Page 29 of Sapphires and Snakes
“Ugh.” Zarina hides under the covers.
I would much prefer to slip back under them with her, to wrap myself in her warmth and keep her there all day. Instead, I stuff my hands in my pockets. “You don’t have to go.”
She peeks back out. “I know.”
“It might be more…” I consider my next words carefully. “Beneficial if you didn’t.”
Her eyes narrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You and Marcus are flint and steel. Every time you come together, you spark. And not in a good way.”
She purses her lips, as if deciding whether that was insulting at all. Her eyes trail over me, navel to nose, her jaw relaxing with a hitch. “And what are we?”
I step forward and slide a hand over her cheek, into her hair. “We’re already on fire, princess.”
“Then why am I so cold?” she pouts.
“Do you need another blanket?”
“I needyou.” Zarina sits up and lets the blanket fall to expose her naked torso. The cold air immediately pimples her skin, pebbles her nipples. She brushes her hair over one shoulder to hang down her chest. “Blow it off. Stay with me.”
My hand still cups the side of her head, my fingers flexing into her scalp. “Princess,” I groan.
Her pout deepens. “Please.”
“Last night wasn’t enough?” My voice is low and gruff as I recall tying her hands to the headboard, strapping a vibrator to her pretty, pink clit, and edging her as I rode her face until I came. Only then did I finally let her climax. And now she’s asking for more.
Her brown eyes darken. “Last night only stoked the fire.”
I really shouldn’t. Can’t, actually. But I also can’t move away, my feet stuck, muscles clenched. I want to pull up a chair and conduct a symphony of her moans, tell her where to touch herself, make her ask permission to move, to come, to touch. My face is blank as I flip through all the ways I could stay and indulge myself in Zarina Gallo, but inside, I’m burning. Alight with the fire we set between us.
God, I want to, but I really can’t.
I force my hand to relax and drop from her hair, my feet to step back. “After the meeting.”
“Now.” She reaches for my wrist.
I snatch hers first, thumb stroking the tendons there. “You’re making demands now?”
She snorts. “Obviously.”
I shake my head and finally move. I slide my free hand over her legs, still under the duvet, up her bare ribs, across her naked chest, avoiding her breasts, to her neck. Her breaths are heavier, expectation filling her lungs.
I grip her jaw tight. “After. Be a good girl and be patient, hm?”
She rolls her eyes. “You’re such a tease.”
I drag my thumb across her bottom lip. “Don’t touch yourself, okay?”
“And if I do?”
“Waiting half a day will feel like a piece of cake compared to what I’ll do.” I release her lip. “Or not do.”
She tries to bite my thumb. “Mean and a tease.”
I only smirk before angling her chin to kiss her. “I’ll be back this afternoon. Let me know if you prefer to attend the mediation or abstain.”
“I prefer tocome,” she grumbles.
