Page 75 of Conflicted

His eyes flew up to meet mine. He spoke hoarsely. “Don’t, Micah. Don’t do that. Don’t make this more than it can be.”

I covered his hand on my throat, lacing myfingers through his. “Why not, Nox? If this is our one night together, why not make the most of it?”

His throat bobbed. “Because if we do, I think it might break me. I’m not sure I’ll be able to piece myself back together again.”

Moisture burned my eyes. I blinked furiously, trying to find my voice. How could I argue with that?

It was simple. I couldn’t.

Instead I took us back to a level Nox would be comfortable with. Yanking his hand from my throat, I shoved his shoulders, making him stumble back a few paces. “In that case, why don’t we take this to the bed? I seem to remember you have a few misconceptions about mybehaviourthere.”

Nox’s smirk was back in place. The sight of it stung me. How often did he paint over his true feelings?

I covered mine by being the leader, while Nox covered his with his attitude. We were more alike than I’d ever given us credit for.

“Are you going to prove me wrong, little angel?” Nox challenged me, his fingers lazily unbuttoning his shirt. My tongue darted over my lip as the metal in his nipples came into view. I couldn’t wait to get my mouth on them.

“You fucking betcha.” I shoved him again, moving him until his back was on the bed. While I enjoyed and appreciated the way Nox manhandled me, that didn’t mean I didn’t want to do a bit of my own manhandling occasionally. “It’s my turn to explore, and you’re going to lie there and take it.”

Nox, the cocky bastard that he was, put both his hands behind his head and winked at me. “Do your worst, little angel.”

I yanked at his trousers, pulling them down and tossingthem aside. I groaned at the sight before me. “Of course you’re commando.”

His half-hard dick twitched under my scrutiny, the hints of silver showing he had his piercings in. “Wanted to give you easy access.”

I straddled his hairy thighs, wrapping my hand around his cock. It stiffened under my touch, making my chest puff a little.

“Were you hoping for this to happen?”

His hand rested on my knee as that honesty glimpsed through again. “I’d love to be hopeful, Micah, but I don’t think it’s something either of us can afford.”

I let go of his cock, cupping his face with both my hands as I repeated his words back to him. “Don’t, Nox.”

“Sorry,” he whispered, trying for a smile but missing. “Kiss me, little angel. Let’s play pretend while we still can.”

That’s what I did. I kissed him while I pretended we had all the time in the world. That we wouldn’t go our separate ways in the morning. That this thing between us would have any outcome other than the pain we knew was coming.

I wasn’t sure when Nox had stopped being my enemy and instead become the air I needed to breathe.

It was funny—I’d believed myself in love with Dimitri. I’d thought I knew heartbreak. But I was wrong. What I’d felt for him was a pale imitation of the feeling trying to burst from my chest for Nox. It was laughable, really.

With Dimitri, I would’ve given anything to erase the pain. To forget ever feeling anything for him.

I already knew that wasn’t going to happen with Nox. I didn’t want to erase him. This. I didn’t want to forget how he made me feel. The freedom and peace that came just from being in his presence.

Losing Dimitri had hurt me.

Losing Nox would destroy me.

I pushed that away for tomorrow. Tonight wasn’t about that.

It was about him. Us.

It almost killed me to drag my lips from his, but there were so many other areas I wanted to explore. I started with his cheekbones, covered in coarse stubble. Next was the sharp cut of his jaw. Then my mouth moved down the taut lines of his neck, along the firm muscles of his chest.

When I got to his nipple, I paused. “Are these sensitive?”

Nox smirked down at me. As soon as I’d stopped kissing him, his hands had gone back behind his head. Was that because he wanted to give me the freedom to explore? Or because he was trying to stop himself touching me, knowing it’d end too quickly? Either way, it was hot as fuck.

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