His lips curved.
Did I say that out loud?
“It’s time to wake up, duci.”
“Duci?”
He just hummed.
God, how hadn’t I realized how freaking handsome he was?
I knew that I’d vowed a long time ago to back away from anyone who thought prison was a fact of life and didn’t have a problem with dying early, but stepping back from this kind of chemistry would be the real crime here.
Unable to hold off, feeling oddly breathless, I cupped his cheek and allowed my palm to experience the prickle of his perfect beard.
It shaped his mouth, lips a deep, dusky rose that held whispers of femininity but was the exact opposite when combined with his features. They might have been on the thinner side, but my own tingled with the urge to taste them.
“I want to touch your lips.” When they curved, I whispered, “Let me?”
“If you want, Kitty.”
I shivered as I peered into chestnut irises that saw straight through me. Slashing my defenses. Defenses I’d spent a helluva long time cultivating, thank you very much.
My fingertips tingled at the intimate connection as I brushed them over his mouth, but it was my soul that braced for impact when he closed his eyes.
Godhelp me.
My entire being craved a deeper touch. Something more intimate. A kiss. A hug. I’d take anything. Because this man stripped me back to my core, and having never experienced anything like it, I knew I had never been this vulnerable in my life.
How was this the same man from the hospital? I wasn’t so shallow that his wretched appearance would turn me off. So why was I so ensnarednow?
“It’s time to disembark, Kitty.” His words were low and gritty. Like he was insulting me rather than giving me an unwanted travel update.
As unwilling to end this snapshot of a moment as he was, I rubbed my knuckles over his jawline. “I wonder if we’re on the same connecting flight.”
He reeled off his travel details and, still sleepy, I smiled in relief. “Maybe we’ll luck out and be sitting next to each other.”
“Distinuwill work in our favor,duci.”
“Distinu?”
Before he could answer, the plane stopped taxiing and the cabin crew reminded us over the intercom to remain seated with our seatbelts on.
I didn’t pull away, nor did he.
“Don’t take anymore Dramamine and get something to eat.”
I had to taunt, “Yes, Daddy.”
His eyes darkened. “Be careful who you tease, little girl.”
My heart rate flatlined.
Holy fuck, any other guy had the guts to call me ‘little girl,’ I’d have verbally castrated him.
But Stan wasn’t any other guy.
It made me squirm.
