I know she means we have nothing but time to talk, but her voice goes straight to my damn cock, and I know she sees how it twitches. I should’ve covered up the second she spoke, but I was so stunned that it didn’t occur to me until she was lying so close, and, by that point, it would’ve been awkward.
“Do you remember the night you had the nightmare, and you slept on the couch?” I ask, and she nods. “I picked up your Kindle to put it on the table, and I was curious what you were reading.”
A rosy flush spreads over her cheeks and down her chest. “I don’t remember what I was reading that night.”
“His to Take,” I remind her, and her eyes widen.
“Oh shit.”
“Yeah.” I chuckle, rubbing my jaw. “I wasn’t expecting you to be reading that. But I ended up at the beginning, and… Well, I wasn’t expecting to like it, either. I read up to the part you were at, then downloaded the app on my iPad and finished it there. I’ve been reading the rest of the series since.”
Este opens and closes her mouth several times before speaking. “I knew my pages got messed up. Damn. Why didn’t you say something?”
“You have no idea how hard I’ve been trying not to cross the line,” I say, and she snorts. “But I guess we’re past that now.”
“Probably. So, you like them?” I nod, and she hums. “Which one are you reading now?”
I’m running through the series so quickly that I haven’t really been paying attention to the names. I pick up her Kindle. “His to Own.” Though the characters, plots, and kinks differ, the series follows a pattern: some kind of forbidden relationship, with a headstrong woman who wants to be submissive in bed, and a dominant man who wants her but fights his feelings. The irony isn’t lost on me.
“That’s a good one.” I make a noncommittal sound because yeah, it is. Clearly, I was enjoying it, and she knows that. “What part are you at?”
I think she must be joking at first, but she looks dead serious. Jesus. Are we really going to talk about this? “They’re in the library.” I don’t mention what they’re doing in the library, but she knows. She’s read it.
Este runs her tongue over her lip, her eyes warm and sparkly. “I’m not sure I remember that part.”
She’s bullshitting me, I’m just not sure why. Maybe if there was a drop of blood left for my brain, I’d be able to figure it out.
“Just over halfway,” I tell her.
She narrows her eyes like she’s pretending to rack her brain. “Will you jog my memory?”
“Uh…”
“Read it to me.”
She has got to be kidding. There’s no way she thinks I would… “Absolutely not,” I say, but she pouts, and my resolve starts to slip.
“Please. It’s been ages since I read it.”
“Your Kindle says otherwise, angel. You read it like six books ago,” I point out, holding the device up.
“Exactly. Six whole books ago. And I love being read to. Pretty please.” She leans back just a touch, but it’s enough to make her towel slip more, leaving her completely uncovered from the waist up.
She’s playing me like a goddamn violin, plucking my strings one by one until I sing for her. Why the hell is that so hot?
Este knows what she wants—me, in some strange, twisted turn of events—and even though I’ve been an asshole all morning, she isn’t shying away from taking it. I can’t give her what she wants. I shouldn’t give her what she wants. But I could read to her. Just read, nothing more.
I turn the Kindle on, swipe back to the start of the chapter, and clear my throat.“I lean against the bookshelf, my back pressing into the spines, and watch as she approaches. Her cheeks are flushed from our kiss, her hair tangled, and Iwant to wrap it around my fist and…”I suck in a breath. It’s so easy to imagine Este, instead of the woman in the book.“And push her down to her knees.
She stops in front of me, and I reach for her, cupping her chin.
‘Do you like pissing me off, Red?’
‘It’s not my fault everything pisses you off.’
She draws her finger up my chest, and I grab her hand, tugging her in close. ‘Careful.’
‘Or what?’ She smirks, her eyes glimmering in the library’s low lights. ‘What are you going to do about it?’
