“I must’ve done something unforgiveable. Something that hurt my family.” His throat thickened. “I don’t understand. I wouldneverhurt my family.”
“Maybe you didn’t,” she whispered.
“No, I did.” He was sure of it.
“Okay. Even if you did, that’s the past now. Another life. Anotherworld.” Sophie tipped her head up, bringing her lips so close to Piers’s that he could feel them calling to his mouth. Calling tohim. “You’re here now. With me.”
“With you?” He swallowed. Maybe he hadn’t lost everything. Or maybe he had, but he could start over.
Her eyes flicked up, locking with his. She nodded. Her warm breath swirled against his lips, and Piers’s abdomen tightened.
Unable to resist, he anchored one hand on her hip and slid the other around the back of her head. After only a day together, he already couldn’t imagine a day apart. “Sophie.” Her name sounded so right on his lips.
She gripped his shirt and tugged. That was all the encouragement he needed to claim her mouth for a kiss that turned into a fiery mating dance so fast it incinerated his senses.
Piers clasped her tighter, the heat of her body scorching him through their clothes. Pressure built inside him. His shaft grew heavy and hard. Sophie slid her hands under his shirt, sweeping her fingers over his bare skin. He shuddered in pleasure. He’d never been so aroused.
She broke away, breathing hard. “I can’t believe I’m saying this to a man I met this morning, but I want you.”
Piers groaned. “Gods, I want you, too.” The gift he had in his arms left him reeling, especially when he was sure he didn’t deserve such a reward. “You’re incredible. Brave and beautiful.” He kissed her jaw, her neck, her mouth again. “But there’s no rush. I could kiss you for days.” He barely knew himself right now. There was no way Sophie could know him. He didn’t want her to regret anything, no matter how perfectly their bodies melded together, or how desperately they ached to join.
Wide eyed and beautifully flushed, Sophie huffed a laugh. “No rush? We have Novalight’s henchmen after us and a magical ice shard to get rid of. I’m not getting killed tomorrow and missing out on this. Onyou.”
“I won’t let you get killed.” Piers took offense she’d even thought it.
“What ifyoudie?” she challenged.
He scoffed. “I’ve lived this long. I don’t plan on dying tomorrow.” Besides, the ruffians here were pathetic. They only stood a chance because of guns.
“That’s man-reasoning if I ever heard it.” Slowly, she backed toward the enormous bed with pillows for four. “Besides, we’re safe for now, alone, and I’m feeling”—she cast about for the right word—“hot.” Defiance flared in her eyes, and she dragged her shirt up over her head and tossed it to the floor.
Piers’s mouth went dry. Sophie’s hair flew in every direction. She smoothed it down as she stood there in her jeans and a bright-pink breast-catching contraption that made his blood roar in his ears. He stared. He could barely breathe, was afraid to move.
She shucked off her socks and jeans, leaving only a tiny pink garment that matched the upper part of her underclothes. He swallowed hard.
Sophie bit her lip, waiting. Piers devoured the sight of her, catching fire from the inside out. He’d never seen anything more erotic in his life than those little pink scraps of clothing—and the magnificent woman underneath.
~6~
Sophie’s heart beatso fiercely, it pounded her ribs.
Piers stepped closer. “Are you sure?” he rasped in that low, sexy voice of his.
Her belly clenched. That rough hitch… She couldhearhow much he wanted her, and it made putting herself out there in a totally uncharacteristic way surprisingly easy.
“Very.” She nodded.
Why wait until tomorrow? A week from now? This strong, capable, selfless, and frankly hot-as-hell man dropped straight into her life today like a penny into a wishing well. She’d needed him, and here he was. The rest was inevitable. Destiny, maybe. All Sophie knew was that she wanted him. And not just for tonight. For as long as possible.
Their kiss still scorched her lips, and the way Piers looked at her sent heat tumbling through her middle. Want pulsed low inside. “You’re not going to make me beg, are you?”
He moved so fast he startled her. He lifted her and brought her to the bed, laying her down and settling over her. She brought her knees up. He cradled her head and took her mouth for the most sinfully delicious kiss of Sophie’s life. She melted. She wrapped her arms around him and devoured him back, because he was the most delectable thing in the world.
With a ragged sound, Piers broke away and tore his shirt over his head. Sophie saw his bandage and nearly had a heart attack.
“Oh my God, your shoulder!” A big spot of blood stained the bandage.
Ignoring that, Piers pulled off the rest of his clothing. He was totally naked underneath, tanned to perfection, and utterly magnificent. Sophie’s mouth almost watered at the sight of him. She’d never seen a flesh-and-blood man who was as perfectly honed and sharply chiseled as a classical Greek sculpture. And wow—that was one hell of an erection.
