Page 47 of The Rose (The Godwicks 2)

Beautiful cock, hard and erect, large enough to frighten her but not to frighten her away. She had thought she’d felt lust before, but that had been like a child dipping her toes into a wading pool. Now Lia threw herself, naked, into the deepest end of the ocean. August was not simply a beautiful man. August was a god.

He met her eyes. “Shall we?” he asked.

“All right,” Lia said, swallowing. “You talked me into it.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

August said nothing as he stepped forward and stood in front of her, naked and lovely and waiting.

She still sat on her leather club chair. Shaking and nervous, she lifted her eyes to his and found he was looking down at her with love.Love?Yes, she couldn’t call it anything else. The tenderness in his eyes, the kindness, the desire...it looked like she’d always imagined love would look in a man’s eyes.

No wonder he made a fortune doing this.

He reached out and stroked her burning face with his fingertips.

“Touch me,” he said.

“God,” she said, heaving a breath. “Where?”

“Anywhere. Touch me anywhere and any way you like.”

He was fully aroused. His cock was thick and red and inches from her face. Lia did want to touch him. She absolutely did. She wanted to touch every inch of him and she knew exactly which inch she wanted to start with...

“Please, Lia,” August said softly.

She heard true need in his voice. Well, if he wanted her to...

Lia shook a little in her chair. She was so close to him she could feel the heat emanating from his body. His fingers were still stroking her cheek. She glanced up at him again and saw him watching her, waiting, eager for her to make the first move, to break the tension, to open Pandora’s box and see what flew out...

Lia leaned forward and pressed her fingertips against the three-petal rose tattoo. They were thick lines, deep, like scars, not like ink. Like burns. Like a...

With a gasp, she pulled her head back and met his eyes.

“It’s a brand,” she said.

He nodded.

“Did it hurt?”

“You ever been branded? Of course it hurt.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not. I was branded after I was with my first patron,” August said. “First time in my life I felt truly alive, truly...human.”

She touched the brand again, as gently as she could, tracing the lines of it, the beautiful wound...

“Lia, Lia,” he whispered, “you are going to make my life very interesting this week.”

She sat back and put some space between them.

“Will I have to share you with other patrons?”

He shook his head. “For you I’m clearing my whole calendar.”

She smiled, though she tried not to let him see it.

“You’re so beautiful,” she said.

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