Tempered by Her Read Online Free

between her teeth, she stared at my chest and draped her
hands on my shoulders.
    I leaned down so she’d hear me over the loud music. “It’s a shame Papa
won’t let the ladies wear jeans to work. God knows checking you out would
brighten every day.”
    Her cheeks flushed, but she still wouldn’t look up at me. Stiff and
awkward on her feet, I realized what the problem was. “You’ve never danced with
a man before, have you?”
    She shook her head.
    Pleased to be her first, I encouraged her closer until our bodies
brushed. Her lips parted, the artery in her neck pumping like mad. I’d promised
not to touch her unless she wanted me to. Yeah, she wanted me to all right. No
doubt about it.
    She closed her eyes, and I leaned down again, breathing deep of her
berry scent. “You all right?”
    “Oh yeah,” she breathed. “More than all right.”
    I stepped back as her head jerked up, cheeks crimson as though the
words escaped unfiltered.
    Fuck yeah.
    Unable to help my grin, I pulled her flush up against me, her breasts a
soft cushion against my lower pecs.
    From behind those hot glasses, her pupils dilated, and she fuckin’
sagged against me like she had no strength in her legs. Plump lips begged for
my teeth, the smooth skin of her neck made me drool. I wanted to plunder like a
fuckin’ pirate. Take what my cock desired and finally get her out of my system.
Off my damn mind. Too bad I’d promised not to touch her.
    Her fingers tightened in my hair, and I realized we’d stopped dancing.
She gazed up at me. Expectant. In offering.
    I lowered my head, my mouth hovering a few inches from hers. “I’d give
a million dollars to kiss those lips of yours right now.”
    She closed the distance between us.
    Fuckin’ fireworks blasted behind my eyelids, my heart and soul sizzled
from Raquel’s branding. My mother-fuckin’ ears rang. The rumble against my
chest let me know she moaned, but I didn’t hear a goddamn thing over the
booming in my ears.
    Velvety soft, like a peach, her lips brushed against mine. Parted at
the slight sweep of my tongue. God, she tasted like Sweet Tarts and vodka. So
fuckin’ sweet. Barely able to keep my hands from feeling up her beautiful ass,
I tasted—devoured—every inch of her mouth.
    Time didn’t exist as I breathed in her exhales. Cradled her head in my
hands as though she was a porcelain doll, fragile and in need of protection.
    She backed away, her chest rising and falling as fast as mine.
    What. The. Fuck.
    I stared into her eyes, and the world silenced. Never—not once in my
life—had I experienced desire like the need coursing through my fuckin’ blood
like a raging nor’easter.
    Sprawling her out on my bed for a onetime feast of pain and pleasure
wouldn’t be nearly as fulfilling as I’d hoped. I’d send her away, my body still
craving. Starved for her taste. Her breath.
    Fuck.
    I stepped back, grabbed her hand, and led her back to her friend, needing
to escape, needing to get my fuckin’ head screwed on straight before taking
what I wanted.
    Oh, I planned on getting as far as I could, but it wouldn’t be because
alcohol hindered her ability to think—or because I had fuckin’ feelings rising to the surface. I wanted
her, eyes wide open, willing and wanting, without a reason for her to call
foul, my selfish prick attitude firmly in place.
    She slumped into her chair, her friend glancing open-mouthed between
the two of us.
    “It was nice meeting you, Jenny.” I turned to Raquel who stared at her
empty cup. “Have dinner with me tomorrow.”
    She lifted her chin. “Are you always so bossy?”
    God, if only she knew how much I loved to dish out orders. “Would you please have dinner with me, Raquel?” I
asked.
    “No.”
    Jenny gasped. “ Raq !”
    “I … I can’t.” Raquel tried for a smile but failed.
    I put both of my palms on the table, my face inches from hers. “I’ll
ask again. Every day until you relent.”
    She cast her gaze downward, making my