Page 7 of Emerald

Oh Christ. I closed my eyes, fighting the urge to turn my face into her palm and just breathe her in. She had no idea what she was saying, what it meant to me. No fucking clue how much I wanted her.

"Cara," I said roughly, steeling myself to pull away. To put some much-needed distance between us before I did something stupid like kiss her senseless right next to the dead body of her would-be assassin. But before I could move, before I could so much as twitch, she surged up on her toes and pressed her lips to mine.

I froze, my entire body locking up. For a second I couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't do anything but stand there like an idiot while Cara Maguire kissed me like her life depended on it. Thank fuck my brain clicked back online, and I was kissing her back, my arms banding around her waist and hauling her flush against me. I devoured her mouth like a man starved, licking and biting and sucking until she was making these breathless little noises that shot straight to my dick.

I walked her backwards until her spine hit the wall, my hands everywhere at once—in her hair, on her ass, skating up under the hem of her sleep shirt to stroke the warm, silky skin of her stomach. She arched into me like a cat, her nails digging into my shoulders, her teeth sinking into my bottom lip until I groaned.

It was pleasure and pain twisted together so tightly I couldn't tell them apart. I wanted to strip her naked and fuck her right there against the wall, audience and her father be damned

Shit. Her father was waiting for us. I eased back bit by bit, brushing my lips over hers once, twice, before finally tearing myself away with a shuddering breath.

"Finn," she whimpered, her eyes hazy and unfocused, her lips red and swollen from my kisses. "Please, I need—"

"I know." I pressed my forehead to hers, trying to calm the frantic pounding of my heart. "Believe me, sweetheart, I know. But we can't. Not like this, not now."

She made a frustrated noise. "When?”

Christ, she was killing me. Shredding my self-control to ribbons with every word, every heated look from those big emerald green eyes. But when I finally made Cara mine—and it was definitely a "when," not an "if" at this point—I wanted it to be somewhere private. I wanted to worship her body for hours, learning every secret spot that made her gasp and sigh and shake. I wanted to make love to her slowly, tenderly, showing her with every touch and kiss how precious she was to me. And then, when she was sated and so fucking sensitive she could barely stand it, I wanted to flip her over and fuck her through the mattress until she sobbed my name and drenched my cock in her sweet, virgin cream.

But that was for later. For a time when we weren't both high on adrenaline. A time when I could be sure she truly wanted me.

"Soon," I said hoarsely, the words scraping my throat raw on the way out. "Fuck, Cara, you have no idea how much I want you. But not yet. Not like this. I want to do this right, and that means taking my time with you. Treating you like the fucking queen you are, not rutting against you like an animal in some dirty hallway."

She shivered at my words, her pupils dilating until her eyes were nearly black. "And how exactly do you want to treat me, Finn? How do you want to... take your time with me?"

I groaned, letting my head fall forward to rest in the crook of her neck. "You're going to be the death of me, you know that? My cock's going to fucking explode if you keep talking like that."

She let out a throaty laugh, her fingers threading through my hair and tugging until I looked at her again. "We can't have that. I have big plans for your cock, Finn Gallagher. The last thing I need is for it to explode before I get a chance to sit on it."

Jesus Christ. I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting the urge to come in my pants like a horny teenager. "You're a fucking menace."

"And you love it."

I did. God help me, but I really fucking did.

"We should go," I said after a moment, easing back from her reluctantly. "Your dad's probably losing his shit wondering where you are."

She sighed, but didn't argue. "Fine. But this conversation isn't over."

"Yeah, I figured." I ran a hand over my face, trying to will my erection away through sheer force of denial. "I'm going to need a fucking ice bath after this. Now come on, you insatiable brat. Let's go face the music."

And pray that Declan Maguire didn't take one look at my dick bursting out of my pants and Cara's swollen kissed lips and put a bullet between my eyes for daring to touch his precious baby girl. s precious baby girl.

Chapter 6: Finn

Dealing with Declan was never fun, but discussing what went down with the shooter, while my hard on bit into my zipper, was something I was never going to do again.

Thank Christ it was done and I handed Cara over to one of my men. I gritted my teeth as I stalked down the hallway towards my room, my cock still throbbing in my pants like a second heartbeat. The rough fabric of my jeans rubbing against my swollen flesh until I was ready to scream. Or come. Whichever happened first.

I couldn't believe I'd let things get out of hand. I was supposed to be the responsible one, the level-headed bodyguard who kept his dick in his pants and his hands off the merchandise. But one kiss from Cara's sweet, sassy mouth and I'd been ready to throw it all away, to risk everything for a taste of her honeyed heat.

Christ, but she made me crazy. Crazy with want, with need, with a bone-deep hunger that gnawed at my insides. I'd never wanted anyone the way I wanted her—desperately, violently, with a single-minded focus that bordered on obsession.

I reached my room and slammed inside, locking the door behind me with a vicious twist of my wrist. I needed a fucking shower. A cold one, to shock some sense back into my stupid, sex-addled brain. And if I happened to take myself in hand while I was in there, well... that was between me and my right fist.

I stripped off my clothes leaving them in a heap on the floor. My cock sprang free, flushed and heavy and already leaking at the tip. I gave it a rough squeeze, hissing through my teeth at the bolt of pleasure-pain that shot through me. Fuck, I was wound tight. Too tight. I needed to take the edge off.

I cranked the shower knob all the way to cold and stepped under the icy spray, my skin pebbling instantly as the water sluiced over me. But even the shock of the cold couldn't quell the relentless throb of my cock as it jutted out from my body like a fucking flagpole.

---