Page 75 of Ireland

“C’est bon.”His bright smile and gleaming eyes were radiant in the moonlight slanting across her bed. “Bonsoir,cher.”

His casual attire made him look younger than his age. Lying in bed together, dressed as they were, felt almost adolescent, as if a boyfriend had snuck into her room on a school night. She’d never had that experience. Her family was intimidating, and their former Dutchess County mansion hadn’t been the kind of residence that lent itself to secretive trysts. In so many ways, Ronan delighted her, her mysterious magic man.

“Hi back.” She gently twirled a thick strand of his hair around her fingers. The darkness was more than a shield… it separated them from who they were during the day.

“I’m glad you called.”

Her smile was rueful. “I won’t lie; I kicked myself for doing it. But it’s not so bad now.”

“Not so bad?” His grin gave her butterflies. “I’ll have to work on that.”

“Why don’t you start here?” She grabbed the end of her kimono tie and pulled it loose.

Heat flared in his gaze. Lowering his head, he pressed his lips to hers, his tongue licking along the seam. She reached for his waist, but he abruptly rolled away.

“Hey!” she protested.

“I’m taking my clothes off this time.” He moved with impatience, standing and reaching behind him for the neck of his T-shirt to yank it up and over his head. Every muscle in his back and arms flexed with the aggressive movement, giving her a delicious eyeful of how beautifully powerful he was. She briefly saw the scars again, some thin and silvered, others puckered and pink. One looked like a nasty knife wound that had been sutured without finesse.

She wanted to ask him about them but held back. Too much intimacy would not be good for her when it came to him. Betterto keep in mind that his past and future weren’t hers to know and never would be.

Still, she was reminded of how dangerous he was despite always feeling so protected by him. She saw the same hypervigilance in Gideon’s security detail, the kind of awareness that came from living with threats and fighting for survival. How her mild-mannered father could doanythingto incite the fury of a man like Ronan was impossible to grasp; her mind just couldn’t do it. Maybe it was all a terrible mistake.

Tossing his shirt onto her clothes chair, already piled high with her garments, Ronan faced her. “And I won’t hurry, either. If you misbehave and rush me like last time, I’ll tie you to the bed.”

“Really? I’d like that.” And she knew she would, emboldened by him, despite never having trusted anyone to restrain her. He was the cause of all the upheaval in her life, and yet, in moments alone with him, there was an ease between them, a sense of safety.

“Then we’ll add it to the list.” His teeth flashed white in the dimly lit room as he pulled a string of condoms out of his front pocket and tossed it on the nightstand. He pulled his phone out of his back pocket, turned it off, and set it down.

“What list?” she asked, her voice made husky by the quantity of condoms he’d brought with him. If he kept to his previous ratio of three orgasms for her to one condom for him, she was in for a wild night. Her blood heated, and her breathing quickened.

“The one with all the things I want to do to your enchanting body,cher.”

Rolling to her side, she propped her head in her hand to watch the show.

He shoved his jeans and boxer briefs to the floor in one swift, forceful movement. Then he straightened and stepped out of the puddled denim and cotton, shamelessly erect.

And why wouldn’t he flaunt himself? She’d never seen a more perfect male body. Ronan could even, maybe, put a bit of weight on; his ripped physique was all golden skin and taut muscle without an ounce of extraneous flesh. He was like a rogue lion in need of a mate to look after him.

And his cock… Her mouth watered. It was hard and thick, curving upward to nearly touch his navel.

Her thighs tightened against the empty ache between them. “Enchanting. I haven’t heard that one before.”

“Enchanted. Bewitched. Possibly cursed. Whatever it’s called, I couldn’t get to you fast enough. Jules thinks I’ve lost my mind.”

He returned to the bed and pulled her effortlessly into the middle. She barely caught a warning glimpse of the feral gleam in his smoky eyes, and then he lowered his head and took her mouth in a slanting, tempestuous kiss. His shift from cautiously playful to ravenously lustful was instant and unmistakable, and it set her on fire. She could taste his need; it deepened the lush intoxication of his seductive flavor.

His hand slid into her kimono and cupped her breast with proprietary aggressiveness. The shock of his warmth against her cool skin made her breath catch.

“I love the sounds you make when I touch you,” he said hoarsely.

“I love when you touch me.”

His agile fingers finished untying her kimono sash, and then he parted the silk as if he were unwrapping an expensive gift. The icy illumination of the moon detailed every curve and hollow of his muscular body. The flexing of his biceps was brilliantly defined by light and shadow as he plumped her breast with gentle kneading. She grew heavy and taut within his grasp, her body blooming under the fierce heat of his lust.

“How is it possible that you’re more beautiful every time I see you?” he murmured, more to himself than to her.

Lowering his head, Ronan blew a cool stream of air across her nipple, making it pucker. He smiled with purely male conquest before bathing it in a long, savoring lick.

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