Page 149 of Top Shelf

Slipping her hand into mine, I tug her across the narrow space until she’s between my knees, one hand braced on my shoulder for balance as the limo glides through the dark.

I look up at her.

She looks down at me.

Neither of us says anything.

I slide my hands carefully over her hips, feeling the fine fabric beneath my palms. “This dress is going to be a problem tonight.”

I lean in, pressing my mouth against the curve of her waist through the dress. Her fingers tighten on my shoulder.

“Lucian,” she whispers.

There it is. That tiny warning in my name. The one that never actually means stop.

I drag my mouth higher, stopping just beneath her ribs. “Tell me not to.”

She doesn’t.

Ronan exhales slowly behind her. Silas watches with his jaw tight, eyes dark and fixed on the way Wren’s body softens beneath my touch.

I press one last kiss to her stomach before looking up at her. “This is me behaving.”

Her laugh comes out breathless. “God help us all.”

I grin and tug her down carefully onto my lap, mindful of the dress, even though every instinct I have wants to ruin it.

She settles over me, knees on either side of my thighs. Thesound Ronan makes in response is barely audible, but I hear it. So does she.

Her eyes flick toward him. Then Silas.

The flush on her cheeks deepens.

“You like that?” I murmur close to her ear. “Knowing they’re watching?”

Her breathing changes, growing deeper and heavier.

“Lucian,” Ronan warns.

I brush my lips along Wren’s jaw. “Relax, Captain. I’m not messing up her dress before the main event.”

Wren’s hands slide into my hair, and she smirks down at me. “You’re impossible.”

“And yet.”

“And yet,” she whispers.

Then she kisses me. It’s not soft. There’s no hesitation. She kisses me like she wants to forget where we’re going. Like she wants the limo to keep driving forever so we never have to step into that room full of polished smiles and hidden knives.

I kiss her back the same way because I know exactly what it is to dread walking into a place where people only see the version of you they invented. I know what it is to be judged before you open your mouth. I know what it is to want to bite before anyone gets close enough to hurt you.

My arms lock around her waist.

The other two crowd closer, Silas’s hand sliding up her back to steady her from behind while Ronan’s fingers brush her thigh where her dress has slipped.

A soft sound breaks from her mouth into mine, and every ounce of restraint I claimed to have starts to fracture.

I feel the limo begin to slow beneath me.