Page 51 of Reckless Devotion

Kissing Chase is like dancing with the devil, and I’m powerless to resist him when he’s like this. His lips move over mine, firm but soft at the same time, his tongue tangling with mine, the masculine scent of him lodged at the back of my throat.

I moan, throwing away any last dreg of self-respect and flinging my arms around his neck, crushing him in closer, needing to feel more of him—explore more of him. He drops a hand from my face to tug me tight to his body, the other sliding around the back of my neck and tangling in my hair. He takes what he wants, how he wants it, with the exact same precision that he moves through this world with, angling my head to give himself the perfect angle.

I dig my fingernails into his shoulders, earning myself a deep gravelly groan into my mouth that sets every nerve ending alight. Oh, this feels dangerous. It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced before,and I’ve been missing out.He curls his body over me, anchoring me to him with an arm around my lower back and bending me backward. I welcome it, pliant and willing in his strong arms as he walks me back until my ass hits the desk.

He drags his lips off mine, placing peppered kisses across my jaw and down to my neck, sucking and nibbling at the perfect sensitive spot right where it meets my shoulder. “God,Pepper. You drive me insane.”

Right. Back. At you. I would tell him as much if I could catch my breath around the cyclone of sensations barreling through my nervous system, which ratchet up another gear when he slides one thigh closer between mine, giving me some pressure I desperately need. Something scarily large and hard presses into my hip. My hands clutch at his wide back as he swiftly picks me up, wrapping my legs around him and placing me on the desktop. Something clatters to the floor, but we both ignore it.

“That stubborn attitude of yours.” His deep voice rumbles across my skin, sending tingles in every direction. He lifts his head, his molten gaze scraping over me. “This pretty face.” He lifts the hand from my back to run a finger along my jaw, before it drops south. “This perfect body of yours.”

My cheeks flame as he pushes one strap of my dungarees off my shoulder, and traces the same finger down to the outline of my breast above my shirt. Alarm bells blare, warning me that I’m not used to men like Chase Walker. I’m not used to men with confidence and power, andhell,more experience at this type of thing that I can shake a cat at. It’s heady enough that I’m seconds away from humping his leg like a badly behaved dog—tongue out, panting.

“I can’t wait to unwrap you, Pepper Quinn.” The growl comes out primal, just as his hands cap my hips. The world tilts on its axis, and suddenly I’m flipped over, my cheek close to the desk as he leans over me, trailing kisses down the back of my neck. “And find out just how sweet you are.”

My thighs squeeze, jolts of electricity streaking through my belly as my breath comes in quicker and quicker. Holy hell, this man might be able to make me come just bytalkingto me.

He tangles one of his hands with mine, placing them joined together just inches from my face. My cheek touches the cool desk surface, and suddenly something cold floodsmy system, the burning furnace that existed just seconds ago doused from existence. My breath feels tight for a whole new reason, and my eyes slam open to see my faint reflection in the computer screen glass just inches away from my face. No, no, no,no!

“Stop!” I bolt upright, or attempt to anyway, but he’s so heavy and strong that I barely move a few inches. Panic strangles my throat, the memory of copper swirling around my head.

“Are you okay?” Chase quickly reacts, his weight falling away from my back so that I can stand. “Did I hurt you?”

Tears prickle in my eyes, the floodgates I keep so tightly chained threatening to break open. I spin around, my chest heaving, the horrifying reality of the moment trickling in. “I-I just—”

Great, coherent words are apparently off the table. A crease forms between his brows, his hands reaching for my arms to steady me. I must look like a ghost, if his face is anything to go by. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I—” I shake my head, sucking in a calming breath and grounding myself in the small details. I’m in my office. At home. There are no mirrors, or sandstone tiles. There is no blood. And most importantly, there is no Jeremy Rènir Junior. “I’m fine, I’m sorry. It’s just…not a good idea.”

I try to keep my breathing steady, which is no mean feat, considering my nervous system is acting like I just did a five-hundred-meter sprint. The back of my neck prickles in the way it always does when he switches on his X-ray vision, and if that didn’t confirm that he doesn’t believe me, the slight narrowing of his eyes would. I clear my throat and try to step back, needing to escape his heady scent to get my head on straight. I’m met with the hard desk lip behind me, but he takes the hint and steps away, giving me space.

“Okay,” he says easily, smoothing down the front of his suit and sliding his hands into his pockets.

“Okay?” I repeat, shocked that he doesn’t resist.

He lifts one dark eyebrow. “Yes, Pepper. I’m not in the habit of coercing women to sleep with me. If you say no, it’s no. No questions asked.”

I feel my lower lip begin to tremble at those words, and clamp it down tightly to prevent it from showing. In part because that simple sentiment is heartbreaking for someone like me, but mostly because I realize that’s exactly what had been about to happen here. I had been about to fuck Chase Walker, on my desk, with ten people in the room down the hall.

I swipe a hand down my face, expelling a deep sigh. What the fuck am I playing at? “Okay, thank you.”

I hear his footsteps move and glance up to see him walk over to my office door. “But Pepper?” he pauses to say, turning his head to look at me. “I want this to be easy between us. No more rivalry. Just two people working together toward a common goal.”

I blink in surprise, cataloguing his determined mask. “Okay,” I agree quietly, leaning back on the desk lip. “No more rivalry.”

“And no more investigating my friends,” he adds seriously, placing a large hand on the door handle.

I open my mouth to argue the point as a knee-jerk reaction, but his pointed eyebrow changes my course. “I can agree to that.”

“Good.” He winks like we didn’t just have the most charged, confusing, and downright inappropriate encounter, and opens the door, disappearing through it and leaving me in a puddle of mixed emotions.

***

“You know, I think I could use some ocean air.” Chase drags his palm down his jaw, stubble scratching as we both walk slowly along the edge of the New York Harbor.

The thick green trees in Battery Park line the other side of the tarmac pathway that corrals the southern tip of Lower Manhattan, set against a backdrop of the towering skyscrapers that inhabit the financial district.

“This is ocean air,” I point out, indicating the harbor that wraps around us, and the salty breeze that accompanies a steady flow of ferries and the Statue of Liberty in the distance.