Missing out on what?” Dillon asked as he waltzed in. “So, this is the pretty lady who snagged Duke’s attention. I see why.”
Joy hugged herself.
Dillon padded deeper into the bathroom, his dark eyes appraising. “Joy, I missed you when you came in. I’m Dillon, the good brother.”
