In spite of herself, she turned to look at the bed, which felt like a signal, whether she had meant it to be or not.
Then she looked back at him. As if that signal might not have been as direct as she wanted it to be.
“Cody…”
He took a step toward her, dark eyes blazing. “I’m your boss,” he said.
She nodded. “Yes. You are.”
“I’m your boss,” he said again, putting different emphasis on different words this time.
“I know,” she whispered.
A harsh breath escaped his lips, somewhere between a groan and a laugh rumbling in his chest. He looked up, as though he was waiting for some kind of divine intervention. And then, when none presented itself, he moved closer to her, wrapped his arm around her waist, and brought her up against his body. “I’m not crazy,” he said.
She shook her head.
“You feel it?” he whispered, his voice ragged and harsh.
She nodded.
“This is a bad fucking idea.”
“It is. It’s a very bad idea. I work for you, I need this job so badly, and I just got out of a very long-term relationship.”
“You’re aware that… this has nothing to do with your job.”
“It never even crossed my mind.”
“Good.”
That was the last thing he said before he claimed her mouth.
And it was a claiming.
His kiss was hard and fierce. And it lit her on fire from her toes all the way to the top of her head. Bright sparks shimmering everywhere in between.
She’d had any number of kisses in her life. All from the same man. And she had thought that true love’s kiss would shine brighter than them all. But true love’s kiss had nothing on revenge’s first kiss. Reclaiming your life’sfirst kiss. Forbidden desire’s first kiss. This first kiss with Cody was all those things and more, and it had her gasping for breath. Had her praying it would never end.
He didn’t just kiss her. He consumed her.
And she had never felt so wanted, so desired in all of her life. She wanted to cling to him, to never let go of him, and for him to never let go of her. She wanted this to go on forever. She didn’t feel alone. She felt needed.
All because of a kiss. It was the most terrifying, intense thing she had ever felt in her life.
And yet, she had never wanted so badly to embrace something this frightening before.
But oh, she wanted to embrace it now. She wanted to embody it. She wanted to be it.
She kissed him back, with everything in her, parting her lips and letting his tongue slide against hers.
It was a wild sensation.
Before now, Aiden was the only man she’d ever kissed.
The shape of Cody’s mouth was different. His whole body was new, and the sensation of being claimed by him was something utterly unique.
Maybe other people spent their whole lives having this experience every other weekend, a new partner, a new sexual conquest as easy as changing their clothes, but Marlowe had never done it, and so this seemed radically novel, and she hoped that was all it was.
