Page 20 of Wicked Temptations
When I straightened, Ash was watching me like the hunter he’d been playing at all season. He still looked hungry, like once wasn’t enough. Like he wanted to go again right here, consequences be damned.
My cock twitched despite having just come. Traitor.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I said.
“Like what?”
“Like you want round two.”
His mouth curved into a grin. “What if I—”
“Don’t.” I cut him off, my voice sharper than intended. “Don’t make this into something it’s not.”
His jaw clenched, and I watched him rearrange his body, straightening and crossing his arms over his chest. “What is it then?”
“What it is,” I said, “is we both needed to get it out of our systems. That’s all.”
He nodded slowly. Good, he understood. No expectations meant no one got hurt.
“Right.” He adjusted his own holster, no longer meeting my eyes. “Out of our systems.”
I moved past him, deliberately brushing against him on the way. “But that guy you were talking to earlier,” I said. “Tell him you’re busy on the weekend.”
Ash’s laugh was low and dangerous. “That an order?”
“Take it however you want.” I glanced back at him, and whatever he saw in my face made his eyes darken. “But if Isee him touching you again, I won’t be responsible for what happens.”
For a moment, I thought he was about to call me out on my bullshit. Might point out that possessiveness implied something more than just sex against a wall. Especially when I’d ended up being the one to take it up the ass.
But instead, he just smiled, all teeth and challenge that made him sinfully attractive.
“Guess we’ll find out.”
***
I barely slept.
Every time I closed my eyes, I felt Ash’s hands on me, his mouth and teeth biting me. The marks on my throat were visible in the bathroom mirror when I got up, dark and obvious. They should have pissed me off or made me stress about covering them up before work. Instead, I traced them with my fingers and felt heat curl in my gut.
By the time Tuesday evening rolled around, I was a mess. I showed up early, which was a mistake, because Ash was already in the changing room. He looked up when I walked in, and his eyes went immediately to my throat.
I hadn’t covered the marks.
Dark satisfaction crossed his face before he went back to getting dressed without saying anything. His silence just added to the tension between us, the space filled with all the things we never voiced out loud.
The other performers arrived in drips and drabs, filtering in with the quiet energy of night shift workers adjusting to being awake. I waited for someone to notice, to say something about the obvious bite mark on my throat. It was only Riley who did a double-take and flashed one of her manic grins.
“Rough weekend?” she asked.
“Something like that.”
She didn’t push, just headed to her locker. I relaxed slightly. Maybe I could get away with this. Maybe no one had to know.
Except.
Except I left them visible on purpose, hadn’t I? I could’ve worn a turtleneck. Could’ve thrown on concealer. Instead, I’d walked in here wearing a black t-shirt that showedeverything. I was practically daring someone to call me out and ask uncomfortable questions, and god, that was fucked up.
I tried not to think about it and did my best to lose myself in my performance. It was pretty busy for a Tuesday night, but we were getting closer to Halloween now, and as much as I was loath to admit it, Ash’s presence on the team had a larger draw than Taylor’s ever had.
