A deep and desperate sounding hum rumbles from his chest and he presses even closer. “Your skin is so fucking soft,” he murmurs “What was I saying?” His quiet words play over my cheek in an exciting tickle, and I rock my body into his.
“I don’t know,” I pant, practically whining with need. “I’m too distracted by the lack of kissing.”
His beardy scruff prickles my skin when his mouth cracks into a smile against my cheek and he chuckles softly. “Ah, yes. I remember now. You wanted to rush this, and I was explaining how long I’ve been wanting to take my time with you,” he says, ducking his head to the side and nuzzling in against my neck. “God, you smell incredible.”
I squirm and giggle at the hot tickling sensation as he burrows in, and I gasp when he nips at me down near the base of my high collar. An unexpectedfucksighs from my lips, and he responds with a low, appreciative grunt of approval.
He tugs at my collar with his teeth before letting it settle into position again, and then he leans back to take me in. “These clothes are a total mind-fuck, Cady. They cover so much of you, and yet they can’t hide your gorgeous fucking shape. I’m foreverimagining you naked, and you have no idea how many ways I’ve dreamed of shredding all this excess fabric into fucking rags.”
Barely able to catch my breath, I stare at him, wanting nothing more than what he just said. “Okay.”
His eyebrows dip in the center, and he eases back even further. “I’m not going to do it.”
I frown too. “Why not?”
He raises one eyebrow. “What would you wear home?” he asks with a smirk as he cups my face in both hands. “Tattered ribbons? I don’t want everyone seeing your pretty skin.” His thumbs glide over my cheeks in apparent reverence, and he sucks his bottom lip before releasing it into a glistening pout. “And how would you hide all the marks I want to fucking leave on you? People will think you’ve been attacked by a wild animal.”
I shiver at the thought and gaze up at his bright and cheeky blue eyes. “People would probably believe I was ravaged by wolves before they imagined a nice girl like me would let you anywhere near me.”
“And that’s how we’ll need to keep it,” he says, adjusting his hands until he’s cradling the back of my skull. His fingers have pushed into my hair, and my whole scalp has come alive with sensation. “If this is going to happen, nobody can know about it, Cady. I know you’re not in a position to leave town right now, and I refuse to make your life harder by ruining your good name with the warped assumptions that would come from getting tangled up with me. Plausible deniability is your only protection. Tell me you can keep this secret — and keep it well.”
“Of course,” I say without hesitation.
Daryl tilts his head to the side as he studies me, and we both startle at thecreakof the heavy library door being pushed open.
Before I can take my next breath, Daryl has ducked into the next row of shelves. He lies on the floor, grabs a bookfrom the bottom shelf, flips it open, and miraculously looks so comfortable and consumed by the content, it’s as if he’s been reading there for hours.Smooth son of a bitch.
Less practiced at shifting from highly aroused to bored and subdued, but just as committed to the ruse, I do my best to follow his lead. I push the proud spine of a nearby novel back into line, as if I’ve just shelved it and then I return to my desk to greet the new reader.
I stop dead in my tracks the moment I see my father. “Dad?” I cover my mouth as I gasp, and then rush over to him. “What’s wrong? Is Mom okay? You never come by the library.”
“She’s fine.” He cranes his neck to look around in every direction. “It’s you that I’m worried about. I was just on the phone with Dell over the road about getting his boy some tutoring support, and he happened to mentionthat man’struck has been parked out front of the library for an unusually long time today.”
“What man?” Daryl asks, stepping from the far aisle with a small stack of books he’s collected from the shelves there. He comes over and faces my father head-on. “The ass fucker?” he asks, cooler than a refrigerated cucumber. No emotion, no rudeness, but definitely no bullshit pussyfooting around trying to be polite. It’s big-dick energy at its finest, when he owns his rep and puts people in their place by letting them know he stands several levels above where they try to keep him, which is below them. “I hear that guy also likes to read from time to time,” he adds, veering off toward the issue desk.
Stunned, my dad takes a few seconds to recover, and I have to dip my head to hide my smile behind my hair as I go to meet Daryl at my desk. I clear my throat and reach for Daryl’s books. “I don’t really appreciate that sort of language in the library, Mr. Winters,” I say in a firm, short tone.
He meets my gaze but keeps any warmth from his face. “My apologies, Miss Malone,” he says sincerely before he glares at my father, who is observing our interactions closely. “Didn’t mean to offend your innocent ears,” he continues. “I just hear that name so often, I sometimes forget the original.” He turns back to me, sets the Dubai book atop the pile of erotic novels he gathered from the shelf, and pats its cover twice. “These should see me through the next week or two, so until their return, I won’t bother you with my presence or the profanities that accompany me.”
Two weeks?Is he kidding? He’s going to turn me on and then leave me hanging that long?
I punch down hard on the final cover with the ancient date stamp I have to use because the library committee refuses to upgrade to a digital system. “It was your first offense, so I’ll let you off with a warning,” I say, unable to keep my souring mood from affecting my tone or my face. I shift my frown from Daryl to my father and beg him with my eyes not to be such a jerk. “I don’t need my best customer too scared to return.”
Dad rolls his eyes. “It’s a library, not a shop, Cadence.”
I see red. “And by using it regularly, Mr. Winters raises the average IQ around here — something I thought you, of all people, would be in favor of, Principal Malone,” I counter.
Dad’s face sets into a harsh scowl. “Don’t sass me, young lady.I’mnot the town’s biggest sleaze-ball jackass.”
“You sure look a lot like him,” Daryl mutters and pulls his issued books toward himself. He gives me a nod of thanks and walks away without looking back.
“Daddy,” I growl, once the door creaks shut behind Daryl. “Did you leave school and come down here just to make that man feel unwelcome?”
My father looks me over and folds his arms over his chest. “I came to make sure you were safe.”
“Safe?” I look around the library. “From what? Poorly written prose? Paper cuts and carnivorous bookworms?”
Dad points toward the door. “From that lecherous sodomite and any scandal that may arise from you spending too much time with him.”
