Page 150 of Power Play

Charm wrapped her legs around me with a surprised gasp. I kissed her while carrying her toward the kitchen because the bedroom felt like a terrible fucking idea, and apparently the counter was somehow better.

I set her on the edge, stepped between her knees, and lost another piece of whatever self-control I had left when she pulled me closer with both legs.

Her mouth found my neck.

My hands slid over lace and warm skin while she kissed beneath my jaw, and every part of me screamed to stop thinking.

She had come here for me, dressed for me, and made it impossible to misunderstand what she wanted. The knowledge hit somewhere primal because I had spent weeks wanting exactly this.

Charm reached for me first. She made a choice without waiting for permission and looked at me like there wasn’t another man in the room or the world worth considering.

I loved knowing she desired me. I loved it enough that, for a few dangerous seconds, I stopped caring about every reason I had for holding back.

Then her mouth moved against my throat.

“You leave in the morning.”

The words cut through the heat more effectively than anything else could have. My hands tightened around her waist before going still, and Charm felt the change immediately.

Instead of pulling away, she kissed higher along my neck, almost like she thought she could drag me back into the moment before I had time to understand what she had said.

“So don’t think about tomorrow.”

That snapped the last of my restraint into place.

I eased away enough to see her face, and the change in Charm was immediate. The heat remained flushed across her cheeks and bright in her eyes, but fear had already started bleeding through it.

She felt me hesitate and turned that second of distance into something worse before I opened my mouth.

“Ryan?”

I kept my hands at her waist because taking them away would feel like rejection. Despite whatever the fuck was happening, I didn’t want her confusing my stopping with a lack of desire.

“Why did you say that?”

Her brows drew together. “Say what?”

“Don’t think about tomorrow.”

“Because you’re leaving tomorrow.”

“That isn’t an answer.”

Her expression changed, and the nervous energy she brought through my door sharpened.

“You’re doing it again.”

I knew exactly what she meant, and my jaw tightened. “Charm.”

“No. What the fuck?”

She pushed lightly against my chest, so I stepped back enough to give her room.

That seemed to piss her off more. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

Her tone set mine. “Watch where you take this.”

“I am standing in your apartment wearing lingerie.”