Owned (Office Intrigue Book 8) by Nicole Edwards (bill gates book recommendations txt) 📕

When he licked my lower lip, all thought fled. My lips parted, a sigh escaping.

And then he kissed me.

It was possible the world stopped spinning for that brief moment in time. Everything was momentarily still as his tongue glided against mine. Softly at first, then more dominating. It was all I could do not to fall off his lap, my body softening. I slid my hand over his shoulder and behind his neck. I was aware of his smooth, warm skin, the tickle of his hair against my palm. I held on, praying he wouldn’t stop. Not ever.

I was reeling, but there was something niggling at me, telling me I needed to stop this. Talon was a mystery to me, and there were so many things I needed to know about him before I gave in. The last thing I wanted was to get involved with a man who could so easily hurt me. I had no desire to become one of his … possessions. I didn’t want to be someone’s property, and I needed him to know that. But getting my brain to communicate with my body was harder than it should’ve been. So hard, my libido somehow blocked the synapses from firing that command, and I found myself practically inhaling him.

Talon obviously didn’t have the same problem, because his hand slid into my hair and he pulled his mouth from mine by tilting my head back slightly. There was a tingle of pain in my scalp, and for some strange reason, it triggered electric sparks throughout my entire body.

“Talon, please,” I whimpered.

He released the hold on my hair, and I let my forehead press to his, dragging air into my lungs as my heart continued to beat wildly.

“Tell me, Braelyn. What is it you need?”

The question of the hour, wasn’t it?

“I don’t know.”

He kissed the corner of my mouth. “Then I can’t help you.”

God, that voice. So sinfully rich, so darkly erotic.

Make the right choice, Braelyn.

“Touch me,” I whispered.

So totally not the right choice.

I ignored that inner voice.

“I need you to touch me, Talon.”

His grip tightened slightly around the back of my neck, his other hand shifting to my thigh.

My automatic response was to let my legs fall open, giving him access to the aching part of me.

“Tell me, Braelyn.”

“Higher,” I moaned.

His warm, smooth palm slid higher on my thigh, pushing the robe up. It wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough.

When I reached for his hand, intending to guide it where I needed him to go, Talon pulled it away, keeping his grip on my neck.

“Tell. Me.”

That command shouldn’t have turned me on so much but it did. He was putting me in an incredibly vulnerable position, forcing me to voice my desires rather than get caught up in the passion and ride the waves in silence.

Again, he kissed the corner of my mouth. “I want to hear you say it, Braelyn.”

Taking a deep breath, I forced the words out. “I want to feel your fingers inside me.”

Heat infused my face, but I didn’t linger on my embarrassment, because Talon’s hand moved higher, beneath the bottom hem of the robe, sliding between my thighs and lightly caressing my mound.

“I like you waxed smooth for me,” he said approvingly.

I hissed in a breath, reminded myself to breathe, but it wasn’t easy. The sensations were overwhelming, more so because, yes, I was waxed bare. Every brush of his fingers was heaven. I couldn’t remember a time when I’d enjoyed a man’s touch so much.

“Lean back against me,” Talon commanded.

I was confused as to how to do that, but with his guidance, I shifted so that my back pressed against his chest, my legs parting so they draped on either side of his. The ocean was out in front of me. I couldn’t see much, but I could hear the waves gently crashing into the white sand below and feel the warm, salt-tinged air on my face.

“Open your robe.”

I did so without hesitation, letting the silk slide open, leaving me bare to the warm night breeze.

“Hook your heels on the edge of the chair.”

I did, drawing my knees up and letting my legs fall open.

The position, the fact that I was naked, Talon’s hands roaming … something clicked inside me. Something I’d always suspected was there but had never had the chance to explore. It was that side of me that was seeking something sinful and dirty, and I knew without a doubt Talon was the man who could give me that.

Talon’s chin grazed my shoulder and I knew he was looking, and the thought had liquid pooling between my thighs. I could feel the hard ridge of his erection pressing against my bottom, and I suddenly wished I’d requested something more than his fingers.

“Did you use the toy that’s in your bed?”

It took a moment to process what he was asking. When I did, I drew a ragged breath as his thick finger dipped between my labia.

“Talon…”

His finger stopped moving. “Did you?”

“Yes.” I exhaled sharply, then blurted my guilty response. “Yes. I used the toy.”

“Did you tease your clit with it? Or did you fuck yourself?”

Oh, hell. I wasn’t sure I was going to survive this.

“My clit,” I admitted.

Talon’s finger began rubbing lightly against my clit. “Like this?”

“Yes … oh, God. Like that,” I continued because I didn’t want him to stop. “I saw you … oh, God, yes … I saw you on the balcony… It was hot… I was… Oh, God.”

“Did you fuck yourself?”

“No.”

“Did you want to?”

I shook my head. “I … I’ve never enjoyed it. Not doing it to myself.”

Talon slipped his finger inside me and I whimpered, rocking forward to take him deeper.

“Talon … oh, God … don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”

“What did you see?”

Last night. He was referring to last night.

Oh, God.

“I saw you and your submissives—”

“Possessions,” he corrected.

“Your … possessions. I saw you … fucking one of them.”

“Did you like watching?”

I rocked my hips faster, fucking myself on his finger. “Yes. I liked it.”

Talon added