His eyes flash with something like relief and desire and fear all mixed into one. “That makes two of us.” He sets down his drink before taking my chin in his hand. He tilts my head up, looking into my eyes.
“Gabriella—”
But in that moment, he decides words just won’t do. He stops speaking and leans in. His lips find mine, and as soon as we touch, the tension I’ve been carrying melts off me in an instant. I moan softly, his hands finding my hips, holding me in place, grounding me.
I breathe him in, the scent of wool and smoke and skin, the warmth of him seeping through the space between us until there’s no space left at all. His hand moves to the back of my neck, steady and anchoring.
The kiss deepens. My hands find his shoulders, then the sharp line of his jaw, then the back of his neck where his own tension lives. His lips shudder against mine.
There’s just need. Need and the relief of being alive and close. He tilts his head, the kiss becoming rougher, urgent,his thumb tracing the curve of my neck. I taste the faint edge of salt from my own tears and don’t give a damn.
He whispers my name, the sound low and rough. I answer with another kiss, deeper this time. His tongue drags across mine, his taste delicious. I moan again, feeling myself growing wetter by the second.
No man has ever made me feel this way. Not even close.
And that’s what’s so goddamn scary.
I untuck his shirt, sliding my hands underneath it and up along the hard planes of his torso. He’s solid as stone, but warm. I touch him as we kiss, savoring the sensation of his muscles flexing and tensing, his heart beating against my palms.
He takes his lips from mine, pressing his forehead to my own. “This isn’t what I meant to do,” he says. “But I couldn’t help myself.”
I grin. “Then stop.”
Neither of us does. His lips move to the edge of my throat, the sensitive spot just below my jaw where my pulse beats. I gasp at the sensation of his lips there, tingles breaking out all over my body, my nipples hardening.
He pulls back one more time, just far enough to look at me. His eyes are almost gentle in a way I’ve never seen before. But still dark. Still endless.
“You tell me if I go too far. I know it’s been a long day.”
“You won’t.”
The words come out softer than I intend, but they’re true. He knows just how to hold me, just how to kiss me.
His mouth traces mine, back to the hollow beneath my ear, until the world blurs again and there’s nothing but his lips and his touch and the solidness of his cock pressing against me.
“You don’t know what you do to me.”
I allow myself a small smile as I rest my fingertips on his dick through his slacks. “I think I’ve got an idea.”
He grins back. “No, you don’t. Let me show you.”
The space between us vanishes completely as his mouth claims mine again
CHAPTER 21
SASHA
“Mmm, yes.”
Gabriella moans the words into my ear as I carry her to the bedroom, her legs wrapped around my waist, her breath hot against my neck.
The penthouse is a wild blur around us, Chicago’s restless lights a deep amber in the distance.
None of that matters.
Only she does.
This woman’s been under my skin for years, defying me, challenging me, making me question every single last wall I’ve built. Now, once more, she’s mine to unravel, and I tend to take my sweet time doing it.
