Page 13 of Diamond

“She’s just turned seven, going on seventeen.” He laughs. It’s the first time I’ve seen him laugh wholeheartedly. “She has the Calloway spirit, I’ll give her that. I come from a long line of strong women. I have three sisters, and my mom is a ball buster.”

“Sounds like we might get along.”

He reaches for me, his fingers tug slightly on the pendant around my neck, lifting it. In doing so, his fingers brush against my skin. Goosebumps raise on my flesh as I feel my pussy clench. “What’s this?”

“It’s the ashes of my first horse, Rosie.”

He strums his thumb over the gold circle, the outline of her body in full flight etched onto the cool metal. It’s a beautiful piece. Small diamonds surround her, like stars in the night sky.

“You love your animals,” he observes.

I nod, my powers of speech evading me.

With clear distinction in his voice he says, “I can’t stop thinking about what you said to me the last time we met.”

“What? That you’re reaching, and you’re messing with the wrong bitches?”

He chuckles, then drops the necklace, two of his fingers push my chin up, so I’m forced to look at him. “About being shackled to your bed. Is that how you treat all your lovers?”

Holy shit, we’re really having this conversation.

Little does he know that, lately, there hasn’t been many. Saddle isn’t exactly a hotspot to snag yourself a man. The pickings are slim.

“I don’t know, maybe you should stick around and find out.”

Heat flashes in his eyes, and he leans toward my ear. “I want to know something, Wildcat.”

I try my best to keep my voice level. “Shoot.”

“If you hate me so much, why do your cheeks pinken and your breathing accelerates every time I get close to you?”

That’s a very good fucking question. One I don’t have any reasonable explanation for. “They don’t, and it doesn’t.”

“So if I told you I’ve been hard for days after our first meeting, you’d tell me to leave?”

A few seconds pass with our eyes locked on each other.

“No,” I breathe, because he’s right at every turn. “I’d tell you to put your money where your mouth is.”

CHAPTER 7

NASH

I shift, moving my lips to the pulse point at her neck, and she shivers. I affect her, and I like that. I like that a whole lot more than I should.

“You think because I’ve been celibate for a while that I’ve forgotten how to please a woman?”

I can’t be sure, but a breathy moan may escape her as I hover close to her skin. I’ve never wanted a woman like this before, but she turns me the fuck on. I love her defiance. I can’t get enough of that smart mouth. There’s nothing more attractive than a woman sticking up for herself. I can’t get enough. It’s like I’ve taken Diamond heroin, and now I’m addicted, yet I’ve barely even touched this woman…

“Answer me,” I demand.

“I don’t think that,” she whispers. “I believe a man like you knows exactly what he’s doing.”

I press my lips to her neck gently, and her hands land on my biceps, squeezing. I dig her answer. Smiling, I pepper kisses down her neck. “Do you think I won’t get on my knees for you?” I don’t know why those fucking words leave my damn mouth, but it’s too late now.

“Aren’t you on duty?” she drawls. If I’m not mistaken, she’s trying to pretend she’s not affected, but her body betrays her. The way she shudders at my touch and her eyelids fall closed is every indication she likes it.

I smirk. I’m not gonna kiss her lips until she begs me to.