Paradise Tempted: The Beginning (Paradise Stories) Read Online Free Page A

sandwich before him.
    “You fed me last night,” he stated.
    “Well, a sandwich is all I can cook,” I said, shrugging my shoulder.
    “It was the best feast I’ve had in a long time.” He bit heartily into the bread and pulled roughly to break the hard dough. My mouth watered as I watched him use his mouth, and I wondered, for the hundredth time, what his lips could do to me. What his teeth might feel like if they tasted the ache in my breasts. How his tongue might thrill me if it lapped over my nipples. A heavy beat took over my very core and throbbed hard inside my jeans. I wanted this man like I’d wanted no other, and it was foolish.
    “More studying of the human anatomy?” he said with a grin, as he caught me eying his jaw. I’d kissed those hard edges last night while he softly kissed mine. My tongue grew heavy and dry with the desire to roll over the sharp stubble that crossed his chin. He was razor edged, and he would sting, but my God, I wanted to feel the prick. His smile deepened on one side as I continued to stare, ensnared by his cutting good looks. A slight dimple arose in the corner of his mouth and he licked his lips. My mouth fell open and his smile grew. The snake knew what he was doing to me.
    I had to break away. I reached for the water bottle, but his reflexes were faster than mine. Sitting up, he held the bottle out to me. I swallowed hard again.
    “Drink?” he offered. I could only nod in response. His eyes still held mine. Together we lifted the bottle to my lips, and I awkwardly drank while his eyes focused on me. It was only when he shifted to watch my throat that I was able to pull away from his trap.
    “I got it,” I said, tugging the bottle gently from his grasp. I took a long swig of the refreshing water and closed my eyes to him. What was I doing? I thought.
    “It’s very warm out here,” he said, unzipping his sweatshirt to reveal a white t-shirt, form fitting and hugging his chest. The thinness did little to hide the dark snake under the fabric. Brilliant colors shone through the material, and without fully seeing the display, I knew a large reptile was etched into that broad chest. He caught me staring at him again.
    “It’s a cobra,” he said, answering a question I hadn’t asked. “You don’t have any tattoos, do you?”
    I shook my head, still unable to form words as my blood raced through me. I tried to take a deep breath.
    “What would you get, if you did?”
    I didn’t know and said as much.
    “You’re very innocent, aren’t you?”
    I took offense at his words, when I shouldn’t have. I was innocent, so it was truthful. Yet, I didn’t want to be. It wasn’t that I hadn’t been with another. It was that I hadn’t experienced what I thought it should be. I didn’t know how to react to his words, but I needed to step away from him. I wasn’t sure why we were still together. He didn’t remember last night. I shouldn’t have been encouraging him.
    I stood and turned away from him. Removing my shirt and then my jeans, I walked toward the stream and slipped slowly into the refreshing river. It was cold, but I had grown used to the temperature. This was baptismal water that cleansed my body and my soul when I felt I needed it. Now was one of those moments. I needed to stop imagining him with me.
    “Holy fuck, it’s cold,” he blurted behind me. I turned abruptly, lost again in my thoughts of him with me. His solid chest was exposed above the water, and my mind raced to what lay hidden below.  He slipped down and underneath, disappearing for a brief second, before popping up directly in front of me. My racing heart beat enough to raise my chest as he stood before me with ripples of water riveting down his hard skin. He wiped his hand over his head to remove access water then scrubbed down his face to clear his eyes. My mouth opened to gain more oxygen.
    “This feels…wonderful,” he spoke softly, his eyes holding mine again. He reached out a large