JOSS: A Standalone Romance (Gray Wolf Security) by Glenna Sinclair Page B

of hair between his pecs that I wetted with my tongue, then realigned with my fingers. His tiny nipples were sensitive, pulling a deep groan from his throat. Then the muscles in his abs tightened, as I made my way further down, peppering his lower belly with kisses.
    “Joss,” he moaned, his hand resting on the back of my head. I peeked up at him, a devilish smile on my lips. He groaned, his head falling back against the pillows.
    I felt like a teenager again, as I tugged at his zipper for the second time tonight. I wanted to offer him pleasure like he’d never known before; I wanted to make him remember me the way I wanted to remember him. He lifted his hips to help me pull his slacks and his boxer briefs out of the way, exposing his rigid cock. He groaned again when I blew against it, the heat of my breath mixing with the cooling pre-cum on his head. It tingled against my tongue…that little bit of fluid. And then I pulled him into my mouth, offering him the one thing I always swore I’d never do, but the one thing I really wanted to give to him.
    He brought something inside of me back to life. I wanted to do the same for him.
    Moan after moan slipped from between his lips. He pressed his fingers into my hair, guiding me to the places that felt the best. I was happy for his guidance, happy for every indication that I wasn’t failing badly at this first attempt. And then he was leaning up, tugging at my arm.
    “Enough,” he said, his voice roughened by desire. “I want you.”
    I let him pull me up, throwing a leg over his hips and reaching down to guide him to me. He was slick with my saliva, sliding into me with all the lubrication he could possibly need. I braced myself with my hands on his chest, watching his eyes as I rolled my hips, grinding my clit hard against his pelvic bone. He watched for a moment, his hands on my hips. But then he pulled himself up, tugging me tighter against him as he wrapped his arms around me, stealing a deeply satisfying kiss. And then we were both rocking, moving quickly toward that cliff’s edge. His body stiffened as he cried out, his cock swelling deep inside of me as he delivered a second gush of pleasure. And then my thighs quivered and my lower belly tightened, my own orgasm rushing through me, making my body tingle from head to toe.
    We fell back against the pillows, our limbs still tangled. We were quiet for a while, just the sound of our breathing filling the large, mostly empty room. Then he brushed the hair away from my face and kissed my jaw lightly.
    “Can I ask you a highly inappropriate personal question?” he asked.
    I nodded. He could ask, but that didn’t mean I’d have to answer.
    “Did you love him? Your husband?”
    The man knew how to go straight for the jugular. If words could kill, he’d be a highly skilled assassin.
    I nodded. I loved him. Ash was the first person I felt I could trust after everything that happened with my dad and with my mom. I could tell him things I’d never told anyone else. But Esteban was the first person I felt I could trust with my heart. And for the all-too-short three years we’d had together, he was my whole world. We would have been happy together. I had no doubt about that. But—maybe—I was a different person now.
    I touched Carrington’s chest. Did he love his wife?
    He took my hand in his and kissed my palm. “I did,” he said softly. “Still do, in a way.”
    He held my hand and studied my fingers for a long time. Then, slowly, he began to speak.
    “We met in high school. She was the head cheerleader, I was—surprisingly enough—the president of the chess club.”
    I pointed at him again, an incredulous look on my face. He laughed.
    “My brother was the captain of the football team. She should have been with him even though he was a year older, but she always said there was more substance to me. Aiden was all hot air.” He smiled a little nostalgically. “She was probably right about that.”
    He kissed