Page 37 of Paved in Venom

Now that my lust isn’t clouding my thinking, the embarrassment starts to creep in. He sees it and brings his other hand up so he’s cupping my face. When I bring my eyes to his, I can tell he’s studying my reaction, memorizing every detail.

“Are you sure you’ve never given one before?”

I let out a soft laugh. “Yeah, I’ve definitely never done that before. I don’t really like having all the attention on me. I still can’t believe I did it.”

He’s still hard beneath me, and I can’t imagine he’s all that comfortable, but he makes no move to scoot me off his lap. He seems perfectly content to just keep me right where I’m at, and I’m perfectly fine with that.

His thumb drags along my bottom lip again, pulling another soft gasp from me. His fingers trail lower, stopping when he’s at my pulse.

“Your heart is racing,” he murmurs, leaning closer so our lips are almost touching.

“That’s your fault.”

“My fault?” He runs his tongue along my bottom lip, smiling when he feels my heart speed up even faster beneath his fingers.

“I can’t go fast,” I blurt out. “I know it sounds stupid to say that after what just happened, but I need to take it slow. I mean, if you want to do more or whatever,” I add because I haven’t humiliated myself enough today.

“Oh, I definitely want more, sladkaya, and I’ll go as slow as you need me to.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you willing to wait?” It dawns on me that he might not have any intention of not sleeping around while he’s waiting on me. When I instinctively pull back at the thought of him fucking another woman, he keeps his fingers pressed to my pulse while his other arm snakes around my lower back, keeping me in his lap.

“Not so fast. Tell me what you just thought about.”

“It occurred to me that you might find someone else to fuck while you wait for me.”

His eye soften at my words before he kisses me. It’s a slow kiss, a savoring kiss, and with his hand wrapped around my neck, it’s an all-consuming kiss. He feels my heartbeat race as I open my mouth to him and let out another whimper of pure need. God, this man’s kisses are dangerous. I can’t think straight when his mouth is on me, and I can’t for the life of me remember why I said I wanted to take it slow.

“I would never do something like that to you,” he murmurs against my lips.

“We just met yesterday,” I remind him, “when you bought me at an auction.”

He laughs, and I can’t help but join him because it’s truly insane.

“I know. It’s crazy, and I can’t explain it, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to throw it away.”

“Throw what away?” I ask.

“This,” he says, giving a small shrug. “Whatever the hell this is between us, I want to see where it leads. I told you that I knew you were the one the second I saw your photo. I wasn’t lying. I wouldn’t have been able to leave that building without you. I would’ve done anything to get you out of there, even if that meant killing whoever managed to outbid me and stealing you from him.”

I reach up and grab onto his wrists. His hand is still around my throat, but it’s not tight, and I find it oddly reassuring.

“Can I ask you something?”

“You can ask me anything you want. Always.”

My fingers tap out a quick rhythm on his skin, making him smile. “What were you thinking about in the shower earlier?”

He laughs, giving me that big, sexy grin of his. “You mean when you heard me jerking off?”

I laugh. “Yeah. Sorry, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

“I was thinking about you. What the hell did you think I was thinking about?”

“I don’t know. Anyone. I’m sure you’re surrounded by beautiful women.” I don’t even want to think about how many gorgeous women he’s probably fucked, so I push the thought from my mind, refusing to give into the insecurities that have always plagued me.

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