“I’m not doing this.” Heartbreak echoed through me, as if I were reliving it all again. “This”—the word caught in my throat—“is off-limits.”
“Oh, totally.” His brows furrowed, mouth pursed, every visible part of his body disagreeing.
“Worse, forbidden.”
“That makes it more fun.”
“Sinful.”
“All sins are tempting.”
My pulse fluttered. His focus darted to the tick in my neck.
“So,” he said, our breaths tangling together. “What are we not doing?”
“I don’t…” The words were lost, but the tone held an invitation. “I don’t know.”
“Being brave?”
“Being reckless.”
“Right,” he said, biting into his bottom lip. “Let’s not do that.”
Wrapping my arms around his nape, I pulled him in closer, my mouth crashing into his.
Without a flinch, a thought, he sank into my lips, our tongues desperate, as if this could be ripped from us at any moment. Tucking his arms under my knees, he lifted me up, waist pressing into the space between my thighs.
I squeezed my legs around him, drawing us closer, tighter, chasing the friction.
“Saints,” he growled, “I’ve waited too long for this.”
I tilted my head back, staring at the grooves in the vaulted ceiling as he stamped kisses along the base of my neck. “You know I’ll go back to hating you after this?”
“Mmm.” The sound vibrated from the hollow of his throat into mine. “And you know I’ll go back to hunting you.”
I let out a breathy laugh, grabbing his jawline. “Then let’s make it count.”
He swallowed the words, his kiss soft and longing as his silken lips pressed against mine.
Slowly, he unhooked me, coming to kneel at my feet.
Eyes fixed on mine, his hands trailed under my dress, wandering up my legs. The tips of his fingers explored the curves, the dips, sneaking under the lace, featherlight, wanting.
I shifted my hips to stand wider, pressing my shoulders against the wall. “Are you second-guessing yourself now?”
“Baby, I’ve never been so sure about anything.” He pulled the fabric beneath my skirt aside, fingertips brushing the delicate folds of skin.
A whimper escaped me—a yes, a plea. That was all it took to undo him, to turn that dark gaze feral. The first finger slipped in.
Core shaking, I tilted around it. Another finger. More rhythm. From him, from me.
An intense wave of pressure built where another finger circled.
Hips swaying, I pressed a hand against the wall, the other fisting my hair, as I drove him deeper. “Oh, my God.”
In one swift tug, the flimsy fabric I’d called my underwear was at my ankles. I stepped out of them, kicking them over the tiles.
Sliding the hem of my dress upward, he handed me the roll of silk, face flushed with awe and desire, a color I hadn’t seen him wear since…
