Silence falls between us again.
‘There.’ She peers at my knuckles, seemingly satisfied, then puts the antiseptic back in the box.
‘Thank you.’ I grab her wrists and pull her body flush against mine, pressing my lips to hers. She melts into me. Her pupils burn with the same desire that dances through my soul. Her breasts heave against my chest. Her nipples are two taut bullets beneath her dress. She’s not wearing a fucking bra again. She’s doing her best to push me over the edge.
I need her to be mine, really mine, so there’s no way she can walk away from me. Not in a year. Not in a lifetime. Because she was made for me. I always said I’d know when I found the right one. And the right one is the woman I’m set to marry.
I deepen our kiss, skimming my fingers lower over her dress until I reach the hem. Her pupils blow big and black as my fingers find her flesh, sweeping up over her bare thigh. Goosebumps scatter over her skin in my wake, and I smirk, inching higher.
She tears her lips from mine. ‘Take me to bed,’ she demands.
‘I’m not fucking you tonight.’ I cup her pussy and it pulses beneath my palm.
‘When then?’ Her disappointment is palpable.
‘When we’re married.’
‘What? That’s over two weeks away.’ She pouts, running her hand over my crotch. ‘I didn’t have you pegged as the traditional type.’
I grab her hand and still it. ‘I’ve done a lot of fucked up shit in my life, but I’m determined to do right by you.’ I pause. ‘And by me.’
‘What do you mean?’ She whispers breathily, her eyes dropping to my hand restraining hers.
‘This might have started out as an arrangement, but the way I want you is very real.’ I cup her chin and tilt her face up to meet mine. ‘I assumed we could fuck this attraction out of our systems, but that foolish notion was obliterated the second my lips touched yours.’
‘You’re not going to let me walk away.’ Alarm flashes through her eyes.
‘Oh, you can walk away, sweetheart. But you don’t get to take part of me with you. If you want me.’ I glance down at my erection pressing into her hip. ‘You have to take the whole package.’ I huff out a humourless laugh. ‘Or nothing at all.’
‘You want our marriage to be real?’ Shock taints her tone. ‘That’s crazy.’
‘It’s not.’ I pull her against me until her body is flush with mine.
I’m all in.
Hell, I think deep down, I have been since the moment I met her.
But I need to make sure she is.
It’s not just the explosive attraction between us. It’s the way I crave her smiles, her laughter. The way I want to be a better man for her.
This isn’t how I planned things. This wasn’t how I envisioned things going. I control the city. I control The Syndicate. What I can’t control is how badly I want my fiancée to give us a real chance.
I know if I give myself to her, it’ll be every bit of me. Andas a man who thrives on being in control, handing over my heart and seeing what she does with it simply isn’t an option.
‘I’ve been with a lot of women, Aoife.’ She flinches in my arms. ‘But none of them stirred anything in me like you do. From the minute I met you, you crawled under my skin. You’ve hijacked my head, my bed, and, fuck it, you’ve stolen my heart too. I know you wanted to escape the world we were both brought up in, but you can’t fight fate, sweetheart. Of all the bars in Dublin, you ran into mine. If that isn’t fate, I don’t know what is. You were made for me.’
She twists her face up to meet my gaze. ‘What makes you so sure?’
‘Because you’re the first woman I’ve wanted—outside the club.’
Her irises glimmer. ‘What club?’
28
AOIFE
‘Reveal. It’s a BDSM sex club owned by my dear friend, Sean Beckett. Those shared interests I mentioned a few weeks ago?’ He reaches for his whiskey. ‘They’re sexual.’
