Desperate Domination (Bought by the Billionaire #3) by Lili Valente Page B

curved. “I believe you would.”
    “I’m not joking,” Hannah insisted. “I’m very fierce when it comes to the people I love.”
    Jackson held her fathomless gaze and slowly forgot how to breathe. It wasn’t the first time she’d said it, but it was the first time in the past few days. The first time since he’d started to feel incomplete when he wasn’t within touching distance of this woman who affected him like no other.
    The first time since he’d begun to suspect that maybe his heart wasn’t twisted beyond repair.
    “I…” He swallowed the words before they could find their way out into the air. It was too soon. Once those words were out, there would be no going back and he didn’t trust himself to make promises. Not yet. “I was wondering if you’d stay a little longer,” he said, hoping he’d covered the awkward moment.
    Hannah’s eyebrows lifted. “But we’re not at the end of the ten days.”
    “I don’t need the full ten days to know that I want more,” he said, loving the obvious pleasure that bloomed on her face. “Would you stay and spend the holidays with me? I called my associate who owns the island. It’s available through January second if you’re free to stay.”
    “Yes,” she said, her megawatt grin fading only a watt or two when she added, “though I might need to fly home for Christmas Day to visit Sybil. We’ve never been apart on Christmas.”
    “She could come here,” he said. “I’m sure Eva could make something appropriate for a celebration.”
    “No way. I could make something and Sybil could help. The staff should have the holiday off.” Hannah hesitated, doubt creeping into her shining eyes. “But do you really mean it? You’d be okay with her coming here? Meeting you and finding out about…us?”
    Us. Even a few days ago he would have told her there was no such thing as “us”, but now…
    “Assuming we can come to an agreement about how to label the relationship before she arrives, then yes. I’d like to meet her. And I promise to be on my best behavior.”
    Before he realized she was moving, Hannah’s mouth was on his. He returned the kiss, humming appreciatively as the salt and honey taste of her filled his mouth.
    “What was that for?” he asked when they came up for air, both of them breathing faster.
    “For you. For this.” She settled on top of him, setting the hammock to swaying gently. “For making me happy.”
    “You make me happy, too.” He ran his palms down her spine to cup her ass. “Thank you for telling me about your family. I won’t betray your trust.”
    “I know you won’t,” she said with a confidence that touched him. “You have your bad points, but you’re not a betrayer.”
    “What bad points?” he asked as he silently wondered if she were right. He’d been a smuggler for years, but he’d never cheated a contact or double-crossed a connection. He played rough, but he played fair.
    Maybe Hannah saw that. Maybe she saw him more clearly than he gave her credit for—his good points as well as his bad ones.
    “You’re stubborn as a mule and twice as nasty when your temper’s up,” she said, finger drifting slowly down his throat. “But you’re slow to anger so the temper is bearable. And the stubborn part I’m willing to forgive since I suffer from a similar condition.”
    He smiled. “Pig-headed-itis.”
    “Something like that,” she said, kissing her way down the trail she’d drawn with her finger. “Your skin tastes so good.”
    “Not as good as yours.” His fingers slipped beneath the band of her swimsuit bottoms, tracing the curve of her ass cheek. “Have you ever had sex in a hammock?”
    She laughed, her breath warm on his throat. “No. And I don’t think we should try. We’ll tip over and kill ourselves.”
    “No, we won’t,” he said, tugging her swimsuit lower on her thighs. “I won’t let you fall.”
    “You can’t promise things like that,” Hannah whispered. “Some things