Page 99 of Mila: The Godfather

His gaze shoots down to mine, then pins me for one long moment. And I swear I feel stripped down like he could see under my clothes. Like he could see even beneath that. To my heart. My soul.

Then his finger was tracing my lower lip, then slipping to my chin and angling it up.

The next thing I knew, his lips were on mine.

Soft and coaxing at first. Then getting firmer and more demanding as I felt myself sway into him and sighing against his lips.

Feeling the sudden urge to have more of him. To feel him closer. More than we already are. My hands rise, sliding up his chest. Feeling the hard ridges of his muscles beneath his shirt.

His mouth was warm, and his lips were damp, pliable, and firm. His lips softened as our mouths met, and his hand clutched my jaw, fingers on my cheek, thumb on my chin, and brushing across my cheekbone with soul-shaking intimacy. I feel his tongue dance across my upper lip. We were kissing. Riagan was kissing me—I was kissing him. My heart stopped entirely for an agonizing moment and then pounded to life, crashing madly. It felt as if he belonged to me in some way.

He pulls back, suddenly breaking the kiss.

I don’t know what comes over me, but when I open my eyes, they clash with his heated ones, and I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. “Riagan, do you know the most beautiful places on earth?” His hold on me doesn’t loosen, and the rain keeps falling around us like a gentle caress. “Ha Long Bay, the colosseum, the Amazon rain—” I don’t get to finish sharing all the places because he stops me,

“Nah, baby. You are.” He whispers close to my lips. “The most beautiful place is right here with you.”

I don’t know if it’s the effect of his kiss or his words. All I know is that one moment I am looking at him while my heart beats wildly inside my chest, and the next, I am pulling him down by his neck. Our lips meet once more, and a crazy tingle races down my spine and explodes in my stomach like little fireflies. I become mesmerized by his kiss, which makes me way weaker in the knees than I want to admit.

Various things bring me joy.

Memories of my sisters, my plants, baking, and the color blue. All those things were my safe place when everything felt ugly and dark.

But then I met this man and added him to that list.

His voice, and now?

The feel of his hands on my skin and the taste of his lips.

Suddenly, Riagan breaks the kiss again, but his face lingers closer to mine.

“Fuck,” he murmurs against my lips. “One taste will never be enough, butterfly.”

Then his teeth are nipping my lower lip, and all other thoughts fly out of my head.

My hands slid upward, resting on his shoulders, and I kissed him back with everything in me.

A soft, mewling sound escapes me as his tongue teases the seam of my lips, then slides inside to toy with mine. And while he kisses me senselessly I think of how this man has the power to ruin me for everyone else.

I also think that it feels almost impossible to stop this feeling. It’s maddening. Overwhelming.

Beautiful.

It’s Riagan.

Unsent message from C

Butterfly,

You have turned into a lovely girl.

You are witty, smart, kind and too good for this world.

Too good for the likes of me.

I want you to always remember that.

I wanted to be the one you confide in when you had no one.

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