Page 172 of The Penalty

His smooth, sultry tone hit all my hot buttons, and then some. When he licked his lower lip, I inched my hand up his thigh.

“You always look like you’re savoring a secret that thrills you to no end when you do that.”

“Do I?” He leaned close and stroked his tongue on my mouth. “What secret do you think it is?”

Laughter and conversations faded into the background until it was nothing more than a dull hum. Nobody else existed except for us. All I felt was Xavier.

Desire crashed through me. I haven’t been with him since I arrived here three days ago. As spontaneous and hot as our moment on the patio had been, I craved more.

The muscles in his thigh tightened. I loved how his lethally athletic body reacted to me. It was perfectly honed for competition…and dirty, rough, unbridled sex.

Our breathing slowed, dovetailing into one connected breath.

Wordless promises passed between us.

“I don’t know what your secret is,” I whispered. “Want to know mine?”

Slipping a lock of hair behind my ear, Xavier slanted his head and lowered his mouth to mine. “Tell me all of them.”

Lost in the heady fog of his scent and a fervent blue stare, I responded, “I love when you’re not a gentleman with me.”

He’d just locked me in a deep, passionate, very unsuitable-for-public-places kiss when I heard, “For fuck’s sake you two. My virgin eyes can’t handle this.”

Xavier groaned in frustration at Cade’s interruption. I glanced up at the striker.

“Virgin eyes?” Amusement colored my question as he flopped onto the couch next to us.

“Not buying it, huh?” Cade’s little smile charmed me.

“Is there something you wanted, Gallagher?” Xavier’s tone dripped razor blades.

“Don’t let me stop you from shagging like minks.” His normally playful demeanor faded. “Just needed to get away from the party for a few.”

Xavier regarded his friend curiously. “Everything alright?”

Cade waved a dismissive hand. “Yeah. Maybe I’m getting too old for all this.”

Releasing me from his embrace, Xavier leaned closer to his friend. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Cade shy away from a crowd. He and Xavier were practically the same person when it came to attention.

I glanced towards the table where Jax, Dante, and Noah were sitting. Tracey was also there along with Hannah. Bennet was nowhere to be seen but Alex hovered in the shadows. A hulking figure appeared next to him. Marcus. Of course.

“I’ll give you boys a few minutes to chat.” I stood up, halted by Xavier’s strong grasp. Shaking my head, I gestured to my friends. “I’ll be right over there. You can stare at me the whole time.”

“I will.”

Laughing, I made my way toward the center of the lounge. Hannah caught my eye and rushed over.

“Are you okay?” Her breathless concern was touching. “Your impromptu press conference is everywhere. Blackmail? I can have my secur—”

“I’m okay. I promise. Just controlling the narrative.”

“Who’s behind all of this?” Her brown eyes flared with anger.

“Hey,” Noah shouted. “No secret meetings. This is mandatory fun. Besides, if you two are whispering about what I think you’re whispering about, it looks like Victoria’s fuck around and find out message is winning over the headlines.”

“This is why we don’t trust anyone else with our media handling,” Dante declared, glancing over my shoulder. “Right, Chels?”

I spun around and came face to face with Dante’s sister. The pretty brunette looked casual and cute in her brother’s jersey. She tossed a sarcastic grin at Dante before greeting me. “Glad I could finally catch up with you. I’ve been dying to chat about the foundation.”

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