A slow smile spreads across his face as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a little blue velvet box. He sets it on the island beside me. “Happy birthday, babygirl.”
He got me a present!
When I reach for it gleefully, Ransom grabs my wrist. “Not yet. First, take off your clothes.”
I freeze. Did I hear that right?
“Here?” In the kitchen? Under the bright, bright lights?
He raises a dark brow at me.
That’s a yes. “Before I open my present?”
Ransom nods, his thumb caressing my lower lip slowly, repeatedly, until it’s sensitive. Until I’m aching. “Besides me, I want this to be the only thing against your skin tonight.”
Okay, that’s hot. And I’d like that, too. Almost as if he’s marking me even before he takes me.
As I ease off the counter, I brush against his body. Every nerve ending rattles and vibrates like I’m hooked up to a power grid. The contact jolts me again when Ransom steps closer, crowding me against the island.
I’m tangled in his dark stare as I kick off my shoes and peel off my socks. Then I lick my lips and reach for the hem of Ethan’s T-shirt.
Once you do this, there’s no going back…
But I don’t hesitate, just pull the cotton over my head and toss it onto the island, my stare glued to Ransom’s.
His gaze falls to my lacy cups playing peekaboo with my nipples. His eyes go from a warm, dark chocolate to black with desire. It sends my pulse thudding and my need climbing.
“I knew you’d be beautiful…” He runs a finger along the scalloped edge across the swell of my breast, then dips the digit inside, gliding back and forth over the engorged tip. “But damn…”
They pucker up even more. I feel his touch all the way to my pussy, which tightens and dampens every time he teases the stiff peak. I close my eyes. Let out a breath. My head lolls back.
He hovers above me, his hot breath cascading down my neck. I shudder. He’s barely touched me, and I’m burning up.
“Ransom…”
“Keep going. Don’t make us wait anymore.”
“Why aren’t you kissing me?”
“If I do, we won’t make it to the bedroom. And I want you flat on your back, where I can look at every part of you, lick it, taste it, bite it. Own it. I plan to pin you down, penetrate you, and fuck you mercilessly until you can’t think of anything but me.”
When he puts it like that, I’m motivated to hurry. “I already can’t. It’s been two months since you kissed me, but I still want you so bad.”
“Babygirl, I never stopped.”
Oh, god.
I reach for the button of my jeans and flick it open. His stare dips to watch. The hiss of my zipper lowering is a tease in the quiet room, broken only by my audible breaths.
“Are you having me undress myself for the same reason?”
“No. It helps, but I want you to strip yourself bare for me, under these lights, so I can be sure you mean that yes your mouth and eyes are saying. If you can do that before I’ve really touched you, then I’ll know. And I’ll believe there’s a chance you can handle all the filthy things I’m dying to do to you.”
My womb clenches. It’s as if he knows exactly what to say to make me slick and desperate. I haven’t even dropped my pants, and I already feel how wet I am. My cotton panties try to soak up the moisture I’m spilling, but the effort is in vain. They’re already saturated, and I’m only getting wetter.
“Filthy?” My voice shakes.
“Lewd. Obscene.” He leans in, his low whisper right in my ear. “Absolutely depraved. Your head might tell you to object, but your body won’t let you. So you won’t stop me. You won’t want to.”
“Why?” But I know. I’m too in love and too aroused to give him anything except my most enthusiastic yes.
“Because, in my mind, I’ve already fucked you to screaming orgasm a thousand times in ways you’ve never even thought of. I’m going to plow that so-tight pussy and corrupt you completely. I’ll keep at you until you live to take every inch of me wherever, whenever, and however I want.”
Heat washes over me. I feel weak-kneed as Ransom glances down at my fingers frozen on my zipper. “Get your pants off.”
“Yes, Sir.” The words come out of nowhere as I shimmy the jeans down my hips.
His long, slow smile only gets more wicked as he watches me kick the denim away, then settles his knuckles over the seam of my pussy, clinging wetly to my panties, and starts a slow, slow rub over the engorged halves of my sex. “Oh, how soft and sweet. And already so needy. You’re going to be an absolute pleasure to defile.”
I whimper and arch into his hand, desperate for more.
He pulls away, wagging a playful finger at me. Then he licks it, damp with my juices, and moans.
I feel faint. “Ransom…”
“You’re not naked yet. The longer you stall, the longer we wait. But if you like the tease, I’ll oblige. I’ll make you so hot you’ll beg. And you’ll get on your knees to do it.”
Part of me thinks that sounds horrifying and humiliating. The rest of me thrills at the notion that he could arouse me enough to make me.
My breasts draw up tighter. My pussy weeps more. I’m half-ready to throw myself at him.
I reach behind my back and unhook my bra. When my breasts fall free, I feel more exposed than being mostly naked should make me. His black stare plucks my nipples as if his visual touch is tactile. The tips draw up tighter. I wish like hell Ransom would say something. Do something. But he merely stares and waits for me to completely bare myself to him.
Swiping my tongue across my lip, I fidget. The little bit of friction I get from shifting my weight does nothing to alleviate the ache between my legs. Even when his fingertips whisper across the side swell of my breast, that’s not the touch I’m feeling. That’s not the touch I’m dying for. I want it right where my panties, clinging to my puffy sex, are the only thing left shielding me from his piercing gaze.
“You’re stalling.” He raises a brow.
“No.”
“You are.” The fingers caressing my breast suddenly cradle it. His thumb scrapes across my nipple. “Admit it.”
I suck in a shaky breath. “I don’t know.”
Am I taunting him on purpose? Seeing how far I can push him? Or am I just drowning in my own desire, too stunned and aching to move?
“Yeah, you’re teasing me.” Suddenly, his fingers close around my nipple and squeeze until I gasp. Sensations deluge me…but he pulls away. “And if you want to dish it out, babygirl, you better be prepared to take it.”
I don’t doubt him. And I know I should lose my panties right here and now. He’ll give me what I want—and crave—once I do. But the devil on my shoulder, the one that doesn’t want to give him the upper hand because he snapped his fingers, resists.
I press my wandering hand against the hard ridge behind his zipper and squeeze.
He stiffens, hissing in a breath, and grabs me by the wrist. “If you want cock, I’ll give you all you can handle—but not until those panties are gone. If you don’t hurry, I’ll shred them the second they come off.”