The Sinner's Bargain (Contracts & Deceptions #2) Read online

  “You can, khorshid,” she responded as tears spilled down her face. The nickname made the fat tears rolling down Amara’s face multiply.

  Amara stood and gave her mom an extra long hug.

  “Remember what I told you,” Anna said.

  Her daughter nodded. “I’m going to try. I promise.”

  When Amara opened the door, she was surprised Colin wasn’t in the hallway, but took advantage and walked up to the nurses’ station, pleased to find her favorite nurse there.

  “Hey, I thought you left for the day,” Cathy said with a smile.

  “I had to come back. I won’t have my phone with me tonight and maybe most of tomorrow. As soon as I get a new number, I’ll call. I’m scared I’ll miss a call from here.”

  Cathy nodded, smiling sadly. “She’s been doing well today. You know we take good care of her.”

  “I know. I understand there’s nothing I can do, but it still worries me to have no phone.”

  “Everything will be okay. Take a break.”

  Amara nodded, thanking her as she walked toward the elevators. When the doors opened, Colin was inside, apparently on his way back to her, his hands tucked into his jeans.

  “Hey,” he said.

  “Hey,” she replied, getting in and standing beside him. “Why are you smiling?” she asked, craning her head to look at him.

  “Just thinking. Thanks for letting me see her.” His hand drifted between them until it reached hers, their fingers linking.

  “Of course,” she said, squeezing his hand in hers.

  “I had forgotten your mom called you that,” he said as they found the car in the parking deck

  Amara smiled, knowing he just wanted to hear her say the word. “Khorshid?”

  “Yeah,” he said, returning her smile. “My sun, right?” His words were a murmur against her lips.

  “Just sun, no possession,” she whispered against his mouth.

  “Some possession,” he replied, brushing his lips against hers in a soft caress. Their tongues intertwined, begging for forgiveness, pleading to possess the other. Amara knew she would tell him everything—anything to keep him this time.

  They checked into a hotel an adequate distance away from their apartments. Colin called Brandon and told him he wasn’t going in to work earlier that morning, repeating to Amara that they needed the day to sort things out between them. They needed to work together, and he seemed optimistic. Amara, on the other hand, was just short of freaking-the-fuck-out. Still, she told him everything, from start to finish. Amara recounted how she stood up for her father all those years ago—how Philip came for her and everything that followed—and Colin listened patiently, encouraging her to continue. When she was finished, he simply stared at her.

  “I… I need a moment to process this.” He stood and headed to the bathroom. Amara listened to the water, wondering if he would have a change of heart while he was in there, but when he walked out, he had a determined look in his eyes that assured her he was all in.

  “What are you doing on Friday?” Colin asked, taking a bite of the burger he’d ordered for lunch.

  “I have a thing to go to.”

  “For Méchant,” he said, wiping his mouth.

  “Yes.”

  He raised an expectant eyebrow.

  “I have the papers at home; Philip gave them to me a couple of weeks ago. Some guy needs a date to a gala or something.”

  “Huh,” was all that he replied. His eyes stayed on her, intense, waiting, as if he was going to pounce on her at any moment. “I’m going to a gala on Friday as well.”

  “For some charity?”

  “That’s the one.”

  “Are you… you’re going with Molly?” she asked, hating the way her throat clogged at the mere mention of her.

  “I’m supposed to. I can have her not go though, either way, she knows the wedding is off.” He said the words as if they were no big deal—as if he didn’t know that they made her heart sing with joy.

  “When?”

  “Before the auction, after the office…”

  Amara smiled slightly. “After the engagement party you skipped out on?”

  Colin grinned. “After that.”

  They looked at each other for a long moment, their eyes filling with building lust. Finally, when she couldn’t take the pressure building inside her any longer, Amara pushed her plate away, stood, and sauntered toward him. She pushed the rolling table with their unfinished food aside and straddled his lap, running both hands through his hair and gently pulling until his throat was exposed to her.

