The Pleasure of Sin by Shauna Hart Page A

but to follow her lead. After dinner, she sat back in her chair, a wide smile covering her face. “That was good!”
    His shy grin was almost her undoing as he responded. “I try.”
    She took a deep breath as she tried to stop herself from staring at the fullness of his lips. “You succeeded,” she agreed, her voice low.
    “I’m glad I could make you happy,” he said, his voice husky.
    Her gaze fell to her lap, where her hands were twisting the linen napkin he had provided. If only he could make her happy, she thought. If only that was a possibility… But it wasn’t.
    And it never would be.
    “It’s always going to be between us, isn’t it?”
    His question stunned her. She lifted her head, her eyes meeting his. “What?”
    He shook his head, his mouth forming a grim line. “I should have never brought her here. Maybe if I hadn’t, this wouldn’t have happened. Maybe then you would be able to look me in the eye.”
    Her eyebrows furrowed together. “What are you talking about? What do you mean you shouldn’t have brought her here?”
    He leaned back in his chair, an impatient hand raking through his hair. “Ruby,” he confessed. “For weeks, she kept badgering me when she found out that they were considering me for the job.” He stopped for a minute, as if lost in a memory, before continuing. “I wasn’t going to bring her here. I was going to tell her that it wouldn’t work out. But, after the party…”
    He trailed off, but she knew what he was going to say. After the party where they had made the biggest mistake of their lives, he hadn’t been able to turn her away. Shock coursed through her at the thought that their careless actions that night had sealed their fate.
    Ruby’s fate.
    “Oh my God,” she murmured, her mouth falling open. She looked away, unable to think about what happened and why.
    “I shouldn’t have brought her with me. If I hadn’t, this wouldn’t have happened. Then, maybe we would have had a chance.”
    His heartfelt words pierced through her. She got to her feet, needing to put some distance between them, needing to run away from the honesty he was finally giving her. Gone was her grand plan to get information. Right now the only thing she was concerned about was getting out of here before she made an even bigger mistake.
    “I should go,” she muttered as she walked toward the door.
    She grabbed her shawl from the coat rack, but she felt him move behind her.
    “Don’t go,” he pleaded.
    She felt his body against hers. His hands slid around her waist, his mouth at her shoulder. She felt the length of his erection press into her buttocks. Her nipples tightened in anticipation as his hands slid around to her abdomen. When his hand ventured higher to cover her breast, she couldn’t help the sigh that escaped her lips. His mouth covered her shoulder, his tongue snaking out to taste her. Despite the inner voice that warned her to run, she leaned back against him, letting him take control of her body. He tweaked her nipples through the fabric of her dress, making her heart beat double time.
    All her resistance seemed to leave her when she needed it most. She wanted him. For weeks, they had been playing this cat and mouse game, and now it was time to pay. She couldn’t deny the feelings raging through her any more than she could deny her body the pleasure it sought. She felt her dress lift slowly up her thighs. His hand drifted lower. When his hand slipped into her panties, she thought she would die of pleasure. His finger slid inside her, drawing out the moisture.
    “God, your pussy is so wet,” he whispered against her shoulder.
    Jade tensed as she felt a tingle of awareness, an edge of familiarity.
    No!
    It couldn’t be.
    But it was. And she knew it with every breath left in her body.
    She pushed him away, her eyes widening as she turned to face him.
    “It was you,” she murmured, her voice barely a whisper.
    Clay’s eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.