Page 53 of Seven Nights

“A month of reading?”

More than curiosity coats his question. I can hear the speculation in his tone. He thinks, perhaps, that I have been intensely researching his lifestyle and, by extension, what will please him.

My gaze narrows, one lip curling upward as I dismiss the suggestion.

“More like a few hours. Don't flatter yourself, Montgomery.”

His brow lifts, fresh fire dancing in his gaze. The bastard thinks he has me caught in his net—has me hooked at the end of his line. I close my eyes at the unfortunate image.

Yes, I am hooked. I can feel the curving steel slice deeper into my heart. When Montgomery tries to reel me in, he will destroy me.

“I didn't realize she was a slave at first,” he goes on, his voice a deep, rumbling lure. “I had her strapped to an X-frame, just her bra and panties.”

A fire heats low in my gut. My breathing has slowed to nothing. I suck a long, deep breath in, desperate that he not realize the effect he still has on my body. One mention of the X-frame and near nudity and a picture of him intent on dominating the woman has me wet.

“I have no idea what color her eyes were,” he says. “The blindfold stayed on. All that mattered was that she looked enough like you that I—”

Fighting tears, I interrupt. “Are you intent on being cruel?”

Montgomery shakes his head, the blue gaze and his expression sincere. “I'm trying to tell you what I went looking for and what I found.”

My heart stops. I can’t breathe. Blood freezes in veins it had coursed through seconds ago as I hang on his words.

“I found a hole in myself,” he murmurs. “One I'd been inking over for so many years I forgot it was there.”

Reaching behind me, he finds the black length of ribbon I used to secure the French braid. Just like the pins that morning at the estate, he pulls it free.

“But I also found a woman who had been abused, the signs were there on her marked flesh, in the way she trembled when I touched her—”

“Congratulations,” I snap. “I'm sure you'll both be very happy together.”

Heat flares along his cheeks. He takes a step forward, his broad torso pressing against my narrower one. “Don't be intentionally obtuse, Kate. It took me seeing how someone had hurt her spirit to come to terms with just how badly I was hurting you. That I didn’t want—”

“Screw you, Montgomery.” Pressing both palms to his chest, I try to push. When that doesn’t work, I throw my weight behind me, forcing the tables a few inches away.

Before I can turn and push them even further, he grabs my wrists and jerks me to him. His words come out in a rush.

“Her name was Amanda and I brought her to climax with my fingers. I couldn't kiss her or fuck her or find any pleasure in her, but I couldn't leave her more broken than when I entered the scene.”

Letting go of my wrists, he quickly wraps his arms around me, cinching our bodies together. “And when I was done, all I wanted to do was find you. I'm telling you now because there cannot be any open question of what I did or didn't do that night if there is a chance for you to forgive me.”

Frustration chews at my tongue and lips. I close my eyes, the loss of vision making me realize just how hard my body is trembling. I can’t stop shaking no matter how many times my brain issues the command to my mutinous flesh.

Griffin trails a hand up my spine, his fingers gently molding around the back of my head. I open my eyes, his intent to kiss me clear in the way his mouth angles toward mine.

“Don’t,” I plead with a whisper.

He blinks once, slow and sensual, and I know he is going to claim my mouth anyway.

“It's just a kiss, Kate,” he says, a second before his lips brush against mine. “Nothing to be afraid of.”

The kiss is everything to be afraid of. My will to resist evaporated the second he wrapped his arms around me. Heat burns low in my gut as the firebrand of his erection presses against my stomach. He is hard where I need him to be and gentle everywhere else.

His mouth melts against mine, his tongue almost cool in comparison when it slides past my lips.

He lifts me, puts me down atop the table with its widespread sheets of drafting paper and contracts. Blood returns to my limbs in a hot pulse. I wrap my legs around his hips. I am wet, so very wet. My need penetrates my clothing, a dark spot showing against his jeans when he takes a step back and jerks my blouse free from my pants.

Seeing the wet mark, Griffin boldly cups my mound. His other hand tangles in my hair as his mouth demands another kiss.

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