Page 4 of Finding Lord Landry

Landry wanted to win. And there was no way on earth he was going to win me. Once he did, he’d just get bored of me, too.

“I’m going,” I said, trying to soften my response to a less antagonized, more neutral tone. “This is important to me.”

He let go of my wrist and moved his hand up to cup the side of my face. “I know it is. I’m sorry.”

I blinked at him in surprise. Landry Davis didn’t do sorries. Or serious. “O-okay then.”

“Can I at least kiss you goodbye?”

Again with the not-enough-oxygen thing. Maybe while I was gone, I could put in a maintenance request.

“We don’t do kissing,” I said, turning around and looking for my shoes.

I found them on my feet.

“Just this once?” The teasing tone was back in his voice, putting us back on much firmer footing.

I rolled my eyes at him. “Do you ever stop provoking people?”

“Not if they’re this fun to provoke, no.”

“Put on your shoes and grab your things. My Uber is going to be here in three minutes.”

He pulled on his running shoes and grabbed his keys and phone off the nightstand, shoving them in the pocket of his high-tech running jacket. “You’re going to be at the airport five hours before your flight?”

I shouldered my carry-on and extended the handle of my rolling suitcase. “Lounge access for the win. I have a lot of work to do before I land in San Cordova and put my electronics away.”

He reached for my suitcase and wheeled it out of the bedroom and to the apartment door, giving me a chance to double-check the thermostat and lights before locking up.

We made our way to the half staircase and up to the street. The Uber was already waiting in the gray shadows of late afternoon.

“This is me,” I said, reaching for the suitcase handle. Instead of handing it over, Landry moved to the trunk of the vehicle and loaded it up. I swung my carry-on into the back seat of the car and turned to say goodbye.

Before I knew what was happening, Landry had pulled me into his arms and kissed me. One of his hands was on my face, fingertips tangled in my hair. His other arm was banded around my back possessively as if I were the only thing standing between him and salvation.

And his lips…

My head swam from the unfamiliar taste of his mouth. The sheer strength of his kiss. The nearness of his face. The way he moved my face and my body exactly where he wanted it while he completely devoured my mouth.

I whimpered and clung onto him, seeking more—much, much more—until some vague memory suggested this was against the rules and I should stop.

I wanted to laugh. Stop? Stop this? Who in their right mind would stop this? This was a world-ending kiss. The kind of kiss that sent soldiers off to war and welcomed them home again. The kind of kiss that sunk ships and invaded cities.

The kind of kiss that changed absolutely everything and crumbled walls that had been built meticulously, brick by brick, over three years.

The kind of kiss that drew a deep line in the sand between the Before time and the After.

The kind of kiss that couldn’t in its right mind be possible between enemies with benefits.

I whimpered again. Landry’s hold on me tightened.

And then it was gone. I reached out and slammed a hand on the car to keep from falling over.

“Safe travels,” Landry said in a strangely gruff voice before turning around and walking away.

I stared after him in shock.

There was a reason I’d never allowed myself to kiss Landry on the mouth. And now, after three years and countless hookups, I finally felt pretty damned clear about what that reason was.

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