Page 117 of Lured By Shadows

My head bumped lightly against the window, grounding me just enough to register the pressure of his cock against me—undeniable even through his pants.

If he moved again, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stop him… or myself.

Not when everything in me was screaming to let go and see where it took us.

“I might have to ask you to give me fair warning before you tempt me like this,” he murmured, his voice roughened, his breath cool against my neck. “Your kisses are addicting.”

I managed a weak scoff, the words barely forming. “What, you can’t keep your hands to yourself?”

“It is becoming increasingly difficult to be a gentleman around you,” he admitted, each syllable edged with restraint.

“Oh?” I teased, though my composure was already gone. “So you think you’re a gentleman?”

His mouth curved, unapologetic. “Am I not?”

That made me roll my eyes even as heat crept back into my cheeks. I glanced toward the windows, suddenly aware of how exposed we were, how the world outside kept moving like nothing inside the car had shifted off its axis.

There I was, perched in his lap, out of breath and completely wrecked from his kisses.

The same kisses that had me teetering right on the brink.

“Believe what you want,” I muttered, turning my face away as if distance might help, even though my body hadn’t moved an inch.

Culver took that as an invitation.

He leaned closer, the space between us thickening until it felt tangible, his fingers digging more firmly into the curve of my ass. He wasn’t trying to hurt me.

He was making sure I felt what I was doing to him, every reaction mirrored back with controlled precision.

“Hurtful,” he breathed at last, the word low and edged with something that pulled a shiver out of me. He grabbed my hand and pressed it flat against his chest. “Right here. You have wounded me, little lamb. Whatever shall you do to help?”

My breath caught as I looked at him, at the way he stayed composed despite everything, his clothing cool beneath my palm, energy humming under it like restrained lightning. His steady calm affected me deeply, like he could unravel me without breaking a sweat while I was over here struggling to hold myself together.

“Did I really hurt your pride?” I asked quietly.

“It hurts terribly,” he said, his tone exaggerated as he mimed stabbing himself in the chest, a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Perhaps I deserve compensation for my broken heart.”

I snorted. “Highway robbery,” I said, though my voice still came out breathy and betraying. I tilted my head, trying for playfulness despite the heat pooling low in my stomach. “What do you want then, thief?”

His eyes flickered, mischief giving way to something darker and heavier. He rested his forehead against mine, his voice dropping lower.

“There are a plethora of things I want from you,” he said softly. “But shall we call it even if I am granted one more kiss from you?”

My breath stalled because that was exactly what I wanted too, the thought looping through my head nonstop.

“Is that all you want?” I asked, barely audible, though I knew he heard it anyway.

A flicker of amusement danced behind the green of his gaze. “Were you expecting something else?” he asked quietly. “I am curious what answer you thought I would give.”

“Curiosity killed the cat,” I muttered, my lips hovering dangerously close to his.

“But I am no cat,” he replied, his eyes tracing the line of my jaw before drifting lower to my throat. “You should know that by now.”

“Because you’re a dirty, perverted wolf,” I teased, curling into the lightning between us like it might somehow protect me from the weight of his words.

He didn’t answer right away.

The silence stretched heavy and charged, his breath leaving him in a slow exhale like he was holding something volatile back. When he finally spoke, his voice had lost every trace of humor.