should be as uncomfortable as I was. I wasn’t going to bend over and let him throw insults at me anymore.
“We work together,” he said, and I swore he sounded breathless as he said it. “We don’t have a relationship outside of this contract. So, I don’t know why you’d expect me to say hello—”
“Because I’m a human being, Cormac!” I cut him off. “Because I’m not some villain cackling in the corner waiting to get you in the end. I’m the woman who offered you your biggest endorsement deal to date. I’m the woman who has spent years wondering how I can make up for what happened that night, and I’m the woman who you decided to plop on that pool table and kiss the hell out of. I know my brother was the one who hurt you, but I wasn’t alone in that room. I wasn’t alone biting my bottom lip and growling like some damn alpha. I wasn’t alone kissing myself like it would be the first and last and best. I didn’t leave myself wanting more and more and more for years—”
“Bristol,” he cut me off, and the gravelly sound of his voice sent warm shivers racing down my spine.
“What?” I snapped, breathless.
“You’re not alone now, either,” he said, and then his mouth was on mine.
5
Cormac
I wasn’t sure exactly what had happened. One minute I was telling Bristol that the only relationship between us was the one on paper, and the next, I was kissing the hell out of her. Damn, she tasted like sweet, sparkling wine, and reckless decisions.
God…Bristol.
She gasped, and my tongue swept over her lips as they parted—
Wait. What the fuck was I doing?
I yanked my head back and sucked in a breath, wishing I could blame my lack of judgment on hypoxia, but the need blazing through my veins like an inferno claimed otherwise. I wanted her. I’d always wanted her. Damn it.
My heart slammed against my ribs. I didn’t even have to think about touching her—my hands were simply there, already cradling her face. We were like magnets, and the attraction hadn’t dulled with time…or anger. If anything, it had only grown stronger.
“Cormac?” Bristol whispered, her hands fisting in the material of my shirt.
Those fucking eyes. So beautiful. My chest clenched even as my cock swelled.
I couldn’t do this, couldn’t fling myself off the Bristol McClaren cliff damn-well knowing there was only a rocky, crushing reception at the bottom. But fuck, she tasted just as incredible as I remembered, and those lips—
I didn’t leave myself wanting more and more and more for years. Her confession echoed in my head. She’d wanted more, just like I had. But I hadn’t lied—she hadn’t been alone in that pool room four years ago, and she wasn’t alone now.
Bristol wasn’t seventeen anymore. She was a fully grown woman.
And I wasn’t the star-eyed rookie who’d just worked himself out of poverty.
But I still wanted her.
Fuck it.
I backed her against the wall and crushed my mouth to hers, thrusting my tongue between those cherry-red lips and sinking deep. She groaned, and the sound was like flame to tinder—my body ignited.
“You wanted more?” I asked against her mouth, sliding a hand to the generous curve of her hip.
She whimpered, her teeth grazing my bottom lip. When she leaned in for another kiss, I drew back my head, just out of range. “Cormac,” she demanded, yanking my shirt.
“Tell me.” I let my lips drift over her jaw, and she tilted her head back against the wall, leaving her neck deliciously bare to my kisses. “Tell me what you wanted, Bristol.” I sucked on a patch of skin just beneath her jaw, and she gasped. “I wanted you just like this.” I slid my hand to her ass and squeezed.
Fuck, the woman had the most delectable ass on the planet.
“I wanted your hands in my hair and your legs around my waist.” I trailed a path to her collarbone and her hips rocked against mine. “I wanted to kiss every curve and lick every hollow on your body.”
“Oh my God,” she breathed, her nails digging into the back of my neck.
“I wanted to see what color your eyes turned when you came.” I nipped her lower lip with my teeth and slipped my hand to the back of her thigh, lifting it so my cock settled between her thighs. “I wanted to hear how my name sounded while you screamed it in pleasure.”
She rocked forward, her breasts pressing against my