  “And now you’re a free man?” Amara asked, placing open-mouthed kisses over his neck. Colin’s breath hitched every time he felt her tongue on him.

  “I’ve never been a free man,” he replied, pivoting his hips upward so she could feel the hardness in his boxers. “Yet I have to share you once more.”

  “It’s only one more job,” Amara said, moaning when he feathered his lips against the shell of her ear.

  “A job I’d rather you not do,” he murmured against her mouth as he gripped her hips.

  “I’d rather not do it either,” she said, kissing one side of his lip. “But I need to get it over with.” Her mouth skimmed to the other side, licking his lip there. “Once I’m done, I’m all yours,” she said, biting his bottom lip. “If you still want me.” She reared back slightly and looked into his eyes, waiting, hoping.

  “I want you to be all mine now,” he growled, pushing his erection against her already wet core.

  “Then have me,” she said, grinding her hips against him.

  “Really mine, Mara.” He stilled her movements by tightening his grip on her. “Not just mine right now, not just your body. Mine completely.”

  “Like I was before.”

  His head shook in response, leaning forward to bury his face against her neck, breathing in her scent. “More than how it was before.”

  Amara pulled his face from her neck and cupped it in front of her. “And I won’t have to share you with Molly?”

  He spread his fingers over the thin shirt covering her breasts, his thumbs stroking her nipples gently. She shivered with pleasure. “You’ve never had to share me with her,” he murmured, his lips pressing against hers, his tongue plunging into her mouth, exploring.

  Colin pulled Amara’s shirt over her breasts as she rocked against his cock, trying to gain more friction under the tiny cotton shorts she wore.

  “You like that?” he asked gravelly, knowing damn well she loved it.

  One hand left her breast and was replaced by his mouth, his hot tongue slowly licking her nipple as his other hand continued to tweak the other. He pulled back his head and blew on her nipple, making the bud harden.

  “You really like that,” he said, moving to the other nipple and repeating the process. “I can feel how wet your pussy is for me. I can practically taste you on my tongue.” Amara moaned, pushing her chest further out, offering her breasts to his mouth as she held on to his shoulders. Colin’s hand drifted down between them and dipped into her shorts. “Hmmm, going commando for me.” He rubbed his finger from her clit down to her opening and back up. “So fucking wet,” he groaned. “So fucking wet for me.” Amara nodded, panting, her hips still circling, enjoying the sensation of rubbing against his cock. “You wanna come on my fingers, Mara? Or do you want my mouth?”

  “Fuck,” she moaned. His words were pushing her over the edge. Colin pulled his hand out of her shorts abruptly and pushed her body away slightly so that he could look at her. His eyes were dark, blazing, completely hooded with desire and need for her. He stood, carrying her with him to the bed. He let her slide down his body to the ground, then yanked her shorts over her hips and pulled her shirt off. Their lips met in a frenzy, bodies colliding, hands scratching, clawing, and taking. Colin broke the dizzying kiss and took a breath, letting it tickle over her face as he exhaled.

  “Come here,” he said softly as he sat on the bed, his eye
s roaming over her naked body in appreciation before meeting hers again. Amara walked to him to stand between his legs. In a blink, she was airborne, pulled against Colin’s chest as he lay back on the bed. He palmed her ass cheeks and pushed her up his body until her pussy was spread open over his face. Her only protest was a loud “fuck” when she felt his tongue on her clit, his mouth sucking it into his mouth. “Yes, fuck,” he paused to say, licking in between her folds slowly. “Move.” He spanked her ass once, and then again when she stayed frozen in place. “Yeah, like that. Ride me, baby.” His hands gripped her inner thighs and opened her more as his tongue continued to work its way up and down until her legs were shaking so hard she fell forward on the bed.

  “Oh god,” she screamed as her orgasm began to rip through her. “OhgodOhgodOhgod.”

  “I don’t know if he can hear you, baby. You might have to scream louder,” Colin said with a chuckle as he licked her one last time.

