Page 85 of The Fallen One

I had no control when it came to her. Absolutely none.

If the chest plate wasn’t inconveniently blocking her tits from me, I’d be taking a nipple between my teeth.

Months of watching over her. Stroking my cock to thoughts of her. Now she was shoved against a wall, writhing in my arms and calling out my name, and I was acting like a man possessed.

“Damnit,” I ground out, angry at myself, and I forced myself to let her go.

She startled, her foot quickly falling back to the floor, and she lifted her palms between us. A plea to a frightened animal not to react.

Three steps back, drawing my hands to my hips, I studied her. Those swollen lips were slightly parted, and I wanted them to open up. See if she could fit my cock between them.

Determining if that sweet mouth could take all of me would need to be tackled second, though. First, I’d put my mouth on her cunt and make her come.

The list of what I wanted to do with her—to her—grew as I stared at her, trying to remember where we were and what the hell was going on.

“You felt that, too, didn’t you?” she whispered, drawing two fingers across her lips in a ridiculously sensual way. I doubted the little motion had been purposeful, meant to turn me on, but it did.

“No.” I hated how that lie felt on my tongue.

“You’re a shitty bluffer, too. Right now, at least.”

She’d called me out. And rather than pushing me away, it made me want to punish her. Lay her out on the bed, wedge my shoulders between her thighs and lash her clit with my tongue. Make her writhe and tremble, only to pull away a moment before she came, not letting her get off until I gave her the command to do so.

I turned, dragging my hands through my already-messed-up hair.

“I don’t understand what’s happening between us any more than you do,” she said in a shaky voice. “I only know that when I’m around you, I feel a certain way. I always have.”

My arms dropped to my sides as I gave in and faced her, which turned out to be a bad idea. She was touching her mouth again.

. . . And I caved.

I barreled back to her before I could allow the rational part of my brain to take over. Took both her cheeks between my palms and kissed her.

At the feel of her mouth on mine, the harsh, anxiousness inside me retreated and a sense of calm washed over me. Through me. My mouth relaxed and our kiss became soft. To my surprise, I let her dictate the kiss, and she planted light, tempting little brushes of her lips over mine.

I released her face and pressed her against the wall again. Palms over her shoulders. My attempt to reclaim control failed, because I was too entranced by how she was kissing me, imbuing her sweet innocence in me.

Was this what peace felt like?

Groaning, relishing in her touch, I sank into the feeling for a bit longer.

That sense of peace didn’t last long, because peace was never forever. The internal war inside me won out. The memory she was off-limits, that I was dangerous for her, infiltrated my thoughts, and I broke our kiss and pushed away from the wall.

“This can never happen again,” I gritted out, hoping she wouldn’t resist and fight me on that. I needed her to listen. To understand and believe how truly bad I was for her. She needed to see me clearly for who I really was, and I had to stop giving her hope I was anything other than a monster.

She covered her mouth, remaining against the wall as her sad eyes cut to the floor.

“A kiss could get you killed,” I said under my breath, my hand slipping to the butt of my sidearm strapped at my side. “I forgot where we were and what’s at stake.”

“I understand.” The hurt bled through her tone. But Alyona was right, this woman was my weakness. And I wouldn’t let Diana die because of that.

I knelt for her glasses and offered them to her. “The sooner I turn you over to the President’s men, the better.” She flinched at my dismissal, but wordlessly accepted her glasses, gripping them in her hand rather than putting them on. “We need to get on the road to the next location.” I had to get back to business and remain mission-focused. Forget my body’s response to her. Forget the fact she’d awakened something inside me that was supposed to have remained dead.

“Okay.” No argument from her. Good. Also, surprising. “Where to?” She put on her glasses and combed her fingers through her hair. It’d gone rogue from our heated exchange, and I couldn’t deny how much that affected me too.

“There’s an old CIA black site on the border of Poland. We need to get there before zero three hundred. From there, you’ll go with the President’s men.” I’d done my best to keep my voice professional and clinical, which wasn’t easy to do with her. No matter how much I wished away the discomfort gathering in my chest, nothing helped. Now that I’d experienced how she felt and tasted, my obsession for her would morph into something dangerous. “With Alyona in the mix, we can’t bring her to the safe house with us. We’ll need to split up once in Poland.”

She pointed to my other ear. “You have a second team to watch her?”

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