Chapter 21 #3
“I’m not asking anything,” he says as he moves toward me. “I’m offering. Just tonight. Just this once. No expectations beyond that.”
He’s standing so close now that his breath ghosts across my skin. His eyes are darker than usual, almost navy, pupils dilated with want.
He’s taking rapid, shallow breaths, his fingers curling at his sides, knuckles white with restraint.
This man is on the verge of shattering. I understand because I am too. I’m vibrating with a need I can’t control, a desperate hunger that burns through my veins like whiskey and gunpowder combined.
So I do the only thing that will save us both from shattering.
I lower my lips to his.
This kiss is different from our first. It’s no less desperate and fierce, but it’s deliberate rather than impulsive, charged with conscious choice rather than pure adrenaline.
A soft sound escapes Nicholas’s throat as his hands fist in my shirt, pulling me closer. Then his fingers are tangling in my hair as he deepens the kiss.
His mouth opens beneath mine and the taste of him from the other day—now tinged with champagne—floods my senses until my mind goes blank.
There’s no room for anything else. No room for any thoughts other than this man.
This man.
My hands move to his waist, fingers digging into the muscle beneath his shirt as I back him toward the nearest wall.
When his shoulders hit the surface, he groans into my mouth, the sound vibrating through me. I break the kiss to trail my lips along his jaw, down his throat, feeling his pulse race beneath my lips.
I’m finally getting to touch him like I’ve been craving for far too long.
Even better, he’s touching me back.
His hands slide beneath my suit jacket, pushing it off my shoulders. I shrug out of my shoulder holster and his fingers pull at my shirt, tugging it free.
Those cool blue eyes meet mine in a challenge.
“You assured me I’d be thinking of you anyway, so now that we’re here, I guess you better ensure my mind isn’t wandering off to other places.”
Fuck. I had no idea witty barbs were what did it for me. But the sight of Nicholas disheveled and breathless from my kisses, still managing to challenge me with that sharp tongue, causes desire to course through me.
I capture his mouth again, harder this time, my hand sliding into his perfect hair to tilt his head how I want it. He yields with a shiver, his body arching against mine.
We kiss like it’s the only purpose we were made for, like each kiss is a battle for survival. It’s messy and desperate, the kind of kissing that doesn’t give a damn about tomorrow’s regrets.
When we break for air, his eyes are dazed, lips swollen.
“Is your mind wandering now?” I rasp.
His eyes flash, blue and burning. “Not right now. But I’ve heard consistency is important, so perhaps you should keep convincing me.”
I press my hips against his, letting him feel exactly what he does to me. His breath catches, pupils blown wide with desire.
“I think you are used to running rings around people with that pretty tongue of yours,” I growl, nipping at his lower lip, “but tonight, you’re going to find better uses for it.”
A shudder runs through him at my words.
I fumble with the buttons of his shirt. I need to feel him, to taste more of him.
When the fabric finally parts, revealing smooth skin over muscle, I lower my mouth to his collarbone, tasting salt and expensive cologne.
Nicholas makes a broken sound, his head falling back against the wall. His hands grip my shoulders hard enough to leave marks, his hips rolling against mine in a rhythm that threatens to unravel me completely.
“Bedroom,” he gasps, the word more command than suggestion.
I respond by lifting him, my hands gripping his thighs. His legs wrap around my waist, and a startled laugh escapes him as I carry him across the suite.
“Very impressive.” But the haughtiness in his tone is undermined by the way his voice breaks when I nip at his throat.
I lower him onto the bed, following him down without breaking contact. The feel of him beneath me, the heat of his chest against mine, the way his breath hitches when I move against him… It’s intoxicating.
Addictive.
I rub my groin against his, feeling the slide of our cocks together.
“Eoin,” he breathes. His hands tangle in my hair, pulling me back to his mouth for another hungry kiss.
We only have one night.
I want to lose myself in him, in the taste and feel of him, in the sounds he makes when I touch him.
All the reasons this is a terrible idea fade away, drowned out by the thundering of my pulse and the desperate need to claim him completely.
Tomorrow will bring consequences. Tomorrow we’ll remember who we are. The prince and his protection officer. Separated by duty and station. Tomorrow I’ll be back to being the hired muscle, and he’ll be back to being untouchable.
But tonight, in this room, with Auckland’s lights glittering beyond the windows, we’re just Eoin and Nicholas.
Two eejits who’ve been circling each other for too long, finally giving in to what they both desperately want.
And for now, that’s enough.
Even if I’m going to hell for it, at least I’ll have good memories for the journey down.