  He flipped her over so that she was on her back and nudged her legs wider apart as he sprung his erection free from his boxers. Amara stared up at him, at the contours of his chest, the scruff on his jaw, the wavy mess of his hair that fell over his eyes, and her breath caught with the intensity of her love. The lust in his eyes gave him a wild edge as he stroked himself, watching her.

  “Please make love to me, Colin,” she whispered.

  A smile appeared on his face slowly as he leaned down, placing his arms on either side of her face. “It would be my pleasure, Amara Maloof,” he murmured as he pushed himself inside of her. His thrusts were slow…languid. He took his time with her as he kissed her face, her neck, her throat, her shoulders, stopping only to look into her eyes.

  “More than the stars,” Amara whispered to him as tears filled her eyes.

  With one last deep thrust, he emptied himself inside of her.

  “More than the stars,” he said, smiling as his lips fell onto hers.

  He pulled out and lay beside her, rolling her body to rest against his and burying his face in her neck.

  “So I never shared you with her?” Amara asked quietly, drawing circles on his chest with the tip of her fingernail.

  “My heart only belongs to one woman.”

  “Do you think she’ll insist on going with you on Friday?”

  Colin adjusted her so that she could see his face. “Are you going as somebody’s date?”

  Amara nodded.

  “Molly and I had this set a while back. Her parents are very involved with this organization, so I agreed to go. If I go with her, I would meet her there and we would go our different ways after. I’m hoping I can take home this really hot girl with long black hair,” he said, twirling the ends of her hair. “She has the most amazing eyes that look like they can be made of gold.” He leaned in and kissed her eyelids. “She has the most incredible breasts,” he said, lifting the weight of her right breast in his hand. “And these curves that go on for days.” he said as his hand skimmed her waist and hip. “And she has these thighs, God, these thighs would drive anybody wild. Shapely and strong—you know what they’re good for?” he asked, throwing a leg over his hip to position himself between her again.

  “What?” Amara asked breathily.

  Colin picked her up suddenly, making her squeal in laughter. He walked to the door, holding her thighs around him and chuckling at the look on her face when he pushed her back to the wall. “Wall sex,” he said, letting go of her so that her thighs were forced to tighten around him. There they stood—him with a wicked grin on his face, her giggling like a schoolgirl—when she realized beyond a shadow of a doubt that she wanted him to share everything with her.

  “Are you sure about this?” she asked quietly, her smile disappearing.

  “I’m sure of two things, Mara—me and you. So yes, I’m sure about this.” He dipped his head and captured her lips as he pushed himself into her once more.

  THE WEEK AT Wolfe went by quickly. Between Amara daydreaming about Colin dragging her into his office to ravish her, and the reality of it happening, the days seemed to fly by. He hadn’t visited the apartment at all, but they talked on the phone until she fell asleep every night. It felt like old times, when he would call her late at night and she would pick up with a stomach full of flutters. By Friday morning, Amara wasn’t sure how much longer they could keep what was going on a secret from Brandon. He seemed to be clued in though, always watching them in amusement, as if he was in on an inside joke. Smiling to herself, Amara began the day in Colin’s office checking for any papers he may have left for her on his desk.

  “You look well rested this morning,” Colin said, startling Amara as she entered his office. The blinds were pulled down, and she had assumed he hadn’t gotten in yet.

  “Why are you sitting in the dark?” she asked, closing the door behind her and walking to the window.

  “Leave it,” he said. Amara pivoted and walked toward him instead.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, turning his seat to face her. She sat on his lap and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips.

  “I keep thinking about this gala tonight. I don’t want to go.”

  “So don’t.” Amara combed his hair back with her fingers as she leaned her face on his chest. Colin’s exhale on her neck sent a shiver down her spine.

  “I have to. You’ll be there, I already RSVP’d. Ben is going, and you know how he would be if I back out last minute.”

