next.
Thinking of him with Melinda was a bucket of ice water over my head. I pulled away, admiring how he looked under me. T-shirt disheveled, hair a disaster, eyes dark, and mouth open. I was the one who put that heat in his eyes. Not Melinda. I gripped his hair and yanked his skull against the headrest. He winced, barely. He also looked pleased.
“She touched you,” I said, my voice a low warning.
His eyebrows pinched. “Who?”
“Melinda.” I tagged him in the chest with two fingers. “Right here.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t notice.”
“I noticed.”
I dragged his shirt up and bared his chest, then put my open mouth on the spot over his left pectoral. It was a gentle, wet kiss that only made me want to taste more of him. He, apparently, felt the same way.
His hand cupped the back of my head and he groaned, a low sound that reverberated through my body. I sat up, putting distance between myself and his beautiful body. All that defined muscle was hard to resist.
Desire flooded his eyes, making the blue darker. His eyelids were hooded, the lashes drawn low and shadowing his cheeks. Both hands gripped my hips.
“That my punishment?” he asked.
“No. That’s all I’m going to do to you. That’s your punishment.” I crawled off his lap—he cupped his balls to protect himself from my knees—and settled into the passenger seat. Then I regarded him with a bored expression and hoped he didn’t notice that my heart pounded like a kettledrum.
With his shirt rucked up, and slumped in the reclined driver’s seat, Devlin looked a little unhappy and a whole lot dangerous. Had I pushed him too far? Did I care?
He dragged his shirt down over his chest, pulled his seat upright, and turned off the ignition. I blinked and he was out of his SUV, slamming the door shut behind him. The cab of the car wobbled and I sat there for the length of one long cleansing breath before I climbed out, too.
I planned on walking to my car after all. I didn’t care if he was sulking. Let him sulk. The moment my feet hit the snow-covered pavement, though, Melinda’s voice shattered the still night air.
“Hey, handsome.”
I stayed out of sight. Devlin stood at the rear of his car and Melinda by the garbage bin, lit cigarette in hand, her coat open.
“You look cold. Can I warm you up?” She obviously was unaware of my presence behind his SUV.
“Pass,” Devlin called to her. He leaned around the SUV and tipped his head. I appeared, and loved watching Melinda’s face fall. He grabbed my hand and pressed my back against the SUV. Hands on either side of my face, he whispered, “Grab my ass.”
I blinked. “What?”
“Grab. My. Ass,” he whispered even closer to my ear. Then he grinned down at me.
I palmed his firm ass, seeing us from Melinda’s vantage point. Devlin’s hands in my hair, his body pressed against mine. My hands claiming him.
Mine.
He closed his lips over mine and hauled one of my legs up and over his hip. He sucked in a breath and the cold air between our warm lips sent shivers down my spine. Every part of my body vibrated in response to his touch. When his hand slid past my thigh and he ran his fingers along the inseam of my pants, I nearly forgot we had an audience.
He ended our lip lock. His mouth was open in a devious smile as steam from his breath billowed between us. His nose and cheeks were red, and when I rubbed my hands over his biceps I realized he was freezing.
“You look like you did the night you showed up on my doorstep.” I stroked his eyebrow with the tip of one finger. It had mostly healed, but he’d have a scar. I doubted the hair would ever grow back completely. “Only more in control.”
He kissed me, leaving his lips touching mine when he said, “Trust me, baby. I’m less in control now.” His entire body shook. From the cold? Or because I’d made him lose control?
I chose to believe the latter.
Chapter Twelve
Devlin
Rena insisted on walking around the building to her car, and I figured it’d be a good idea to let her do it rather than deal with Melinda. I also felt like Rena maybe, sort of believed that I hadn’t been seducing Melinda, which made me feel a modicum of pride.
I wiped the sideways smile off my face. I had no right