Page 147 of By His Rule

Fuck.

My lips brush hers in the softest, sweetest kiss I think I’ve ever experienced, my hold on her face tightening in the hope of stopping her from running, should that be an option right now.

Three of the longest seconds I’ve ever experienced slowly pass as I wait for her to react, and just as her lips move, accepting the kiss, a voice rings through the air.

“I’ve made you a hot chocolate. I thought that might—oh, fuck,” Jamie gasps when he walks into her bedroom and finds us locked in a kiss that is nowhere near finished. Hell, it’s barely even started. “Sorry. I’m sorry. I’ll just?—”

He runs out of the room, this time ensuring that the door is closed almost as quickly as Lorelei jumps away from me.

“You should go,” Lorelei says, turning her back on me and wrapping her arms around her waist.

“No, I already said?—”

“Leave, Kian. I don’t want you here. I don’t…” Her words trail off as she marches into her en suite and slams the door behind her.

“Lorelei,” I call, rushing over, refusing to accept that she’s better off alone right now.

It doesn’t escape my attention that if this were any other woman, I’d have left a long time ago without giving her a second thought.

But this isn’t any other woman. This is Lorelei.

“Goodnight, Kian,” she calls brokenly.

“Shit,” I hiss, combing my fingers through my hair, trying to figure out what to do for the best. “Fuck it.”

Marching through her bedroom, I rip the door open before slamming it behind me so she knows I’ve left, only to come face-to-face with my driver.

“I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t think?—”

“Forget it,” I say, waving him off. “I’ve got a job for you.”

“Anything,” he says keenly, just like I knew he would.

35

LORELEI

My fingers curl around the edge of the basin as nothing but pure exhaustion seeps through my veins.

Tonight has been…

Tonight has been too much.

The gala alone was too much to process, let alone adding Kian’s proposal and getting trapped in the elevator. The last thing I needed was that kiss.

Fuck. That kiss.

My head drops lower as heat rushes through my veins.

If we weren’t interrupted…

I want to say that I’d have ended it and backed away. But I’d only be lying to myself.

I wasn’t about to put an end to anything; I was balancing right on the edge of doing a very, very bad thing.

“Get it together, Lorelei.”

Finally, I lift my head and face the truth.

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