Page 100 of Sweet as Sin (Bad Habit 1)
“Michael?” I whispered. Images of our one and only meeting came back to haunt me with startling clarity. The look of hatred in his eyes. The way he’d stood so close to me at the funeral. His inexplicable accusation, followed by his even more bizarre about-face.
That kiss.
Nico’s voice was harsh. “He’s the only one that makes any sense. Though why the fuck he’d be standin’ outside my bedroom door in the middle of the night starin’ at us while we sleep is anyone’s guess.” His arm drew tighter around me. “Be findin’ that out first thing tomorrow mornin’, though,” he growled softly, touching his lips to my hair.
“Okay, I’m going to say something, and I don’t want you to get mad.”
Nico’s entire body fell still. “Say what, exactly?”
If I didn’t know him as well as I did, that tone alone might have shut me up. But I did know him. And, knowing me, I barged ahead full force without thinking too clearly about what damage I might do by not controlling my mouth.
“That you think it’s Michael actually makes me feel a lot better.”
Before I could draw another breath, I was on my back, pinned under Nico’s substantial weight. He stared down at me in cold, controlled fury, his eyes blazing.
Deadly soft, he said, “For future reference, baby, that’s not the kind of thing a man likes to hear his woman say when she’s naked in his bed.”
“I just meant—”
Nico flipped me onto my belly, yanked the pillow out from under my head and tossed it aside, gathered my wrists in one of his hands, and set a knee between my legs and nudged them apart, all before I could react to what was happening with more than a squeal of surprise.
He leaned over me. His hair tickled my cheek. His voice came even softer, but no less scary for all its quiet control. “And it’s especially not something a man likes to hear his woman say about his brother, when she’s naked in his bed.”
“Nico—”
“The brother who had his mouth on you.”
Normally this display of irrational alpha-male jealousy would have made me incredibly mad. For some reason, possibly because I was relieved we weren’t dealing with a psycho fan, or a serial killer, or some other degenerate, it made me want to giggle.
We were just dealing with a degenerate relative. Pretty much everyone had one of those.
So the situation was bad, but it could have been way worse.
So giggle I did.
Bad idea.
Crack!
I sucked in a huge, shocked breath. My legs jerked. My back bowed. My head snapped around, and I stared at Nico over my shoulder. I shouted, “Do not tell me you just slapped my ass! Don’t you dare tell me that you just manhandled me to get me facedown on this mattress, and then spanked me like a misbehaving two-year-old! Tell me that didn’t just happen!”
I knew it had happened, though, because my ass stung like hell. It was beginning to throb. I was sure there would be a giant, Nico-sized handprint on it if I looked in the mirror.
The anger I’d managed to initially avoid over his display of jealousy had come on in full force. I was barking mad.
Nico said, “Want another, baby?”
It was clear from his tone that he would love for me to say “yes.”
It was also clear from his tone that he was laughing at me.
Oh, the nerve! I hissed, “Let me guess. You’ve been planning your revenge since the second you saw him kiss me.”
He smoothed his palm over my stinging backside, caressing it. He moved his hand to my other cheek, pinching my flesh softly. I shuddered involuntarily as his fingers drifted down the cleft of my ass to the crease between my thigh and sex. His voice still held the amusement, but now it was thick with desire. “No. Won’t hold grudges against you, baby, not ever. Once a fight’s over, it’s over. But I’d put money down that you’ll never again mention another man in my bed.”
His fingers stroked my entrance, feather light. My breath hitched at the sensation.
“Am I right?”
