Page 6 of Forbidden Vows

His hands rise slowly, hovering near my hips without touching. "I call keeping you alive courtesy enough." That deep voice rolls over me like thunder before a storm.

I tilt my head back to glare at him, but the effect is ruined by how my breath catches. "I don't need your protection."

"Don't you?" One dark eyebrow arches. His gaze drops to my parted lips. "That pretty mouth was about to get you killed back there."

My pulse jumps at the word pretty. "And what's it getting me now?" The challenge slips out before I can stop it.

His answering smile is all predator. "Trouble, malyshka. The kind you've been begging for since you first looked at me."

"I—"

His hand finally lands on my waist, burning through the silk. "Your pupils have been dilated since the car. Your breathing changes when I get close." His thumb brushes the underside of my breast. "And right now, your heart is trying to escape through that pretty little throat."

The tension shifts palpably; the air thickens with unsaid promises. I swallow hard, my defenses wavering under the weight of his intense focus. "Observant for a kidnapper."

"I pay attention to what I want to take."

The possessiveness in his tone sends heat flooding through me. "And what exactly do you want to take?"

His lips graze my earlobe. "First? That sharp tongue of yours." A nip at my jaw sends a shiver down my spine. "Then every other part that keeps pretending it doesn't want this."

When I open my mouth to protest, he captures it in a searing kiss. There's nothing gentle about it—just hunger and possession and the faint taste of expensive whiskey. My hands fist in his shirt of their own accord.

My hips rock forward in answer before I can stop them.

His groan vibrates through me as he backs me against the wall, one muscular thigh sliding between mine.

The kiss tastes like danger and damnation.

And worst of all? I have no intention of stopping.

Chapter 2

Eileen

Inever thought something like this would upend me. I melt into his arms and welcome his tongue as he explores me, his hands moving up and down my body.

“You have no idea of the power you hold,” he whispers against my lips.

“You’re insane,” I whisper back, yet hungrily welcome another kiss.

We devour one another, the hunger growing stronger with each fleeting second. I breathe him in while his fingers dig into the fabric of my dress, touching me, squeezing me, feeling my body burn against his.

“This is wrong on so many levels,” I gasp as he peels my dress off.

“You can end it anytime,” he says, then bites my shoulder.

My hips tilt forward, and I feel him, big and hard, nestled against my lower belly. Good God, do I need this. I want this. My body and mind have sabotaged me, joining forces for this hell of a ride.

With trembling fingers, I reach up and take off his jacket.

It lands on the floor next to my dress and stiletto heels. I’m not sure when I slipped out of the heels, but I’m losing track of time altogether. He keeps kissing me, tasting every inch of skin he can reach while I keep touching him, feeling his hard muscles against my nimble fingertips. It’s an automatic process, our bodies converging, melding into each other.

“This is crazy,” I manage, standing before him in nothing but my bra and panties.

A smile dances across his tender lips as he looks me over. “And you’re fucking gorgeous.”

“I bet you tell that lie a lot,” I mutter.

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