Lincoln pulls my hand up to the lock, opens the door, and slowly leads me inside. “Stop,” he says, then when I do, adds, “Eyes forward.” Fireworks are detonating below my belly button.
He closes the door and steps up behind me, taking my keys and purse out of my hands and putting them somewhere I can’t see.
The lights in my apartment are out, moonlight glinting off the handheld mirror I left on the coffee table next to my makeup; a half-finished glass of water beside it. The pair of heels I’d decided against lying on the floor.
Plastering himself to my back, he teases his fingertips from my hands to my shoulders, then curls his hand around my neck, guiding my head back. Holding me there.
Every nerve in my body is on fire.
“Do you know how easy it would have been to hurt you tonight?” he asks. I hope it’s a rhetorical question, because I’m so turned on I don’t think I can speak. “You’re lucky I found you before anyone else did.”
Yes, I am.
My heart is going rabid under his palm. Jesus. He wouldn’t even need to use those insane biceps; he could crack me open with his jaw. “I should punish you for disobedience. Maybe then you’ll listen to me.”
My knees buckle.Please.His hand flexes. Not enough to hurt, but to show he could if I wanted him to.
“You’ve been too reckless with your own life, princess, but I won’t be.”
With my throat still cradled in one hand, he uses the other to slowly pull down the strap of my dress. It falls down my arm, and my nipple hardens in the cold air.
Goose bumps flood my skin. “Did you really think you could hide from me? I’ve been tasked with your protection, and I take my vow very seriously.”
Fucking hell. I’m a puddle.
“This is what you wanted, wasn’t it? Teasing me all night. Begging to be caught. To be put in your place. Chasing danger and wanting to find it.”
My hands lay limp at my sides, waiting for his next move. I’m desperate for him to touch me. Anywhere.
“Always so responsible, taking on everyone else’s issues. It’s all right. I’m strong enough, princess. That’s why you picked me. I’ll look after you.” He keeps his whispered promise, dragging his fingertips along my breast and circling my nipple. One touch, and it peaks, striking a chord that goes straight to my throbbing clit.
He circles, pinches, teases it, holding me against his chest with intent and his palm.
Please, I want to say.
Take care of me. Prove you’re someone who cares. Prove I’m worth caring for.
The words stick in my throat, coming out as a pleading moan that Lincoln must understand, because he tightens his grip, sliding his palm up until his thumb and forefinger frame my jaw, tilting my head back until my mouth falls open. My breathing is ragged, loud in my ears.
My hand comes up, sliding through his hair as he licks the pleasure from my lips. Making me pant as he pinches my nipple again.
He breaks the kiss. “Take it off. I don’t want anything in my way.”
Quickly, I shake off the other strap of my dress and let gravity help slip it to the floor. It pools at my feet, and Lincoln plucks at the waistband of my black underwear. “All of it.”
Fuck. Is it possible to see heaven without dying? Because I may find out tonight. I pull them off, and then I’m standing naked in the middle of my living room, a fully dressed Lincoln pressed to my back, with only my heels and a mask left to hide behind.
Without removing his hand from my throat, he dips his head, kissing my shoulder. “Christ, look at you. You’re beautiful.”
My clit is tingling, and he hasn’t even touched it yet. And then he is, and holy fucking shit. Oh my god oh my god oh my god,his fingers.
“No one knows that this is who is hiding underneath all those pretty clothes, do they? Maybe I should keep you like this. Safe and secure.”
I squirm as he touches me, hearing myself whine as he circles my clit, dragging his fingers down my pussy, playing with my wetness, dipping one finger, then two, in, out.
“Look at how wet you are,” he says. “Fucking perfect.”
Fuck, I need him inside me already. It’s not enough, but oh, I don’t want him to stop.
