“You wouldn’t…” Even as I say it, the warm, heavy feeling that’s wrapped itself around the length of my spine slides even lower, settling between my thighs, the press of it stiffening my nipples under the soft cotton of my shirt. If the thought of Dean touching himself in bed next to me was enough to melt me into a puddle, the thought of him touching himself in bed next to me while I’m naked has the potential to burn me to ash, right here and now. “You wouldn’t make me sleep naked.”
“Wouldn’t I?” Even though his face is half cast in shadow, I can feel him looking at me, reading my reaction to his words. “I think I’ve more than demonstrated that there isn’t much Iwouldn’tdo when it comes to you, over the last couple of hours.”
“Dean…” Even though I know the voice that says his name belongs to me, it doesn’t sound like mine. It sounds strange. Whisper thin and unsure because this entire situation has taken a turn I never expected.
“Shhh…” Sitting up, Dean is suddenly close—so close I can feel his breath on my face. The heat of his bare chest against mine. Lifting his hand, he slips his fingers around the back of my neck. “Now…” Skimming the pad of his thumb along the curve of my lower lip, Dean raises his dark, unreadable gaze to meet mine. “Are you ready for your mission?”
Nodding my head, I swallow hard, eyes locked on his because I don’t know what’s happening. What he’s doing to me. All I know is that I’ll be okay. I’ll survive, as long as I don’t look away.
“It’s an easy one—I’m going to ask you a question and you’re going to answer metruthfully.” His thumb brushes against my mouth again, the heat and pressure of it humming across my skin. “That’s it. That’s all I want—can you do that?”
“Yes.” Another reed thin whisper, my heart pounding in my chest. “I can do that.”
“Good girl…”
I feel the breath of it skim across my mouth, his praise so intoxicating I feel myself start to sway and spin. A soft, breathless mewl pushing itself up the length of my throat when I feel his thumb retrace the curve of my lower lip.
“Still want to kiss me, Millie?”
Alarm bells start to ring. Warnings that have kept me safe. Kept me from getting hurt… but have they? I ran away from my own wedding today because the man I was supposed to marry turned out to be a lying cheat and I never heard a thing. Not one single alarm, warning me to stay away from him.
As a matter of fact, the only man who’s ever set those alarms off is the one sitting next to me.
“Yes…” Nodding my head against his grip, I barely breathe the word with every expectation that he’s going to laugh at me in response. Let my eyes slip closed so I don’t have to watch him pull away.
I bet you do.
You’re kinda pathetic, you know that, Mildew?
I didn’t want to kiss you then and I sure as hell don’t want to kiss you now.
Just more teasing.
Just more torture.
When his thumb falls away from my mouth, that’s what I expect. What Iknowis going to happen but then I feel the brush of his tongue, teasing along the seam of my mouth, followed by his lips against mine, so soft I’m sure that I’mimagining it. So sure I open my eyes, just in time to watch him pull away.
He kissed me.
Dean kissed me.
And I immediately want him to do it again.
I want more.
And that’s the real punishment.
The real consequence.
He knows that no matter how many names I call him, or how many times I remind him just how ridiculous and annoying I think he is, I’ve wanted him since that night in the Hamptons. That sometimes I lay awake at night and think about what it would’ve been like if hehadkissed me. If he’d stayed with me.
Dean knows what I want.
And he’s not going to give it to me.
“G’night, Mills,” he whispers against my mouth, lips brushing against mine, a moment before he drops his hand away from my face.
“Good night, Dean,” I whisper back, watching him lay back and roll over onto his side, facing away from me.
