"Careful," I hiss.
The wet rag flops onto his stomach. There’s blood spatter caked in his wavy hair. I sigh, taking the cloth and, with soft strokes, wiping away what I can. He watches me with intense focus.
“You were so brave, you know that? You took the shot. You defended Solmuk. You brought Cora here.Youare the reason I am still breathing right now.”
“I wasn’t ready.”
The knot in his throat bobs. “No one ever is.” He reaches out to stroke my cheek. “Shit, Vessa, you’re shaking like a leaf.”
“B-Because you almostdied,you idiot! Because I care about you, and not just because you’re my?—”
I bite down on my quivering lip. I’m not so sure I can finish that thought as tears cloud my vision. A dozen emotions are swirling inside of me, swelling like the climax of a symphony. I know there’s only one way to drown the music out.
All at once, I'm cupping his face, impulsively brushing my lips against his own. Axe stills as our mouths softly mold together. Before I can check to ensure his heart still beats, the office phone blares to life, jerking us apart.
Axe curses, stomping over to his desk where he yanks the plug and heaves the device and its cradle across the room. “Sorry,” he mutters under his breath as he returns to my side on the sofa. He's slow to meet my eyes. Crimson heat blooms across my cheeks as I smooth over my baggy clothes and stand.
"I should let you get some rest."
Meeting me at his full height, he deliberately blocks my path. My throat constricts as he moves to close the gap. Predatory eyes steer me backwards, breath catching when the backs of my thighs brush against a slab of wood. Before I can protest, his hands go to lift my hips and set me atop the desk.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have started something I didn’t intend to finish.
Axe places my hand over his tattooed heart. There’s no time to brace for the storm. My senses are bombarded by a crackling force as it collides with my heartline. It’s astonishing, the magnitude of what he feels. An onslaught of relief. Of longing.
"You’re not going anywhere."
He takes hold of my neck and, with a backward tilt, captures my mouth. The taste of him is wild and sumptuous. Heat wrapsaround me, coaxing a sweet surrender. Our lips move together, and as they explore, a slumbering piece of my soul awakens for the first time. Like sunlight filling a dark, forgotten crevice.
Axe's tongue slips into my mouth, curling and flicking. I moan softly, breathing in the alluring musk of sweat and mahogany. He responds with a throaty growl, bringing my fingers to thread behind his neck. Large hands then pull me against his waist, tugging my mane free of its elastic. A sigh expels from my lips as he fists the long tresses, deepening the kiss. I meet his tongue stroke for stroke, fingers clinging desperately to the muscles along his shoulder blades.
I need him closer. Skin to skin, tasting everything I have to offer.
The tenderness with which he caresses is well matched to the fervent need for control. My back arches when Axe’s lips brush against my neck, melting my muscles and stirring a deep, wanton ache between my legs. Something new—a ravenous thing that has been hibernating inside of me—purrs for him to pin me down and drive his canines into my skin. To savagely claim me. An urge I’ve never fully understood until now.
Axe must sense my pleading, for he tightens his hold and starts to kiss his way down my throat. The whimper he draws from me fans the flames of his own craving. At the scrape of his teeth, I buck, nudging the swelling hardness in his jeans. A haughty growl follows, the vibration rippling along my spine.
Gods above . . .
A muffled disturbance down the hall makes him flinch, detaching his lips.
My mind is utterly scrambled. Resting my hands on his sturdy arms, I blink through a splotchy lens, the colors of the room still stitching back together.
Tilting my head back, I find him waiting to lock eyes. “Still think there’s a chance we could be friends, Commander?”
I can’t look away from those lightning hot blue flames. The hottest known to nature. Our lips hover an inch apart, but he pants as if he has every intention of seizing that gap again.
“Considering you told the mayor that I’m an engaged man, I would have to say no. The whole town probably knows by now.”
“I was trying to cover for you!”
A smug grin crosses his face. “We can be friends, Moonshine. All you have to do is get down on one knee and ask.”
Rolling my eyes, I push off the desk. “Never going to happen.”
Clutching my jaw, his thumb pad finds my upper lip. “If you’d rather I be the one to yield, I’ll gladly take a knee. But just know that my mouth will be far too busy to ask questions.”
On that note, he withdraws. My heart stutters as he lets me walk out the door, but I refuse to break my stride. Bleeding Sun’s inner circle still lingers down the hall, patiently waiting for an update.
