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suckle at her breast, and she sobbed lightly, murmuring, “Yes, suck me. So good, so good,” as she held his head there, watched him tugging on her nipple with his eager mouth.
And then—ahhh!—he pulled the string and one of the beads left her in a hot little blip of pleasure that made her moan.
Her breath went ragged as she rode him harder, as he suckled her, and he drew another bead out, pushing her still closer to the edge.
He began pulling the beads faster, in a slow rhythm that matched the hot circles in which she writhed, and she was lost, so lost in him and in the pleasure, that there was no thought, only feeling, stretching through her like an electrical line giving off immeasurable heat and energy.
“So close,” she whispered in his ear, still moving, grinding her body against his—
and then he extracted the last bead and she fell off the edge, the climax pulling her deep within herself, burying her in hot pulses of delight that echoed through her, coming out in low groans wrenched deep from her gut. And also in words. “I love you. God, I love you,” she murmured up into the air without thought.
“Damn, I’m coming, too,” he breathed upon releasing her breast from his mouth and as before, when he came, he lifted her body from the bed with his orgasmic thrusts, making her feel exactly what she wanted to feel—overpowered by him, possessed by him.
They both fell back on the bed in a heap and lay that way, silent, for a long moment.
When Mia finally opened her eyes, he was looking at her. He shifted his gaze to her hands, and reached to undo the leather strip, setting her free. Her first move was to slip the sexy black mask from his head—completely understanding now his previous need to see her face. She wanted nothing more in this moment than to see his.
Although she didn’t know what to say, what to expect from him now. She only knew she’d just had the most phenomenal sex of her life, and it had been reckless and scary and infinitely exciting, and it had been with Ty, the man she loved.
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“I’ve been a fucking idiot,” he said, gazing at her.
“Huh?”
He shook his head against the comforter, then ran one hand through his hair. “I don’t know what I was so mad about.”
“Because I lied to you,” she reminded him, thinking it made perfect sense. “I tricked you.”
“But you were right when you said I never would have given us a chance otherwise. I just…never thought of you this way.”
“I know. And there were times when I tried to hint to you that maybe I wasn’t the girl you thought I was…” She stopped, confused by her own words. “But the thing is, Ty, I am that girl you thought I was. I’m a nice person and a dependable, capable worker, and I’m Tim’s little sister. And I’m this person, too.” She looked away, toward the ceiling. It was stupid to bother being embarrassed now, but… “This person who loves to fuck and play sex games and sometimes be really, really dirty.” She sighed.
“Only…”
“Only what?”
She wasn’t sure she wanted to tell him this, but at this point—what the hell. “Only I’ve never gotten nearly so dirty with anyone as I have with you.” She felt his eyes on her and dared to lower her gaze and meet them. “Because of what you said?” he asked. “When you were coming just now?” She took a deep breath. “Yes.”
“That was real? You love me?”
God, was he still trying to torture her? “Yes. Yes, it was real. I’m in love with you, okay?” She turned her head away instantly, unable to believe she’d just blurted that out.
“Like I said, I’ve been an idiot. Please look at me.” 103
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She didn’t, couldn’t. He reached over, pressing his warm palm to her cheek, turning her face toward his.
“I didn’t think a girl could be as sweet and nice as you are and also be into hot sex.” She blinked. “Why?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. If you don’t count Jack’s wife, I’ve never met any hot, sexy girls who seemed all that nice. And vice versa. Just my dumb luck, I guess.
And I just didn’t think the two things could reside in the same woman.”
“Surprise,” she whispered.
“You can say that again.”
They lay silent for a moment, until he leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on the lips.
He didn’t pull back afterward, so their faces lay only a couple of inches apart. His eyes looked enormous and deep and beautiful. “Did you know,” he said softly, “that I fell in love with Mistress Mina?”
The words left her dumbfounded. “Uh, no.”
“I did. And I couldn’t understand it. Couldn’t understand how I could fall for a stranger in a mask who I didn’t even know, whose face I couldn’t even see. But now, I get it. It makes sense. Because things were so… right with her. With you. Because you’re you, and you and I have always just…clicked.”
“Yeah,” she agreed. “I guess we have.” From the beginning. From those very first easy, playful flirtations nearly twenty years earlier.
“So it’s not Mistress Mina I’m in love with anymore, Mia. It’s you.” Mia sucked in her breath. “God.” She dropped her gaze away, then lifted it again, not quite able to believe. “Really?”
He nodded. “Deeply.”
Her heart felt like it would burst up through her chest at any moment, like it was physically…growing.
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“And I’m so fucking sorry about tonight—about how mad I got, about…well, if I forced you to do anything you didn’t want to just now…” She hated the remorse in his expression and shook her head vigorously. “No, baby, you didn’t. I promise. Because there’s nothing I wouldn’t want to do with you. I love you.”
Ty took her face between his hands and lowered a long, deep kiss to her waiting mouth. It swirled down through her, more
