Page 54 of Golden Burn

My chest explodes with an unfamiliar sensation, and I’m dumped into a pool of wanton desires that has no edges to cling to. In the darkness, he could be anyone. He could be my savior instead of my captor. My friend instead of my foe. I could lean into him right now and pretend it was all a dream.

“When we get inside, we’re going to bed, right?” I ask, practically panting.

Odin curls around me, bringing his chin to the sensitive place beneath my jaw. His breath strokes my cheek and the smell of his favorite whiskey is enough to make my knees wobble.

“I was going to, but you had to wear that dress and spray that fucking perfume all over your skin.”

“You bought me this dress,” I remind him.

“And I choose exceptionally well. I could barely function at dinner.”

One of his arms snakes around my front, fingers spreading over my lower stomach, while the other grabs my thigh and squeezes to the point of pain. My spine arches into him, grinding my ass against his swollen groin. My head tilts to give him more access to my neck.

I struggle to speak around the lack of oxygen in my lungs. “Maybe we should just, you know, get it—”

“Don’t you dare say get it out of our systems,” he snaps, gripping me tighter.

I try to look at him over my shoulder, but he presses me harder against the door. “Why not? You said I could be with other people if I wanted to.”

“I’ve changed my mind.” He finds my wrists and binds them together in one of his hands, then drags them above my head so I’m well and truly at his mercy.

I should hate this—being trapped by a man who could ruin my life in an instant. But his rapid heart beat betrays what both of us are unwilling to voice. That our attraction to one another is overriding all logic. All morals. I shouldn’t be so weak as to desire his touch and his alone.

But I do and fuck… I want to let go and give in. I want him to ruin me and hold me. Break me and protect me. I want to bend to his will.

I want what only he can provide. Mydamnation.

“I haven’t been this close to possessive in over a decade.” The statement is a knife to the heart, quickly followed by the spread of a balm that heals instantly. To beanythingto him when he has already loved and lost satisfies me in a way I could never describe.

His jaw scrapes along my skin, bringing me back to my body, causing the most delicious friction. My breathing spikes, my lower body heats tothe point of agony, begging for anything to relieve it. My brain is a riot of need.

Touch me. Spread me wide. Finger me right here, right now.

His hips buck and I almost demand he lift my dress and fuck me out in the open. This African adventure has done the opposite of tame us. It hasunleashedus.

“Let me make you feel good. Better than any cold shower ever could.”

I moan like a feline in heat. “Please.”

His free hand slithers down my stomach until he finds the space between my thighs. He palms me roughly through my silk dress, and my vision goes haywire. I’m well and truly lost to the primal edges of my mind. He explores me with his strong fingers, cupping and stroking and circling until I can’t take it any longer.

Odin finds my clit with ease and starts rubbing the material in slow arcs. I start writhing underneath him, devastated by the power of his touch and moaning so loudly that I’m sure it’ll bring a whole herd of mating animals stampeding our way.

He maintains the perfect rhythm, the perfect pressure, but I want more. I jerk my hips and squeeze his hand so he can’t pull away. He chuckles against my skin and I almost die.

“Odin,” I whine, my orgasm building with impressive speed. “Take my dress off.”

“No. I’m not into exhibitionism.”

The hand holding my wrists releases and takes the place of the one between my thighs. I’m so wet that his fingers slip and curl and tease. He twists the lock on the door and opens it enough that I won’t go tumbling through. He spins me around, shoves the dress up to my waist, and lifts me. I wrap my legs around him like a vise, almost grinding my clit intohis belt so I don’t lose momentum. I want to plant kisses to his neck, suckle on his hot skin, but I stop myself just in time.

Odin strides into the room, his hands tight on my ass. My heart leaps with excitement when I see the bed. I can only imagine how good this is going to be.

Unfortunately, I don’t get the chance to find out.

He stops. Everything about him turns rock hard. And not in a fun way.

“Odin? What is it?” He puts me down, shoving me behind him. Resuming the role of my protector instead of my lover. He reaches for the gun in his waistband and points it at the bed.

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