Sean leans in for a kiss, and it kills me, but I manage to turn my face to the side. He lingers, allowing his hot breath to move across my skin before backing up. “Tell me.”

It’s such a simple request, two words and no more, but I can’t do it. Besides, what am I supposed to say? ‘I’m over you, Sean Ferro. Go away.’ Like that’ll ever happen. I’m not over him at all and I’m rather thrilled to be under him at the moment. Fuck. I’m so mental. “I want you, but…”

Sean grins and backs off, sitting down beside me. Rubbing his hands over his face, he sighs. “Now you have morals?”

Darting upright in the bed, I’m wide awake and ready to chew him out. “Excuse me? I’ve always had morals!”

Sean glances over at me, like he’s trying not to laugh. “Are you serious? You signed up to be a call girl. If you didn’t walk into Black’s and sign on the line—”

“I’d already met you by the time I did that. I saw your picture, and then I signed.” Oh shit. That didn’t sound right. My face scrunches as I turn away from him and try to hide under the sheet.

Sean swats the thin fabric away. The lights aren’t on and the TV is still playing that video. I can see my splayed legs behind his head, glowing like a pair of sexy antlers. “Come again?” he says, leaning closer to me. “Did you just say that the only reason you became a call girl was to get dates?”

“No!”

“Then what was it?”

“To sleep with you, loser. Weren’t you listening?” I shove his arm, hard, but Sean barely moves. “I have morals. I do. I’m a very moralistic person.” Sean’s smiling at me and has a funny look on his face. It makes me squirm. I can’t tell what he’s thinking at all and that concerns me. I push his shoulder again, and say, “Stop it.”

“I’m sorry. I stand corrected. You have morals. They’re a very strange set of idealistic codes, but you have them. Apparently I’m the only one in this relationship who is devoid of scruples.”

“You’re not devoid of anything. You just put them away for a while.” I look down at my hand when I notice the reddish sticky substance on my palm. It wasn’t there before I shoved him. There’s more blood on his sleeve. My eyes flick up and lock with his blue gaze. Holding up my hand, I ask, “Is this blood? Tell me that you didn’t kill someone tonight. Because I’m pretty sure this isn’t yours.”

Sean takes my bloody palm and pulls me off the bed. “I didn’t kill anyone. Someone was… You know what, forget it. It’s taken care of and I’d like to help you clean this off, if you’ll let me.” There’s a question in his tone.

I don’t like this. I don’t know where he went or what he did. There are a few spatters of something dark on his shirt, at least it only seems like a few, but I can’t see very much with the lights out. Maybe I don’t want to know, and at the same time I do, because if Sean kicked someone’s ass it assures me that he can take care of me no matter what happens.

I nod. It’s all the approval Sean needs.

CHAPTER 6

He nods curtly and heads to the bathroom to turn on the shower. When he returns, he walks toward me like he knows exactly what he plans to do. Sean’s hands reach for the hem of my shirt, where they pause as he looks up into my eyes. My breath catches in my throat as my heart explodes, racing even faster than before. Not knowing what he’s doing, combined with that look, knocks the breath out of me. I can barely stand as he strips me.

First, the shirt comes over my head and I fold my arms over my chest. I don’t mean to do it, but I can’t help myself. Sean is intimidating when he has this look in his eyes. It’s like he’s found a mouse to bat around and plans to keep the poor creature in play long enough to take what he wants. There’s a carnal side to him that scares me, because I know what he wants—what he needs. Sean’s taken it from me before and doing that again terrifies me. I wonder exactly what I just gave him permission to do.

Sean’s thumbs hook into the sides of my panties, as his eyes rake over the swells of my breasts, half hidden by my arms. He slips the fabric over my hips, making me suck in a sharp breath as he tugs them.

Why can’t I tell him no? I can tell Marty no. No. Say it, Avery! Tell him that he can’t have you! But I want him. And that’s the truth. I want this to be real so badly that I’m willing to pretend, even if it’s for a little while. Maybe I’m not totally mental, I mean stripping isn’t the same as sex and he’s already seen me naked. This body should be old news to him, right?

Based on the look on Sean’s face, this body will never be old news. I like how he makes me feel. Goddesses would blush if he looked at them like that. Those blue eyes, that wicked smirk, and the way he’s so close but not close enough—Sean Ferro makes me totally crazy.

