Why hold back?
His hands lowered to grip her arse and hoisted her up against him. Her body aligned with his in one swift motion, the heat of her searing through every layer of fabric between them. She fit—too well, too easily—as though she had been made to occupy exactly that space. A sharp gasp burst against his mouth,and he nipped her lower lip, his teeth grazing the soft flesh before delving straight back into the kiss again. He’d expected resistance of some form, instead, this little flame surged into him like she’d been waiting for the exact moment he lost his mind. Like she refused to be bested.
His mind snarled. His body burned. His pulse nearly bloody stopped.
This was not how it should be.Hewas the Fury. He was the one who seized, demanded, controlled.
Yet here he was, devoured by a woman barely reaching his shoulder.
Drake tore his mouth from hers with a ragged breath, but he didn’t let her go. “Is this,” he muttered, “your idea of punishment?”
Her gaze flickered with desire, defiance, and confusion all at once. So damn expressive. He didn’t miss any of it.
Hell. Call him bloody undone.
“The punish of this punishment will come later,” she breathed.
“What the devil does that mean?”
“You’ll see.”
Ruin at the hands of a flame-haired flower.
He dragged in another breath, fighting to pull himself back from the edge she’d shoved him over. He should set her down, he knew that. She was danger’s own daughter, marked by that warning-red hair. But she stared up at him with those wide, luminous blue eyes, specked with spots of green, lips parted, breath unsteady, and Drake swore the shackles of fate curled around his ankles.
“If this is punishment,” he murmured, nipping at her chin, “allow me to return the favor.”
Her lips parted, and he took her mouth in a messy, wet, all-consuming kiss that left no doubt who held the reins. Her handsclenched in his coat, and satisfaction, hot and primal, ignited straight in his cock.
There. Let her feelthat.
God help him... he was certainly feeling every damn thing. But she ought to know exactly who she was playing with.
She bit down on his tongue.
He jerked, cursing into her mouth. “Hellfire, woman.” It hurt like the devil. Still, maddeningly, his cock hardened even more. Injure him and arouse him in the same breath. What sort of man did that make him?
Damnation.
I’m losing my deuced mind.
“You bit me.”
She arched a brow. “You earned it,” she said, completely unrepentant.
He dragged back just an inch, tongue throbbing, his pulse a vicious hammer in his throat. “You bite like a damn street harpy,” he growled.
“So you’ve known many harpies, then?”
“My fair share.”
“That’s rather telling, don’t you think?” Her eyes narrowed. “Perhaps I am one. Perhaps you have a type.”
The infuriating woman didn’t even have the decency to look alarmed. She lookedpleased. Her lips, swollen from his mouth, curved at the corner, and something about that half-smile made him want to kiss it clean off her face.
He tightened his grip on her arse, holding her high against him so she could feel exactly what she was doing and in which direction this road led. “Perhaps I have. But careful, Violet. Another bite like that and I might forget you’re my tenant.”
“I think you already have.”
