Page 220 of Reign

My hand slides into her hair and fists, tilting her head exactly the way I want it while my mouth claims hers. She makes a small, startled sound against my lips and I swallow it, deepening the kiss until she’s forced up onto her toes. My other arm locks around her waist and drags her flush against me so she can feel every hard line of my body.

For half a second she freezes.

Then she melts.

Her fingers curl hard into my bare chest. I take my time with her—slow, thorough, filthy in the way I stroke my tongue against hers, the way I bite her lower lip just hard enough to make her gasp, the way I keep her pressed so tightly she has nowhere to go but into me. I kiss her like I’ve been thinking about that missing kiss all day. Like I’m making up for it right now.

When I finally lift my head, her eyes stay closed for another second, lips parted and shiny.

“Because what?” I ask, voice low.

She opens them, dazed.

“Nothing.”

“Thought so.”

Her hand remains against my chest.

Then, quietly, “There was something else.”

I wait, thumb stroking the nape of her neck where my hand is still buried in her hair.

She bites her lip.

“I kind of wanted you in the bathtub with me.”

That gets me.

“Did you?”

Her face burns. “Maybe.”

“Elena.”

“Yes.”

My hand along her waist tightens, slow.

“You wanted me to get in with you.”

She nods.

“Then you should have told me.”

“I thought it might be too much.”

“Too much for who?”

Her brows draw together. “For you, I guess.”

I shake my head.

“If you want something from me, tell me. I’ll decide if there’s a reason I can’t give it to you.”

She searches my face. “So that wouldn’t have been too much?”

“No.” The answer comes easily. “I would’ve liked that.”