Dirty Secret (The Burke Brothers #1)(54)
Author: Emma Hart

“What—why?” I breathe, my eyes filling with tears.

I turn to look at him. He shrugs, taking a deep breath and looking around.

“Because,” is all he says again.

“No, goddammit, Conner! Tell me why!”

“I wanted it to feel like home,” he finally says. “I wanted you and Mila to have your own spaces, somewhere you could chill. Your dad’s stuff is packed in the garage for when you’re ready to sort through it.”

I swallow and look around the room again.

“I wanted you to have a place to be Sofie.”

I spin into him and grab him. I push my lips up against his, sliding my hands into his hair. He wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me against him.

Our lips move together slowly but firmly. I let my tongue flick against his bottom lip. The simple movement flips a switch, and the kiss becomes deeper, his fingers digging into my hips a little harder.

We both step back toward the bed at the same time, our feet tangling, and we fall back. He leans over me, breathing heavily, his eyes boring into mine.

“Sof . . .”

“Shut up.” I pull his face down to mine and silence him with a kiss.

“I was going to say my brothers are in the kitchen,” he murmurs, kissing down my jaw.

“Are you kidding me?” I stare at him.

“’Fraid not. They helped me do all this.” He pauses. “Along with some decorators.”

“Get rid of them. Now.”

Conner’s lips twitch. “You think they won’t know why?”

“I don’t care. I mean it.”

“And you don’t think them leaving without me won’t tip off the media?”

“The media can kiss my sweet Southern ass.” I sit up, looking up at him.

He laughs. “Come on. I wish we could. Trust me.” He pulls me up and into his arms.

I feel the sting of his rejection filter through my veins.

Last time, I didn’t mean to sleep with him. It was a heat-of-the-moment thing that I couldn’t fight. Fighting then sex, that’s how we did it.

This time I kissed him. I stepped back. I made the move.

And he’s saying no.

I step out of his arms and start downstairs. It damn well hurts.

“Sof.” He grabs my hand.

“What?” I turn my head but not my body.

“Don’t be like that. You know I don’t mean it that way.”

I blink but don’t respond. I tug my hand to walk away, but he holds it tighter. With one sharp pull, he spins me into his body and encases me in his arms.

“If you think I mean it that way, then you don’t know me,” he whispers in my ear. “You think I’m not dyin’ to lay you back on that bed, tear your clothes off, and kiss every inch of you? You think I don’t want to feel you beneath me crying my name as I move inside you?”

My breath catches. “Maybe that is what I think.”

He cups my chin and tilts my head up so I have to look him in the eye. “No, it ain’t. You’re just tryin’ to piss me off. You know me better than that.”

I shrug. “Whatever.”

“Why do you have to make everything into an argument?”

“I’m not!”

“You are, dammit, and it isn’t helping my restraint.”

“I don’t give a fuck about your restraint. That can kiss my ass, too.”

Conner looks at me for a long moment, his chest heaving. He swallows once, harshly, and lets me go. He rests his hands on the banister and leans over. “Hey, assholes!”

“What?” Aidan shouts up.

“Get out.”

Sofie stares at me in shock.

“What?” Tate yells. “We gotta practice!”

“It can wait. Out. Now.”

“Well, we all know where this is going.”

Kye and Aidan laugh with him, and seconds later, I hear the front door shut.

I meet Sofie’s eyes. “Happy?”

“No,” she shoots back.

I stalk toward her and lower my mouth to her ear. “You’re about to be.”

“Cocky.”

“Confident.”

“Arrogant.”

“Certain.”

I push her into her new room and shove the door closed behind us. She stops, swallowing, and meets my eyes. I can see everything she’s feeling reflected there. She’s nervous but excited. She’s angry but turned on.

She takes a succession of quick breaths when I step closer to her and pull my shirt off. Her eyes trawl across my body, her breathing never slowing.

Anticipation tingles my fingers as I reach out and grasp the hem of her shirt. “Off,” I order in a low voice.

She looks like she’s going to argue with me, but raises her arms. I pull the shirt up and over her head, throwing it to the ground in a heap. She keeps her eyes fixed on my body as mine finds hers.

Jiggly bits, my fucking ass. She doesn’t have abs, and her lower stomach is covered in faint silvery lines now, but she’s fucking gorgeous.

I curve my hand around her head and pull her into me. My lips find hers, the desperate need building inside only stoked by the sweet taste of her mouth beneath mine.

Her fingers creep through my belt loops as she steps into me, letting her body do the talking. I quickly push her back and onto her bed, not breaking the kiss.

I kiss her deeper, letting my tongue sweep across hers ferociously, pressing my hips against her. My dick is solid and twitching inside my pants.

Sofie trails her fingertips up my sides and curves her hands around my shoulders from under my arms. Her body, soft and perfect, pushes into mine, and she hooks her legs around my waist the way she has so many times before.

I kiss down her neck, leaving her gasping for a breath, and slip my fingers inside her waistband. I tug her shorts down and over her legs, standing and making her release me for a moment. Then it’s done, and they’re gone, and so are my pants.

I lean over her again, my hands sliding up her body, my dick pressing against her pussy through those fucking torturous lace panties. She whimpers at the contact and bucks her hips into me.

I undo her bra and cup her tits. My lips trail down her neck and onto her heaving chest. Her legs tighten around my waist, pulling me closer to her, making it harder for me to wait.

Because fuck everything else. I want to be inside her right now. I want to feel her come around me. I want to feel her nails sliding down my back and hear her voice trembling in my ear.

I want to remember properly what it feels like to be so close to her, because last time was a brutal coming together led by anger and lust.