Read Adored: A Masters and Mercenaries Novella (1001 Dark Nights) for Free Online Page B

though trying to make up for the fact that his cock was still. Over and over he rubbed and played and the pressure built inside Laurel until she came, her body bowing, nails digging into his arms as she rode out the pleasure.
    He moved his hand to her thigh and drove his cock deep. It was like she’d let him off the leash and he pounded inside her. She looked up and his eyes were closed, his head thrown back as he shoved in one last time and she felt heat streaming from him to her.
    She looked up, ready for another kiss, another caress from him. They had all night. It might take forever to get enough of this man.
    Mitch stared down at her. Just for a moment, his eyes were soft, as though he was utterly satisfied. That look was quickly replaced with tension and dawning regret as he took a step back, pulling up his slacks. “I can’t believe we just did that.”
    “Mitchell?” She’d felt so sexy a moment before, utterly lost in the moment. But apparently the moment had passed and the Dom had left the building because it was Mitch’s frown on that handsome face.
    She sat up, her undies shifting back though they were soaked beyond repair at this point.
    Soaked because Mitch hadn’t used a condom.
    Oh, god. They hadn’t used a condom.
    “Laurel, this was a mistake.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair and turned away from her as if he couldn’t stand to look at her another moment. “God, what did I do?”
    She got up on shaky legs. “You simply did what was inevitable, Mitch. We’ve been moving toward this for six months.”
    His hands were fists at his sides. “I’ve been fighting to avoid this for six months, Laurel. I didn’t want this. I didn’t want any of this. God, am I ever going to grow the fuck up?”
    Tears pricked her eyes and she tried to smooth out her skirt. It was a mess. She was a mess. She could still feel him inside her. Her mind was complete chaos, but her heart was a nasty, aching mess. How could he not have felt what she felt?
    “I’m going home.”
    He finally turned to her, but he wouldn’t look her in the eyes. “Yes, I think that’s a good idea. We can forget this ever happened. We can go back to the way it was.”
    Go back to the way it was? Hardly. But she’d learned where arguing with him got her. It got her screwed. What he didn’t realize was that she argued and fought with him because she cared about him, wanted the best for him.
    Now she wanted to curl into a ball and cry because she’d been wrong. She’d thought if she could get him to make love to her, everything would fall into place.
    Stupid. She’d been so stupid.
    And she might pay the price. She tried to remember when her last period was.
    “Laurel?”
    She couldn’t look at him. They hadn’t even taken off their clothes. She’d thought at the time it was because they’d been too much in the moment, but now she knew he’d never had plans to slow down. She’d been a quick lay for him, a way to burn off the tension of the day.
    He’d warned her. He’d told her he wasn’t good enough for her. She could see now all the times he’d practically begged her to leave well enough alone. He’d told her he was too old for her, too damaged, and she hadn’t listened. Even tonight he’d given her shot after shot of leaving well enough alone, but she had to poke the beast.
    She’d learned her lesson.
    “I’m fine, Mitch. I just want to get home and take a shower.” Her voice sounded hollow even to her own ears. Devoid of emotion, which was a complete joke because she was weeping inside.
    Please hold it together. Don’t let him see you cry. Don’t. Don’t make a bigger fool of yourself than you already have.
    “Laurel, I didn’t use anything.”
    She was not having this conversation with him. “It’s fine. It’s not a problem.”
    For the first time she heard some relief in his voice. “Good. That’s good. The last thing we need…”
    She was out the door before he could finish that sentence. Yes,