Page 72 of Silver Sinner

"Not an overstep. It just… surprised me, that's all. It wasn't even something I thought about, so it was kind of amazing that you did."

Pierce's smile remains gentle while I fill the vase, then he pops the flowers in one by one. "It's required in my job to think of everything."

"In real estate?" I lock eyes with him, but he doesn't even blink.

"Yes."

"Well, thank you. Pretty sure you saved me from a school fine and a reprimand at work."

"You're welcome. I was telling you the truth when I said I was happy to care for you, because you are dear to me."

"Dear to you," I repeat as I set the flowers in front of the freshly repaired window. "What does that mean exactly?"

"Do you need me to spell it out?"

"Flowers and wine are a good hint but—" My words falter as I turn back to Pierce and he stands there with another diamond pendant resting in the palm of his hand. It's so similar to the one that was stolen, and it sparkles gently in the low light of the kitchen. Inside my chest, my heart skips a beat and all my thoughts flatline into nothing. "Pierce," I gasp. "You… you didn't have to get me another! One was already more than generous."

Pierce merely smiles and steps forward. "Can I put it on you?"

"Yes!" Within seconds, I've scooped up my hair away from my neck and turned away from him. His presence warms the air behind me and a shiver shoots down my spine.

Pierce's hands appear over my shoulders, and he unlocks the pendant, then gently threads it around my throat with his fingers brushing delicately against my neck. Each brief point of contact leaves warm tingles. Once the pendant is secured, he steps away and I let my hair fall as I turn.

"It's beautiful, Pierce. Truly. Thank you."

"Not as beautiful as you," Pierce murmurs gently. His hand touches my jaw, then slides to clasp the side of my neck and he pulls me in for a sweet, slow kiss. I return it eagerly, although a warm pit opens beneath my gut when he pulls away. "Should we open the wine?"

"No," I whisper, focusing on that pit and the deep pull of want that throbs through my core. "I have a better idea."

"Which is?" Pierce asks in a tone low enough that I know he's already on the same page.

The wine and flowers are forgotten, as are any attempts at conversation as we stumble together, mouths locked in a heated dance, from the kitchen to the lounge. Pierce's hands cradle my face until he grows impatient and they start pulling at my clothes while I rip his shirt open with both hands.

I want him.

I need him.

Just a taste to satiate the heat knotting in my lower gut. I need him to fuck me until the tangle of my thoughts around these hellish few weeks has faded, and I can feel like myself again. We rotate and my legs hit the back of the couch but as I fall, a gasp escapes me.

"Maddie," I whisper. "We have to be quiet."

Pierce is on me like a shadow, kissing my mouth and jaw, up to where lingering bruises shadow my face and down to sprinkle tender kisses along my throat. "I will make you silent," he growls against my fluttering pulse, then his teeth catch and my mind goes blank.

He means it. Somewhere in the frantic rush to shed our clothes, Pierce locates a condom and snaps it on while devouring me in hot, frantic kisses. We weave together like music, scarcely able to catch a breath as if even a second apart is too long. I caress his neck, sink my hands into his thick, gray-dusted hair, and pull him snug against my naked body where there's no chance for even a moment of shame or anxiety.

Pierce's cock spears me open in one solid thrust, sending my head back against the armrest of the couch and a cry rears up in my throat. A cry that doesn't make it past my lips as Pierce seals his hand over my mouth and presses his lips to his knuckles.

"Hush, darling," he groans, his eyes dark like ink while I scratch trails down his muscular arms. "You can't make a noise, remember?"

I remember, and yet his sole purpose seems to be making me break the silence he's helping me keep. With one knee on the couch and the other leg braced on the floor, he hooks one arm around my leg to keep it raised while the other remains over my mouth. It gives a deliciously hot angle when he starts to fuck me, and I'm caught in a rush of ecstasy while the snake on his arm dances across his shoulder with every thrust.

I can't breathe. I can't think. His hips piston into me in long, deep thrusts that let me soak up the sheer length and size of him until my eyes roll and my mouth waters, but just as I get used to that, he drapes over me and switches up the pace to shallow, hard thrusts that try to shake me apart. It's good. In fact it's too good.

All too soon, liquid fire pools low in my gut and my muscles tense with desire. Every pounding thrust of his cock drives me closer and closer to orgasm, an orgasm he must be just as close to given the harsh, eager pants slipping past his lips.

"Beautiful," Pierce croaks and he leans down again, kissing the back of the hand keeping me silent. "You're so fucking beautiful."

It's enough to bring tears to my eyes because suddenly, in the pleasurable throes of orgasm, something dislodges in my chest and a sudden feeling of guilt nestles under my ribs. It stays there, even as Pierce reaches his end inside me and finally removes his hand so he can kiss me. Each press of his lips is sweeter than the last until the remaining tingles and trembles fade from my limbs. Pierce kisses my forehead, pulls out of me in a hot rush, and the last thing I hear is the snap of the condom before Pierce is back at my side. He cuddles me close and drags the blanket from the back of the couch over the top of us both.