Page 42 of Ava After Midnight

All at once, Ava’s fingers are in my hair, her lips on my neck, and any sort of coherent thought becomes a distant memory.

"I believe you promised me a week of dancing," she purrs, her touch unleashing wildfires beneath my skin. "And I’m ready for my first lesson."

I seize her wandering hands, pinning them above her head as I press her back into the butter-soft leather seats. "Patience,mi amor." I barely recognize my own voice, rough with need. "Good things come to those who wait."

Her eyes flash, a silent challenge. "And if I’m tired of waiting? Of being good?"

I crush my mouth to hers in response, kissing her with all the pent-up hunger and passion of the past twenty-four hours. She opens for me instantly, her tongue dancing with mine in a tango as old as time.

I pour everything into that kiss—every filthy promise, every dirty fantasy, every desperate dream of a future I never dared to imagine before her. She meets me breath for breath, arching into me until I can’t tell where she ends and I begin.

When oxygen becomes a necessity, I tear my lips from hers, trailing open-mouthed kisses down the column of her throat. She tosses her head back with a breathy moan, giving me better access to the sensitive skin there.

"Domingo," she gasps as I find the spot just below her ear that makes her shudder. "Please..."

I slow my assault, pulling back just far enough to meet her glazed eyes. My blood thrums in my veins at the naked desire I find there, hot and heavy enough to drown in.

"Please what,princesa?" I force my voice to calm, even as my hands itch to map every curve of her body beneath her stuffy white wedding gown. "Use your words."

Her tongue darts out to wet kiss-swollen lips, and it takes every shred of self-control not to chase it with my own.

"I want..." She seems to struggle to string the sentence together, her brain as hazy with lust as mine. "I want you to show me how good we can be together. No more holding back."

My heart clenches at the trembling vulnerability beneath the brazen request. This incredible woman, so brave and fierce and achingly honest. I want to give her everything, lay the whole world at her feet.

Starting with every scrap of pleasure her body can handle.

I bend my head to murmur against her lips, a binding vow. "I’m going to spend the next week worshipping every inch of you, mi alma. Making you forget any touch but mine. Shattering you so completely that the only name you remember is the one you scream when you come undone in my arms."

Her shudder of anticipation rolls through us both, and I feel her thighs clench around my hips. "Promises, promises," she breathes, her fingers flexing where I still have them pinned.

I tighten my grip, savoring her sharp inhale. "Nunca prometo algo que no puedo cumplir." I never make promises I can’t keep.

The Spanish falls from my lips like honey, sweet and thick with intent. Her eyes flutter shut as she breathes something that sounds like "holy fuck," and I smile against her skin.

"Buckle up,princesa." I release her hands to reach for the privacy screen, my other hand hiking her dress higher on her thighs. "I hope you’re ready for the ride of your life."

As our passion separates us from the rest of the world, I know with bone-deep certainty that this is just the beginning. The beginning of something raw and real and so much bigger than either of us.

The beginning of forever, if I have anything to say about it.

But first, I have a honeymoon suite to defile and a whole lot of wicked promises to keep to the woman who’s stolen my heart and saved my soul in one fell swoop.

Nunca me sentí tan vivo.

I’ve never felt so alive.

With that thought, I surrender to the need pulsing between us and set about proving to Ava with hands, lips, and body that the only dance that matters is the one we make together.

EPILOGUE

AVA

The sun-warmed sand shifts beneath my feet as I follow the winding path back to our private bungalow, the fading light painting the sky in streaks of molten gold and deep violet. Bali has been a dream, a fevered escape—lazy days exploring hidden temples and lush jungles, steamy nights tangled in silk sheets and each other.

But tonight feels different. Electric. Like the universe is holding its breath, waiting for something inevitable to unfold.

I slip through the intricately carved wooden door, my gauzy sarong whispering to the floor as I take in the scene before me. Candles flicker on every surface, their glow casting restless shadows against the walls. Rose petals—rich and velvety—spill across the floor in a deliberate, tantalizing trail leading straight to the bed.

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