AllFreeNovel
Share Us
By ten o’clock she’d mopped the floors, dusted the shelves, married the ketchups, stocked the bar, and was out the back in the pantry taking inventory when the music suddenly shut off.
Stifling a sound of frustration, she rolled her eyes. “Come on, Wade. You know I need my music to get all this crap done.”
She finished her count and put down the clipboard. Turning, she stopped short. Nico stood a few feet away. Having sought her out in the maze of shelves and boxes, he stood tall and lean and gorgeous in the ambient shadows. His eyes burned like coals, sexy and searing. She could feel their heat and sensed her face flushing at what she’d done.
“Good morning,” he said, moving toward her.
Lexie cleared her throat. “Hi.” She couldn’t look directly at him, too insecure, too affected by his presence and all the things he might be about to say.
“So, you like to play games, huh?”
Please, Universe, open a chasm in the earth right here and let it swallow me whole.
“Games?”
“Tempting a man with photos like that when he’s trying to be a gentleman and respect a lady’s wishes.” He clicked his tongue. “Dangerous game.”
“Well, I’m sorry you felt so endangered,” Lexie replied, returning to her work.
Wishing she had a time machine so she could take back the past twelve hours, she tried, and failed, to concentrate as he came up behind her, silently lifting his arms and resting them on the shelves on either side of her body, caging her in.
“I like to play games too,” he whispered.
Lexie ignored her body’s traitorous reaction to his proximity, the way her breath became unsteady, and her hands trembled. “Do you?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Nico used one hand to gently sweep her hair to the side, away from her neck so he could run his lips along the skin there. Lexie shivered. The pen in her hand dropped to the floor, which she made no move to retrieve as he began tasting and tormenting her with his mouth. Molten lust thrummed through her veins. Desire pooled deep inside her, the familiar throb so intense it was almost painful, as electricity pulsed between them once again.
“Do you have any idea what you do to me?” His voice was rough.
Taking one last stand for her self-respect, Lexie managed a breathy reply. “No. How could I? You never messaged me back.”
Nico made a noise low in his throat, then wrapped strong fingers around her hips.
“This,” he said, pressing himself into her body, the unmistakable length of his erection settling itself into the curve of her bottom. “This is what you do to me.”
Lexie moaned, an involuntary response as she melted against him. She could feel how hard he was even through the rough fabric of his jeans. She pushed back, tilting her head to the side, losing herself in the sheer erotic pleasure of the experience.
It was strange, a few days ago another man held her captive in a similar fashion, terrifying her. Now, with this man, she felt nothing but affection. And so much heat, it was palpable.
Want and need and yearning blended, swept her up, and sent her careening off the cliff that was Nico Dominici. He was so good, and yet so devilishly bad. So safe, yet so exciting. She couldn’t put him in any one box. Every day, every moment, she saw a different side of him, each one even better than the last.
This one, she decided, was her favorite. Gone was the chivalrous, always-do-the-right-thing guy who’d passed up an opportunity to sleep with her and instead walked away because it was the noble thing to do. That guy was nowhere to be seen. And good riddance, she thought, because this hot-blooded, sexy, seductive version of him was everything she could ever want.
Lexie listened to her breath coming in short, uneven pants as his lips traced a line from her earlobe to her collarbone. Her pulse went haywire. Her hands gripped the cold metal shelves. Her insides turned soft and marshmallowy as his scorching lips continued their exploration of her throat. It wasn’t enough. She wanted more. Screw taking things slow. She wanted to see how fast this thing could go.
As if reading her mind, Nico spun her around and took her mouth in a sizzling kiss that was, without question, the best she’d ever had. Tongue diving deep, he probed and conquered, branding himself into the very fabric of her being. Her knees weakened. Her senses overloaded. She couldn’t think, couldn’t focus as he ran his hands down her waist, cupped her butt, and pulled her hips firmly up against his own.
When he finally pulled back, allowing them both enough space to breathe, she giggled. “What are you doing? I’m at work!”
“Consider it payback for last night.”
“Payback?”
“Payback.”
Nico’s right hand slid around to her front. He unbuttoned her shorts and pulled them open with a rough tug, exposing the skin of her abdomen.
