Her shrug is the straw that breaks my back.
Frustrated with her ice-queen attitude, the one that hasn’t made an appearance the entire time we’ve been here, I use my body to pin her against the counter. “I fingered you. You jerked me off. We’re going to do it again. There. Did I talk about it enough for you, Duchess, or should I add more details?”
Christ, her eyes are huge as she glares back at me. So big and blue, it’s like staring into an ocean. And when her arms slip around my waist, she hugs me, easing some of my tension.
“We are?”
“Yeah. Problem?”
Her plump, pink lips lift in a mischievous grin. “No problem.”
“Good,” I snap, then I wipe the smile off of her lips in a brutal kiss that leaves us both panting.
By the time I’m done abusing her mouth, the coffee is ready. If I didn’t think she needed a healthy dose of caffeine, I’d keep right on kissing her. But she enjoys her morning cup, and I don’t know why I care about stupid, small things about her, but I do. We put on our shoes, and I help her into her black jacket. Then, like we’ve done every morning since she first ventured beyond the cabin walls, we head outside to drink our coffee by the overlook.
“I could spend the rest of my life here,” Kerri confesses, gazing at the horizon.
Same.
The view is stunning, with the sun gleaming off the snowcapped peaks of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Around us, the trees have begun to lose their leaves. The stubborn ones are now muted shades of red and yellow that mark autumn’s exit. And although I reluctantly admit I don’t hate being here with her, we’ll need to leave before the first snowfall. Once it starts, it won’t melt until March if we suffer another brutal winter.
But snow is still a long way off, and the reality of her situation is that her fatherisdying, and I need to get back to Mayhem. We’ll be gone before she gets to see how beautiful this place looks blanketed in white.
“Figured you’d miss your gilded paradise by now.” Her glare cuts into me before the words finish leaving my mouth.
“Clearly, you haven’t gotten to know me at all.”
Bull. Fucking. Shit.
I’ve paid too much attention to everything about Kerri for months. The little things, like how she forgoes sugar in her coffee and prefers it with a splash of milk. Strawberry is her favorite ice cream flavor. She prefers dogs to cats and has an unnatural fear of insects. When she smiles, her nose crinkles, and her eyes light up. Her laugh is contagious, and if I weren’t such a miserable prick, I’d join in when she lets it rip—which isn’t often. She’s one of those reserved types, at least around other people. Alone with me, she shows a more unrestrained side of herself.
Her true self.
It’s mesmerizing.
And last night…Christ. The way she came apart in my arms. I’ve never seen anything more beautiful. So pure. Everything about her reminds me I have no business putting my filthy hands on her.
She’s clean.
And I’m…not.
But like the monster I am, I took what she offered.Morethan she offered. And like a monster, I marked her. My teeth on her skin is my new favorite obsession. Once I started touching her, I couldn’t stop until I had her hand wrapped around my cock. Until she came on my fingers. I wanted more. Fuck, I wanted everything.
We’ll get there, she and I, because I learned a critical fact about Kerri last night.
She’s not as controlled as she likes people to believe.
Neither am I, apparently.
“I know you, Duchess. Better than you think I do.” I slide my gaze over her, itching to toss her over my shoulder, caveman style, and carry her back to bed. I need to fuck her proper. Need to hear her make those sexy sounds again. “Question is, how well do you know yourself?”
Her brows slam together over those expressive blue eyes. “Pardon?”
“You fucking heard me.”
“Of course I heard you.” She takes a sip of coffee and motions to the rising sun. “But it’s too early for cryptic nonsense. And I’m cold. I’m going inside.”
When she turns to walk away, I grab her arm, mindful of her cup of coffee. She stops dead. “Touching you wasn’t as terrible as I thought it would be.”