Sean kneels in front of me as he slowly slips my bottoms down over my thighs. He’s right in front of me, close enough to do all sorts of naughty things with his face right there. I’m utterly still as I shift my weight, foot to foot, and he pulls my panties off. Sean wads them in his hand and lifts them to his face before breathing in deeply. This time when his eyes flash upward, I can’t breathe at all. His look shoots through my body and into my core in a single, hot streak. Dirty thoughts fly through my mind without caution. I hope he grabs my ass hard and pulls the V at the top of my legs to his face, so he can lick me generously, from ass to clit. While he’s still on his knees, I picture him burying his face in my lower lips, licking and sucking my sensitive skin, driving his tongue deeper and deeper inside me, while he pulls my hips down hard, as if he can’t get enough. My entire body is trembling, watching Sean, waiting to see what he’ll do.

But the sexy man doesn’t do those things. Instead, he rises from the floor and reaches for me, taking my hands from my breasts. His eyes don’t lift from my chest, where my nipples are tightening into hard little nubs. Heart racing, I manage to stand there and let him stare, but the aching in my breasts—the desire to touch and be touched—worsens.

The way he’s breathing makes me yearn for his hands on my flesh. My skin is so sensitive, so ready to be felt, but Sean remains still, standing there looking at me like he’s never going to see my body like this again.

His eyes slip over every curve, memorizing all of me, until his chin tips up. “I’ve never seen anyone as beautiful as you, and it amazes me that you still try to cover yourself, like you don’t know how desirable and perfect your body truly is. Don’t hide from me, Avery. Not tonight. I won’t touch you. I won’t do anything you don’t want me to.”

I can’t find my voice, so I nod, and get treated to a light smile. His eyes travel up and down my body again, and I wish they were his hands. Or his lips and that sinful tongue. Long, wet licks sound about right. I’m too tired to think and too lusty to stand there like I’m not. His eyes fixate on my right breast and I wonder if that’s his favorite. The question floating through my mind falls out of my mouth without much thought. “If you could lower your lips to any place on my body, but you only had one kiss, where would you choose?”

Sean looks at me through those dark lashes and smiles. “May I show you?”

The giddy part of me that’s turned into a lust ridden siren replies, “Yes.”

I wonder what he’s going to do, because Sean hesitates. His eyes drop to my nipples, one at a time, and then he steps back, looking me over. Sean circles me once, slowly, making my heart slam into my ribs even harder. The place between my legs is so hot, and throbbing hard. I want him so badly and I’m hoping he picks some place really racy to kiss me. His lips pressed between my thighs would be heaven. That mouth on my breast, sucking and teasing me into oblivion sounds delicious, too.

Sean stops in front of me and looks down into my face. Lowering his head slowly he presses his mouth to mine. The heat from his lips bursts into flames when the kiss connects. I want to grab his head with my hands and pull his hair, but I keep my hands plastered to my sides. This is his kiss and I want to see what he does, so I don’t move.

Sean kisses me again, gently pressing against me. Sean’s bottom lip catches mine and he nips me lightly before sliding his tongue over the seam of my mouth. I part my lips for him, but Sean doesn’t kiss me that way. It’s the most innocent, chaste kiss he’s ever given me. When Sean pulls away I nearly fall over. I rasp, like someone sucker-punched me, and stare at him.

He doesn’t explain what he did or why. Sean simply extends his hand and says, “Come on, Miss Smith. I need to clean you up and get you to bed.”

I slip my palm into his and follow him into the bathroom. He helps me into the shower, but doesn’t give me a washcloth or soap. “Rinse off and call me when you’re ready.”

“Ready for what?” My voice barely comes out.

Sean makes an amused sound as he tugs the curtain closed. Uh, I didn’t think I was funny just then, but okay.

I let the water pound my face and my back, but I’m strung so tight that I’ll never sleep, not now. Not with Sean here. After a few moments, I decide against giving myself a good time. With my luck, he’ll walk in on me and that would be completely mortifying. Doing it in front of someone is different than doing it on camera. There’s separation, and it didn’t feel as dirty. Maybe I should just go to sleep. I do want soap though, and a soft pillow sounds nice, especially if my loins simmer down, so I call him.

Sean returns without his shirt, but he’s still dressed. I can’t hide my disappointment, but I try. Apparently, I do a shitty job. Sean smiles at me. “Hoping for something else?” I shrug. “I hate it when you do that. Say something. Own it. Tell me what you’re thinking, what you’re hoping for. I want to hear.”

“You don’t like it when I shrug? That’s an old man thing to say. You can’t say stuff like that,” I tease. I figure that I look like a drowned rat, but Sean’s gaze says something else. Drowned rats aren’t fuckable and his eyes say that I am. If he gave me a bar of soap I would have dropped it and bent over just to see what he’d do. No wonder he took the soap away.