A dry laugh scrapes out of me. “You think I wanted to do this here? I have half my team just down the hallway.”
“You should’ve thought about that when you disappeared,” she fires back. Her voice cracks, but she steels her spine. “When you left me asleep in the bed we shared as you snuck out and boarded a flight out of town. Back to the same town I’d be coming home to, without even a damn word or warning.”
I turn from her, my hand slamming against the back of a chair hard enough to send it crashing to the floor. “It was easier this way.”
She laughs. “Easier for who? Because it sure as hell wasn’t easier on me.”
I spin around, chest tight. “You think I don’t hear it? Every whisper? Every fuckin’ headline calling me reckless, washed-up, a screwup who can’t hold his shit together to save his own life? That reporter at the Christmas gala wasn’t wrong. Kolmont must’ve been desperate if they’d give a prick like me a chance. If they think I’m distracted, if they know I was screwing my brother’s ex-girlfriend, this would be over before it even started.”
She steps in, close enough that I can feel her heat through the cold air.
“Is that all I was to you? Just your brother’s ex?” Her voice shakes, words tumbling out faster than she can catch them. “So that’s it? You wrecked us just to protect your damn reputation? You tossed me aside so the noise wouldn’t get too loud?” She laughs, and it comes out bitter and broken. “God, you can be such an arrogant jerk. News flash, Clay—your silence hurt worse than anything they could’ve written.”
The pain in her voice makes my chest ache. I inhale a slow breath, trying to calm my nerves.
She’s right there. Close enough for me to touch. I can smell her damn shampoo that has haunted me since we were snowedin at the cabin. Even then, I’ve been fighting the urge to touch her.
When I didn’t say anything, she shook her head and turned away like she was ready to give up and walk out. Something about it snapped the last thread holding me together.
One second, we’re trading accusations, and the next, I have her pinned over the edge of a table. Papers scatter everywhere, fluttering to the floor while my hands grip her hips, keeping her trapped against me.
Our mouths crash together in a kiss so hungry I can’t tell where the anger ends and our need for each other begins. The kiss burns more than it soothes. When she bites my lip, I growl and press my forehead against hers, tasting my blood.
“Damn you,” I mutter against her lips. My fingers tangle in her hair, tugging her closer when I should’ve been pushing her away. Her gasp cracks something in my chest, feeding the fire already tearing through me.
She fists her hands in my shirt. I can’t tell if she’s fighting to hold me closer or if she wants to shove me away. But I don’t care because I want both.
Everything around us fades, including all the whispers playing on a loop in my mind. All I can hear now is the sound of our mixed breaths and my pulse pounding in my ears.
Every reason I told myself to stay away from her disappears along with it.
“This doesn’t fix anything. It doesn’t change anything between us,” she breathes. The words crack, and something about her soft voice nearly undoes me.
“No,” I rasp, lifting her onto the table in one rough motion. The legs groan from the impact, papers sliding and crumpling beneath her as I step between her knees.
Tessa leans back on her elbows, her long blond hair spilling over the edge of the table. Her head tips back, her throat bare and begging.
I’m terrified by how much I want her, how deep this need for her runs.
With her skirt bunched high around her hips, I drop to my knees in front of her, spread out for me. I don’t bother being gentle when I swipe my finger over her wet entrance and then tear her panties away, revealing her glistening pussy for me.
“What the hell, Clay?” she retorts. “You could’ve just taken them off, ya know.”
I don’t bother with a reply, leaning forward to inhale her sweet scent. She wiggles beneath me when she hears me, and the sight of her writhing before me has my cock jerking in my pants.
When I swipe my tongue through her slit up to her clit, she lifts her hips for me, like she’s desperate for more.
“Mmm, fuck, Sug,” I groan, going back for more. “You taste so fuckin’ good. So sweet, so mine.”
She reaches her hand for me. Sliding her fingers through my hair, she tugs on the strands, pulling me closer.
“Stop talking,” she groans, as she grinds against me. “I’m not yours. I don’t belong to anyone.”
I chuckle, which only gets under her skin more.
“I guess we’ll see about that, won’t we?” I hum, right before I flick my tongue over her clit again.
Leaning away, I trace my finger through her pussy until I’m lined up right at her opening. I swirl the tip inside her, pulling away to suck the digit into my mouth.
