And when he got her heart, he was gonna be the proudest motherfucker on two legs to know he owned it.
Dropping his head, he rubbed his nose against hers.
“Think you might wanna do that, sweetheart?”
“I don’t know.” She whispered, her hands sneaking to his waist. “Could you afford my manners lessons?”
She wasn’t talking about money; he guessed that much, and Splice smirked, moving his nose to roam over Lisa’s heated cheek. The day she gave him the green light, he was gonna map her entire body just like this until she was cemented in his memories once more.
“I’d pay anything.” He told her the truth.
“Ryan,” she said breathlessly, and sort of sighed as she pawed his waist, and then she dropped her forehead to his chest. He stroked her hair, fingering slowly, part in case her head was hurting, but another part in tempting her to play with him, even just a little.
He envisioned chasing her indefinitely, finding contentment and happiness in that endless pursuit as long as he could stay by her side. But the intimacy she was offering brought him a level of joy he hadn’t anticipated.
This was true hunger for a woman. Not the temporary satisfaction of sex. His hunger for Lisa was beating hard in his chest.
When Lisa raised her head, she met his eyes, nibbling on the corner of her lip.
“I think we should have a talk.”
Oh, the fuck not. He thought. That usually meant someone was being kicked to the curb.
Splice’s brow folded over his eyes, and he flattened his lips, gripping her nape and tipping her head back to look at him.
“But first, give me a kiss.” She told him before he could question what she meant. Lisa stole the air from his lungs when she yanked his shirt and connected their lips in the hottest way, seducing him without even trying. She took control of his lower lip, and he was instantly aroused by her taste flooding his mouth and senses.
Of course, Splice was no slow bastard; he took his cues like a well-versed pupil, and when he grunted into Lisa’s open lips, he took the kiss deeper, sliding a hand down her lower waist, mapping the dips and curves like a man who’d been starving for years and now was about to be given the keys to a candy store.
It was Lisa who ended the kiss, even as he protested and went in for a sneaky last kiss. Her hand was rubbing his chest, almost as if she were calming down a wild stallion. And the thing was, he would always come to heel for her.
He couldn’t explain the sensation or how it settled in his head and chest.
It was a truth he’d accepted long ago and was glad about it.
With intimacy, Lisa would always have his submission.
Would he be the same with any other woman? It wasn’t even something he’d tried with any other sexual partner over the years. No woman ever brought him peace in this way. Or gave him the same sense of happiness just being in her orbit.
If that was love, then Splice was in deep.
And he’d probably been living with that feeling for Lisa for years because, as proven, it has taken no prompting for him to take up the same mantle the moment he saw her again.
A man recognized his other half.
His soul.
The owner of his heart.
Heaving a breath, he dotted a kiss on Lisa’s temple.
“That better not have been a goodbye kiss, sweetheart. Because, fair warning, I will turn into the biggest deviant and kidnap you. I have a basement; I’ll lock you down there.”
“Ryan,” she burst out laughing, as if she thought he was the biggest joker.
He was so damn serious; he was already ten steps ahead in his mind, working out what he’d need to make it happen and how he’d juggle his work while keeping the most precious caged bird in his palms. “You don’t have to be so drastic.” Then she mumbled. “Even if it sounds sexy as hell.”
His head snapped up, and his vision focused solely on Lisa, searching out her flushed face.