  Amara didn’t know Benjamin Wolfe—not really anyway—she’d only met him in passing a handful of times. Still, she’d heard enough about him to know he would take any opportunity to capitalize on it, and Colin not going to the gala would mean he would turn it into a reason to criticize him.

  “Is Molly going with you?” she asked, snuggling into his neck.

  “Yeah, but like I said, she already knows we’re not going through with the wedding. I paid her—she even kept the ring—so she won’t be a problem.”

  “You don’t have to reassure me, Colin. I’m here,” Amara said, sitting up to look at him so that he could see the sincerity in her words. Colin’s hand went up to her face and caressed it softly.

  “You’re here,” he said, with a broad smile that reached his eyes.

  “And you’re here.” She leaned in to press her lips to his, curving into him as his hand slipped to the back of her neck, his hold tightening as he drew her closer to him.

  “You’re sure you’re going to be okay seeing me there with her?”

  “Will you be okay seeing me there with another man?”

  “Hell no,” he growled against her mouth. Amara shivered at the fervor in his tone.

  “So I guess that makes us even.”

  “This isn’t a competition to see who can piss of the other more, you know?”

  Amara’s lips curved into a smile and she swiveled her body to straddle him in his seat. She placed her hands on his chest and scraped her way down to the top of his pants, to finger his belt buckle.

  “Isn’t it?” she asked mischievously.

  “Amara.” It was a warning.

  “Yes?” she asked coyly.

  Colin raised an eyebrow at her as his eyes volleyed from her face to her hands, traveling toward his hardening erection. “Are you going to do something about that?”

  “I believe I will,” she said, laughing at the confused look on his face when she took her hand away and simply whispered in his ear. “Maybe after the gala tonight though. You have a meeting with your uncle in five minutes in the conference room, and I’m leaving early today, remember?”

  “Are you kidding me?” he asked in disbelief as he watched her sashay toward the door.

  She stopped in front of his desk and placed her hands on the edge, leaning in so that he could get a good view of the valley between her breasts. Amara licked her lips slowly, teasingly. “I hope you picture my mouth opening up for your cock and taking it in slowly.” She rocked her body forward slightly and shook her head in warning when Colin started to move. “And m
y tongue drawing circles, around and around and around, until it’s all wet and can slide as far back—”

  “If you don’t stop talking, I’m going to get up and fuck you right now.”

  “You have a meeting,” she said, smiling.

  “I also have a really hard dick right now, and thoughts of you giving me the best head of my life. Choose. Go do your pretty hair and get your make up done, or get fucked so hard you won’t be making it to your little fake date tonight.”

  Amara’s insides flip flopped. “That’s a really hard choice.”

  Colin stood quickly, his chair sliding to hit the wall behind him. Amara copied his movement and began to walk backwards, away from him. She knew he wasn’t making an idle threat. He’d fuck her until she had no voice left—she knew that from experience—and since Amara finally found herself with the upper hand in this aspect, she blew him a loud kiss and left him cussing behind her.

  WHEN THE DOORBELL rang at seven-thirty, Amara was glad she had already been waiting around for a couple of minutes. The fake smile she’d practiced dropped from her face as she opened it and was met by Philip in a tux.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “Change of plans,” he said, smiling as he strutted in, uninvited.

  Gaping at him with her hand glued on the door handle, her mind raced with questions.

  “Reid is downstairs waiting for us. He no longer needed a date, but you still need to go to the event.”

  “He needs two dates?”

  “No, I need one.”

  Her hand finally let go of the door, it closed on synchronized timing with her mouth. “I’m supposed to be your date?” she nearly shrieked.

  “Not supposed to, Amara. You are my date.”

  She didn’t find the continuous humor in his voice endearing. “And you’re at my door because…you’re going to drill me on what and whom to pay attention to?”

  Philip shook his head, tucking his hands into the pockets of his pants. “I’m just here to warn you privately that your father may be there tonight, so I want you to be prepared for that.”

  Amara made a disgusted sound; the thought of seeing her father making her want to gag. “Why would he be going to a charity event that involves…charity for someone else?”