Free Crime and Punishment 4: Burning Submission by Trista Ann Michaels

“That’s supposed to make it easier for me?”
    Josh pursed his lips and shrugged. “Maybe the clothes inhibit it.”
    “You’re insane.”

Chapter Twelve
    Jennifer couldn’t stop glancing back at Josh’s chest. God, she loved a good set of pecs, and he had an amazing pair. His bare chest distracted her more than anything else. He was nuts if he thought standing in front of her half-naked and looking like a Greek god would do anything for her concentration.
    She understood what he was trying to get her to do. For the most part, she agreed with him. Unfortunately, the last thing she wanted to do at the moment was practice her powers. Sex was what she really wanted, and she wanted it in a bad way—rough and hard, dirty and sweaty. She wanted him to just take her. Now.
    Without thinking, she lifted her hand and let it hover directly over his right pec. The dusty brown nipple called to her, made her want to lick out and suck the hard nub. What would he do if she did?
    She curled her fingers and then straightened them just inches from his warm skin. A tingle moved through her arm and fingertips. Josh’s soft gasp let her know he felt it too, so she brought her gaze up to his face. “Can you feel that?” she whispered.
    “Yeah,” Josh replied. “What are you doing?”
    She stared back at her hand. “I don’t know. I’m just…stimulating the energy around you.”
    Jennifer’s body began to heat, and her nipples ached as they pressed against her bra. The place between her legs throbbed in need. She’d been without way too long. She tried to concentrate on the energy, but all she could see in her mind or feel in her body was Josh fucking her, touching her everywhere, kissing her with those gloriously full lips, and rubbing the stubble on his jaw over every inch of her aching body.
    The air Josh sucked into his lungs made the burning in her fingers register. She gasped and jerked her hand back, stunned at the red spot that had begun to form over Josh’s pec.
    “Oh, God,” she murmured as she reached for a paper towel and wet it. She turned back to Josh and placed the cold towel over his burned flesh. “See? I told you I would hurt you.”
    “You didn’t hurt me,” he said as he put his hand over hers and took the towel.
    He readjusted it over the red mark before turning his gaze back to hers. She didn’t see anger in his eyes, or fear. Instead, she saw barely controlled lust, and she swallowed.
    “What were you thinking about when you did that?”
    She couldn’t hide anything from him. There was something about him, his commanding presence, his authoritative control that had her wanting to spill her guts every damn time he asked her a question.
    “Obviously, something I shouldn’t have been,” she replied sarcastically.
    “Like what?”
    She growled in exasperation as she threw the water bottle in the sink a couple of feet away. “I was thinking about fucking you. Okay? Are you happy now? It’s that damn chest of yours. How can you look so good for a man your age?”
    “Wow. A man my age?”
    Thinking she’d hurt his feelings, she turned to apologize, but the teasing glint in his eyes and flirty grin brought her up short. She crossed her arms over her chest. “Sex is out, so forget it. I don’t have any condoms, and considering you just recently got out of the hospital, I doubt you have any either.”
    Josh looked down at his chest as he removed the towel. The burn had faded to a dull pink, which relieved her somewhat. Unfortunately, his closeness and the track of their conversation only added to her unease. It wasn’t that she was afraid of him. She was afraid of herself and what she might do, especially now that her abilities seemed so uncontrolled.
    “Condoms are an easy fix, sweetheart. Every drugstore has them.”
    She sighed. “That’s not the point. We barely know each other.”
    “That doesn’t stop me from wanting you.”
    Jennifer closed her eyes, fearful that if she looked at