"What's wrong?" I stood immediately, every protective instinct firing. "What happened?"
She tried to speak. Her mouth opened but only stuttered sounds came out.
"Aria. Breathe. What's going on?"
"I—Luca—I saw him—in the stable—and I—"
She wasn't making sense. Her words were tumbling over each other, her hands gesturing frantically.
I moved around the desk, crossed to her in three strides. Gripped her shoulders gently.
"Slow down. What about Luca?"
She was wearing a sundress today. Light blue that made her eyes look enormous. The fabric was thin, clinging to curves I'd memorized with my hands. Her hair was loose, slightly mussed like she'd been running her fingers through it.
She looked terrified. And beautiful. And so fucking tempting I had to physically restrain myself from pulling her against me.
"I saw him in the stable talking to someone on the phone and—and I think he was reporting to your father and I got scared and I didn't know where to go so I—"
"So you came here." Something warm expanded in my chest. When she was scared, she ran to me. "You're safe. He didn't see you?"
"I don't think so. I ran."
Her hands were still shaking. I covered them with mine, trying to ground her.
But then something shifted. The fear in her eyes morphed into something else. Something heated.
"I'm done." Her voice was suddenly stronger. Clearer.
"Done with what?"
"Done waiting. Done being careful. Done pretending I don't want this—want you—every single second of every single day." She moved closer, eliminating what little space remained between us. "It's killing me, Kai. Being this close to you and not being able to touch you. I can't do it anymore."
Fuck. Hearing those words in her voice did something primal to me.
"Aria, you need to think about what you're saying. We're playing with fire here. One wrong move and we both burn." I didn't want her to think, but I needed her to know the weight of her words. That there was no going back because I was being stirred. I could already feel my length growing hard at her words.
"Then let us burn." Her hands fisted in my shirt. "I don't care anymore. I just—I need—"
"What do you need?" My voice had gone rough. "Tell me exactly what you need."
"You. I need you."
"Fuck." The word came out half curse, half prayer. "You're going to be the death of me."
I snapped.
My hand tangled in her hair, yanking her head back. My mouth crashed down on hers, swallowing the gasp she made.
This wasn't gentle. Wasn't careful. This was hunger finally unleashed after a week of restraint.
My tongue swept into her mouth, demanding and possessive. She opened for me immediately, her own tongue meeting mine in a battle for dominance neither of us would win.
Her hands went to my belt, fumbling with the buckle. The desperation in her movements made me groan into her mouth.
I grabbed her wrists, pinned them above her head with one hand. Used my other hand to grip her ass, lifting her.
She wrapped her legs around my waist automatically. I turned, carried her the three steps to my desk. Swept everything off—papers, laptop, phone—letting it all crash to the floor.
