Page 165 of Arctic Titans of Northwood U: Volume 3

Damon’s laugh rumbled through his chest. “And now look at you. Living your best life with your worst enemy.”

“Former worst enemy,” I corrected, taking a sip of my cocktail. The herbs mingled with the rum in a way that tasted expensive and slightly pretentious. “Current…what? Situationship? Catastrophe in progress?”

“I prefer ‘disaster with benefits.’” His fingers found my shoulder, drawing patterns that made my skin prickle despite the heat. “Has a nice ring to it.”

“Very romantic. You should write greeting cards.”

“Roses are red, violets are blue, I can’t stand you, but I’d really like to…”

“Finish that sentence and I’m drowning you,” I warned, but I was already grinning like an idiot.

Damon shifted closer, and suddenly, his face was inches from mine, steam rising between us. “You wouldn’t. You already admitted you can’t drive home.”

“I’d figure it out. Necessity breeds innovation.”

“Is that what we’re calling this?” His voice dropped lower, and I felt it somewhere behind my ribs. “Innovation?”

The snowflakes kept falling, odd ones surviving the rising steam and catching in his eyelashes, and I wanted to kiss each one away. Instead, I said, “We’re calling this a temporary lapse in judgment that we’re both too stubborn to end prematurely.”

“God, you’re exhausting.” But his hand slid down my arm to find my wrist, thumb pressing against my flesh like he was checking if I was real.

“You love it.”

The words hung there, dangerous and loaded. Love. Wrong word. Terrible word. I tried to backtrack. “Love that I’m exhausting. I mean, obviously…”

Damon kissed me, cutting off my spiral into panic. His other hand cupped my jaw, and the cocktail glass nearly slipped from my fingers. When he pulled back, his eyes were dark and serious in a way that made my stomach flip.

“Shut up, Kane,” he murmured against my lips.

So I did. I set my drink on the edge of the tub and wrapped my arms around his neck, letting myself sink into him. His heart beat against my chest, too fast for someone who was supposed to be relaxed. Mine wasn’t doing much better.

“This is so stupid,” I whispered.

“The stupidest,” he agreed, kissing my neck.

“We’re going to regret this.”

“Absolutely.” His teeth grazed my collarbone. “Worth it, though.”

And damn him, he was right.

Chapter Thirteen

DAMON

I pulled him onto my lap, his body light and floating through the bubbling water until he sank onto me, arms wrapped around my neck, steam curling around us.

He kissed me from above, breathing in, his chest rising against mine, rising off my lap and sinking back on it again. When I opened my eyes, the amber lights glowed behind his head, hair curling lightly with humidity, the warm glow creating a halo around him, and snowflakes flurrying high above us. A cool breeze passed over us, sending the steam away before it rose up again from the tub.

I love you, I thought. Not for the first time did I have to bite my tongue to stop those words from tumbling over my lips. He smirked knowingly, although the knowledge he had just discovered had nothing to do with my reckless feelings. He could feel me in the water, feel the hard bulge under his ass as he sat down. “In the tub, you dirty freak?” he teased.

“Anywhere,” I said. “Everywhere.” My hands held his hips tighter, tugging him down and close to me. “Don’t stop kissing me.”

He smiled playfully and turned his head away, denying me the one thing I needed most for survival. So I rose, leaning him backward until he sank all the way to his shoulder, face afloat and eyes wide with surprise.

I kissed him like that, lips grazing softly over his, then harder. I pushed my tongue into his mouth, taking in the flavors of the crushed mint of his cocktail as he held on to me, laughing and kissing me back.

It was the most efficient way of holding back all the words that cluttered me that I had found so far. So long as I could kiss him, I could keep quiet. I wouldn’t do something stupid, like telling him he was the reason I got out of bed every morning, that he was the only light in my dark world, that he was my everything.