“Wow. So, it wasn’t just a fling. That’s a long-ass time.”

“On and off for a year, depending on where I was in my life.”

“What happened when things broke off?”

“Her husband found out, and then I went to prison. She tried visiting a few times, but I refused. I want nothing to do with her. Her husband is the one who put my family in prison.”

“What?”

He nods. “He found out about the affair and became dead set on bringing my family down. I guess there were whispers about fraudulent shit. That, or Isla fed him information after I broke things off with her. I’m not sure.”

I like that he’s telling me the truth.

“So, she really means nothing to you?”

“Absolutely nothing.” His eyes soften. “You’re the only woman who means something to me like that. You’re the only woman I want to be with, Cass.”

We’re inches away from each other. Emotions high. My hormones on overdrive. Our eye contact is firm. It’s dangerous, given my bruising. I’ve never connected with anyone like this before.

Unable to stop myself, I scoot closer to him, erasing any distance between us, and stare up at him.

With a slight hesitation, I brush my lips against his. With him, there’s no hesitation. As soon as our mouths meet, he slides his tongue into my mouth.

As our lips tangle together, there’s a raw emotion that didn’t exist during our last kiss. This kiss, we’re allowing every emotion toward the other to take the frontline, feeding it to the other.

He brackets his hands around my waist and tugs me onto his lap. There’s a slight pain in the movement, but I ignore it. Tilting my hips forward, I rock against him, his cock hardening underneath me, causing me to grind on his lap.

“Cass,” he groans, pulling back, resulting in an annoyed huff from me. “We need to talk about us more.”

“Kiss first, talk later.”

“Cass.” This time, he says my name in more of a warning.

“Linc,” I mock. “Just a minute. Give me a minute of kissing.”

“Fine,” he says, feigning annoyance. “We can have some fun before we go into the deep parts.”

“Mmm … deep parts.” I grin.

“Jesus, babe. We have to get your mind out of the gutter.”

“The gutter is the best place for the mind to be.” I go in for another kiss, thankful he’s giving in to our desires.

We start slow before it turns frantic, and he’s lowering me onto my back.

“We need to get this damn sweatshirt off,” he says, hovering over me.