Page 102 of Filthy Rich Vampires: For Eternity

If I kissed her again.

“What the hell does that have to do with anything?” she asked. “Or are you working on your doctoral thesis between bar fights?”

“I already have my doctorate.” I had a couple of them actually, but I kept that to myself. “It’s a hunch. Might be nothing. But I need something to do while everyone fights and fucks around here.”

Lia huffed. “That makes two of us.”

Our eyes darted to one another at the same moment as if the same thought had occurred to both of us at the same time and we both quickly looked away. We could be doing what the others were doing. Maybe even at the same time. I dragged my tongue over my lower lip, imagining her nails tearing at me as our bodies fought. When I dared to glance at her again and found her watching me, the look in her eyes made me swallow.

I wasn’t the only one wondering if there were better ways to spend our time. Off-limits ways. Forbidden ways. Up-against-the-stacks-and-knocking-books-off-the-shelves ways. I still remembered how she tasted. How could I forget with her scent filling my nostrils?

But every stolen touch was a risk, and Lia would be the one to face the consequences. I buried that need for her, determined not to cross the line, and exchanged the book for another.

“About that bar fight,” she said, clearing her throat as if she was trying to get the memory of my taste out of her mouth, too. “What happened with the Mordicum?”

I shifted in my chair and tossed the book on the table. It landed with a puff of dust, earning me a look of reproach. Of course she didn’t approve of treating library books that way. Lia followed the rules. That’s why she was a handmaiden.

“A lot of talk.” I needed to speak with Julian before I clued anyone else into what we had learned from the renegade vampires.

“Do you always wind up so bloody tightly when you’re just talking?”

I glanced down at my clothes. I’d forgotten the state I was in. The blood had dried a long time ago. I couldn’t even smell it now. “Are my clothes bothering you?” I smirked at her. “I could take them off.”

“Do you interpret everything a female says to you as a sexual invitation?”

“If I can.” I lounged back in the chair and crossed my hands behind my head.

“Charming,” she said flatly. Getting to her feet, she forced a smile. “I’ll leave you to your Sumerian.”

“So we’re really not going to talk about it?” I blurted out.

She lurched to a stop, but when she turned, her face was blank. “About what?”

For a second, I wondered if I’d dreamed the whole kiss. It wouldn’t be the first time Lia’d starred in one of my nocturnal fantasies. But I knew it was real. Her scent had lingered on my skin for days. I could still taste her in my mouth.

“The kiss,” I said, rising to my feet and taking a step closer to her. She might want to pretend it never happened, but that might be more dangerous than just facing it. Trying to keep a lid on this might make it boil over, and we couldn’t afford that.

Lia shrugged, glancing over her shoulder at me. “I’ve been kissed before.”

“Maybe.” I stepped behind her and lowered my face to whisper in her ear, “But you haven’t been kissed like that.”

“Why are you whispering?” She tried to sound haughty but the her swallow told an entirely different story. The movement drew my gaze to her neck, to the veins visible under her brown skin.

I wondered what her blood tasted like. “We’re in a library. You’re supposed to whisper.”

“We’re the only ones here.”

“I’m not sure that’s an excuse to break the rules.” I brushed the back of my hand along her arm. “But by all means, I am open to it.”

Lia turned to face me and leaned forward so that her face was inches from mine. Her eyes were darker in the dim room, but I saw the same need churning in them. “We can’t do this, remember?”

“We can’t,” I agreed, even as my hand found its way to her waist.

Her breath caught in her throat. “Then why are you touching me?”

“Because I can’t help myself.” I angled my head lower, closer to her mouth, closer to the promise of how she tasted. “Because I’ve been thinking about that kiss for days.”

Lia kept staring at me softly as she lightly touched my chest, then tentatively slid her palms over my pecs and up to my shoulders.

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