Tears prick my eyes as our tongues tangle in a sensual dance. His taste is as intoxicating as I remember, a heady elixir that makes my head spin and my soul sing. The blood bond makeshim act this way, and my traitorous heart wants to pretend it means more than it does.
Whatever. I’ll enjoy it before I let myself regret it.
I crawl into his lap, straddling him. My thighs tighten around his hips, my core pressing against his growing hardness. The need to be closer consumes me. Vane crushes my body against his, his hands roaming over my hips and waist. My starved body blossoms for his touch. I roll my hips, causing us both to groan.
“Faster,” Vane begs. “Please.”
I continue my slow, taunting movements. He doesn’t deserve to get what he wants. But the second Vane’s teeth brush against my neck, againsthismark, a white-hot fire ignites within me, burning away my anger, leaving only a raw, pulsing need.
No,my mind screams, even as my body arches toward him, betraying my resolve.
“Vane,” I breathe, the name a prayer on my lips, a confession of my weakness.
“I’ve fantasized about this for so damn long,” Vane whispers with his hands on my breasts. “Every time I saw you, all those tight little dresses you wear and that barbed tongue of yours?—”
I lick his throat, nibbling and sucking, as a groan rumbling from deep within him as I mark him.He hurt me.The thought flickers, a dying ember in the inferno of sensation. We’re chest to chest, the friction of my clit against the hardness in his pants building, building.He betrayed me.But the words are meaningless now, lost in the rising tide of pleasure.He. . .I can’t even remember what I was going to think. All I can feel ishim.
“Unbutton your shirt,” I demand, fumbling with the buttons. Impatience gets the better of me. I tear the fabric open, revealing his beautiful chest.
“I liked that shirt,” Vane pouts.
“Boohoo.” I circle my tongue around his nipple, the inferno between my legs burning brighter with each swipe. I grindagainst him harder, needing,cravingthe friction. The thought of being naked, skin against skin, sends a molten rush through my entire body. He sighs happily. “Take me,” I whisper against his skin. “Now.”
I’ve had a hell of a night, and the heat of his body, the way he’s looking at me, the barely contained hunger in his eyes, is sending me spiraling.
His desire wraps around me, tight as a coil, and my own mirrors it, escalating until it’s the only thing I can feel. At this moment, sex is the only answer, the only language I can understand. If I don’t have him now, I might just explode.
I reach for my bra, but Vane’s hands are already there. The straps fall away, and I pull the confining fabric off, gasping at the sudden freedom. His gaze burns into me, and his hands are on me instantly.
“Exquisite.” With one hand kneading my flesh, his other hand unbuttons my jeans, and dips inside my panties. He finds my wetness, then moans low in his throat. I’m on fire. I haven’t burned this hot since the last time he took me to his bed. A flash of memory. Hurt. Anger. Then his fingers on my clit. Pleasure. So much pleasure. I forget. I surrender.
My breath catches. His fingers . . .Gods, his fingers.
“I crave you like this,” Vane murmurs. “At my mercy.”
Just as I’m about to beg for release, Vane whispers, “I love you.”
My heart stops. What am I doing? This is the same man who cast me aside without a second thought. The same man who chose Vyvyan over me every time. “No.” The heat, the urgency, the desperate hunger—all vanish, leaving a chilling emptiness in their wake.
Vane lifts a dark brow. “No?”
“I’m not falling for this again. Stop messing with my head!”
How could I be so stupid? I am letting him touch me, letting him get under my skin.Again.
Mortification engulfs me. I retreat, arms crossed, longing for the shield of clothing.Idiot.
“I never wanted to hurt you,” Vane says as I rise off him. He reaches for me, fingers trembling. “Desi, please. Believe me.”
I grab a blanket. “Believe you? How can I when all you do is hurt me?”
“What about tonight?”
I laugh. “Tonight meant nothing.”
I lift my chin, wrapping the blanket around me like armor. Vane’s chest rises and falls. His hands clench into fists. “If that’s how you feel, then I will see myself out.”
“I hope the door hits you.”
