“Lily, I—”
But I didn’t get to finish.
She stepped closer, until she was in my space in a way that made my breath catch.Made the world narrow to just the two of us and the rain-soft air between us.
Her eyes met mine, searching for something.Permission, maybe?Proof that I wanted this too?I didn’t move away.Couldn’t have, even if I’d wanted to.
Then she kissed me.
Soft and certain and everything I hadn’t let myself imagine.Her hand came up to my jaw, and I forgot how to breathe; forgot everything except the warmth of her mouth and the rain on our skin and the way she fit perfectly against me.
And every coherent thought I had dissolved completely.My promise from Austria of leaving her alone had now all but vanished from sight.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Lily
The moment our lips touched, the world felt right again.Henri kissed me back instantly, desperately, his hands coming up to frame my face like he was afraid I might stop.For this one perfect moment, nothing else existed except Henri’s hands in my hair and the taste of rain on his lips and the feeling that I’d been holding my breath for months and could finally breathe again.
When we broke apart, we were both breathing hard, foreheads pressed together in the mist.
“Lily,” he whispered, and my name sounded different in his voice.
His eyes were dark with something that made heat pool low in my stomach.I could see the exact moment he made his decision.His throat worked, like he was swallowing down one last objection.Then he moved.
Henri opened the door of the Beetle, and after some squeezing in, we collapsed into the back seat.
His eyes held mine with every bit of intensity from the kiss.The rain continued its gentle patter, creating a cocoon around us.I didn’t think beyond the next few heartbeats.Not with him looking at me like this.Not when he was giving me the space to pull away if I wanted to.
The morality contract, the championship, the hatred between our teams—none of that was on my mind.
Just him.
I closed the distance first, kissing him again, slower this time, like I was testing the ground beneath my feet.He responded immediately, a quiet sound slipping from him as his hands came up to my hair, threading through it, pulling me closer, until there was no room left between us.
“Fuck,” he murmured against my mouth, breath warm and unsteady.“Is this a terrible idea?”
“Just shut up and kiss me.”
I kissed him again, cutting off anything else he might’ve said, and this time there was nothing gentle about it.The kiss turned hungry, desperate, all the tension that had been wound tight between us finally snapping.His shirt was gone before I fully registered it, tossed aside carelessly as our hands roamed everywhere at once, learning, claiming.
His bare chest glistened with a mix of sweat and rain, and I made sure to leave kisses up and down it.His muscles tensed while I explored with my fingers, tracing each defined line.He grabbed my face, pulling me back to him.The cold of his fingertips on my bare skin shocked a gasp out of me.He was smiling when I pulled back, his lips shiny and his pupils blown wide.
Henri’s hands moved urgently as he pulled my shirt over my head, discarding it carelessly.His eyes darkened as he made sure to pay attention to each breast, before moving back up to my jaw, then down my throat, biting just shy of painful.
And God, I loved every moment of it.
“Fuck,mon cœur, you’re so beautiful.”
When I finally got my hands down to his waistband, Henri let out a hiss, and I knew that sound was something I would never get tired of.His hips rose off the seat, pressing into my palm, his eyes never leaving mine even as he kicked one leg free from the denim twisted around his ankle.
We stripped off the rest of our clothes—fumbling, laughing a little when my foot got stuck in my underwear.Henri’s hands were everywhere, warm and sure.He kissed down to my collarbone, teeth dragging just enough to pull a whimper out of me.I bit his shoulder, and he grinned against my neck, breathing hard.
Then he stopped.Just for a second.His eyes locked on mine, and I could see everything in them: heat and desire and want and need.All tied up in a beautiful little bundle.
I could’ve asked him anything right then.Has anything actually changed?What happens tomorrow?
But I didn’t.
