“Steady, love,” I whisper, even though I’m the one shaking.
She smiles, dazed and beautiful, then kisses me with a shockingly erotic technique I am not prepared for.
Her hands thread through my hair, her lips parting to take my tongue deeper into her lush mouth as her heart races against my chest.
This might as well be my first time.
Chapter 37
Fallon
Rhys’s mouth trails down my throat, and every part of me feels so full, so complete. I’m not sure how much longer I can hold everything happening inside my chest. My fingers are buried in his newly shorn hair. His breath scorches along my collarbone as if he’s branding me.
Maybe he is.
I want to do the same to him. He’s mine, damn it.
With my short skirt bunched around my waist and my silly candy-cane tights stretched over my thighs, I rock in his lap.
Rhys’s hands grip my hips, holding me in place as he grinds against the ache between my legs with the startlingly hard length in his jeans.
“I can’t—” I choke on a laugh, breathless. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“Believe it, love.” His voice sounds low and wrecked. “Because I’m not stopping.”
Something inside me snaps loose. All those nights I lay awake imagining this, thinking I was too broken, and it would never happen. That I was too dark and wicked for wanting an assassin, and now he’s kissing me, teasing me. Nothing’s ever felt more solid and real.
Rhys chose me. He made me his before I even realized it.
I drag my mouth over his jaw, tasting salt and spice. Rhys groans, tipping his head back as if I’ve unglued him. That does something to me.
It makes me bold.
I peel my sweater off and over my head, tossing it somewhere behind the couch. The air nibbles at my skin, a wash of pebbled flesh rising everywhere.Rhys’s hands are warm and sure, smoothing up my spine, cupping the back of my shoulders. I imagine if I had wings, he would be stroking them.
I don’t feel like an angel. Not tonight. I want Rhys to do things to me that will send me to hell. Via the express lane.
His eyes go dark. “You’re beautiful.”
No one’s ever said that like it’s a fact. Like it’s not up for debate.
My throat tightens. “I don’t usually feel very pretty. No one sees the real me.”
“Their loss.” He cups my cheek with one hand, his thumb stroking my lips. “BecauseIsee you.”
God, I want to be seen by him.
“And I want you, Fallon. I want you so fucking much.”
I kiss him again. It’s desperate and soft all at once. Like a guardrail has collapsed, lines blurred. We go at it until we’re a tangle of limbs and frantic heartbeats. Rhys slides me down onto the couch cushions until I’m vertical. He tugs down the waistband of my tights, slow enough that I can stop him if I want.
I don’t want him to stop.
I just nod and lift my hips. “Yes.”
He swallows hard, visibly trembling, too. “You sure?”
“I’ve never been surer about anything.” My voice shakes, but not from fear. Okay, a little fear. But more from wanting this so much.
