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“Maybe,” she allowed. “Either way, I want my kiss.”
“You are sure?” Rathbone closed the remaining distance. His heart thudded. “It won’t change anything. You understand that, yes?”
Her chin rose another notch. “What if it changes everything?”
Proud harpy, determined oracle. Luscious female. “It won’t.”
“Or it will.” She glided the tips of her claws up his chest, barely grazing his sensitive skin. “So what are you waiting for, Red? Pay up.”
“I’ll pay.” He reached up and closed his fingers around a fistful of hair at her nape. For a long while, he peered down at her. “But you will, too.”
“I know,” she whispered, and he was helpless. “Please, Rath.”
With a ragged groan, he swoped down to claim her lips with his own.
17
He wants me. Badly.
Reeling, Neeka wound her arms around her Scarlet King. This. This was her vision come to dazzling life, and reality far surpassed fantasy. From the moment he’d begun his massage, arousal had simmered in her blood, need for him growing.
Who was she kidding? Arousal had simmered long before the massage. And that was A-okay. For once, she wasn’t a convenience her partner used but a femme fatale to be resisted, and she never wanted it to end. She longed to feel this warrior in every cell of her body. To be so consumed by his passion, there was nothing left but the memory of his touch.
He deepened the kiss, thrusting his tongue past her teeth, and demanding a response. Sensations erupted in different parts of her. Teasing swirls of pleasure. Endless coils of bliss. Heated flutters of rapture. Never had she ached so fiercely.
Every hard, possessive stroke was also soft and seeking. A total contradiction, and she couldn’t get enough. Because how like Rathbone himself. There was no one more paradoxical. Married but single. Countless eyes able to detect the smallest speck of dirt while he remained blinded to the wiles of a goddess. Strong beyond imagining but sometimes putty in this oracle’s hands. A good thing. Here, now, she was putty in his. Today, he’d made her feel like the most desired person in the world. Important to his well-being. As if she was alone no longer but part of a divine union.
I tempt you?
Beyond measure.
Intoxicated with feminine power, Neeka poured herself into every return lick. Oh, the taste of this warrior...the thrill...theconnection. Not just a divine union but...meant to be?
Icy cold flash froze her blood. Meant to be...as in...no, no. No way, no how. Rathbone wasn’t her consort. Yes, he was one of a kind. A veritable treasure trove of goodness who floated her boat, revved her engine, and lit her match. Not just intense but fervent. Not just determined but unshakable. Not just unusual but extraordinary. Everything she’d never let herself dream of having and a thousand things more.
But he wasn’t consort material. Hewasn’t. She hadn’t found him in flames, as her father had predicted. And, and, and...
Before she worked up a good panic about such a worrisome idea, he cupped her jaw, the heat of his skin searing hers. One of his thumbs found the indention in her chin, and boom. Instant calm. Immediate delight. He was shockingly gentle, as if she were as breakable as glass.
He lifted his head and stared at her, intense, his irises glowing with crimson fire—allof his irises. She stared back. They both panted. The savage hunger in his expression weakened her knees.
“Are we done?” she pouted, disappointed.
“I don’t think we’ll ever be done,” he replied, and her knees almost buckled. Then he scowled, as if only then realizing what he’d said. “You are a very, very dangerous female. But worth every wound.”
Those hot flutters migrated to her belly. “You want more of me?”
“Much more.” He brushed the tip of his nose against hers. “You are a treasure.”
She was? Well, of course she was. She was a harpy.
“And you are brilliant.”
Her eyes widened. “Tell me something else you admire about me.”Please, please, don’t sound as needy as I feel.
The corners of his mouth curved with affection. “And commanding. You drive me to the brink of madness, but I find I am enjoying the ride.”
Had the air just thickened?
