A SECRET SIN

4

“God, Bishop. I feel so full.” The words were nothing but wisps of air. All my energy was

focused on reconciling this strange new feeling of absolute possession. Of being totally and

completely enveloped by a man. He had captured all my senses—rendered me helpless but to absorb

his taste, touch, and even smell. He was everywhere and everything, and I couldn’t get enough.

Then he started to move.

Slow and steady at first, he gradually pumped faster and harder until nothing else existed but our

intoxicating connection. No expectations or rules. No consequences or responsibilities. We were

suspended in a magical moment consisting of pure carnal desire.

He pressed my knees farther back, curving my spine and allowing him even deeper. I clung to his

body, urging him onward and pleading for more.

“Is this what you wanted, kitten?” he asked through heavy pants. “To have my c**k buried balls

deep inside you?”

“Yes.” My eyes rolled back as a shimmering brilliance teased and sizzled between my legs. Like

my o****m before but different. More. As though any release I’d ever had in the past was just a

sample of what was possible. Of what I was about to experience.

“f**k, I want to see my c*m drip from your wet pussy.”

To my surprise, it was Bishop’s filthy words that nudged me ever closer to the cliff’s edge. I

hadn’t known words alone could be so erotic, but every time he spoke, my insides melted.

“Bishop!”

“My girl likes it dirty, doesn’t she?” He was like a freight train, relentlessly tunneling us both

toward ecstasy. “That’s it, baby. Squeeze my c**k. Jesus.”

My lips parted in a silent cry as a cataclysmic o****m overtook me. It swept me away and

temporarily erased me from existence. I was nothing but tingling sensation. A river of molten

pleasure.

Bishop’s release erupted with a growl that reverberated from deep in his chest. He clenched me

close for three slow but deliberate final thrusts, his body bowed around mine.

I basked in the afterglow.

I’d done what I’d set out to do, and everything about the moment was utter perfection, aside from

our little hiccup. I felt certain Bishop would get over my deception. If he felt half as blissed out as I

did, he could forgive a multitude of sins. What other choice did he have?

I DIDN’T EVEN REALIZE I’D FALLEN ASLEEP UNTIL MY PHONE RANG HOURS LATER. IT WAS SEVEN THIRTY

at night, and Conner was calling to find out why the hell I hadn’t shown up for work. I mumbled an

apology, then tossed the phone back on the nightstand, only to roll over and realize the bed was empty.

The f**k?

I peered around the dark room. The setting sun cast only a soft glow through the shades, but I saw

no signs of Pippa. No note or discarded clothes. She could have been waiting for me in another room,

but something told me she was gone. Motherfucker.

I’d rolled onto my back after the best s*x of my life, my sated kitten draped over me, and passed

out. The two hours of sleep I’d had the night before had caught up with me. Feeling Pippa’s soft body

pressed against mine was the last thing I remembered. s**t. Had she tried to wake me? How long had

she lain there, wondering if I would wake up?

Talk about firsts. I didn’t think I’d ever been walked out on. It was usually the other way around—

me slipping out of some chick’s apartment, hoping to skip the awkward morning-after talk. I should

have been happy, then. Right? She’d saved me the trouble of sending her on her way. Except what

we’d done hadn’t been an ordinary screw. Hell, the words Pippa and ordinary didn’t even belong in

the same sentence.

Instead of relief, I felt this strange clawing sensation under my skin. Irritation. I didn’t like that she

was gone. What the hell was wrong with me?

I shoved off the bed and made a quick loop of my apartment. My instincts were right—no sign of

her. I didn’t like not knowing if she made it home safely even though it had been light out when she

left. I decided that I should check on her and make sure she was okay, trying to convince myself it was

her safety that concerned me rather than finding out the reason for her disappearance.

Or worse, you could just want to see her again.

Fuck, this was bad.

I stalked back to the bedroom and took a quick shower. I needed to clean up just as much as I

needed to clear my head. I didn’t need this kind of complication in my life. A f*****g virgin.

Jesus Christ.

She’d given every indication that she was anything but innocent, yet I felt her body give way the

second I pushed inside her. A body that was temptation incarnate—feminine curves and skin soft as a

ripe peach. She was f*****g incredible, and I was her first.

What was it about that fact that made me feel so damn barbaric? Like I needed to bang my chest

and drag her back to my cave where no other man could even look at her.

When I’d first met her before Conner’s wedding, I couldn’t deny her appeal. Warm brown eyes,

sandy-blond hair, and sun-kissed skin like she’d lived her whole life on the beach rather than in

Manhattan. Then there were the hours we’d spent together on the day of the wedding. She was so full

of energy and life. It was intoxicating just to be near her. Her addictive nature was the whole reason I

ended up agreeing to take her back to my place when I knew it was a bad f*****g idea. She was

Italian. Her uncle was the goddamn Moretti family boss, and I had cut up her v-card like an expired

driver’s license—utterly worthless.

A surge of anger clenched my jaw so tight I was worried I’d c***k a damn tooth.

I could be pissed all I wanted, but it changed nothing. That was one bridge that could never be

crossed again. The only thing that would help at all was to at least reassure myself the damn woman

had made it home alive.

I got dressed for work, then forced myself to call Conner back. My boss and longtime best friend

wasn’t going to like hearing I’d f****d his new wife’s cousin.

Should have thought about that before you had her up against a wall, dickhead.

I shook my head as the phone rang.