Page 68 of Chasing Paradise

I couldn’t say how long we stood there while we waited to come back down from all the fear and adrenaline.

When she pulled back slightly to wipe at her eyes, I reached out to frame her face, angling her up to look at me. “Are you hurt?”

“No,” she said, sniffling. “I mean, I hit my back. But no. Wait… you’re—are youshot?”

“Grazed. Here,” I said, touching my side. “This was me not watching where I was going, tripping, and hitting my head. That’s what took me so long. I was coming back for you. I was going to pull you back up.”

“I thought you were dead,” she admitted.

“Upset you wouldn’t have someone to use as a human shield against creepy crawlers?”

“Yeah,” she said. “That must be it.”

There was a softness in her voice that matched her eyes, a hint of something that looked dangerously like longing.

“I’m really happy you’re alive, duchess.”

My thumbs slid up across her cheeks, watching the way her breath went quick and shallow, how her eyes slid from my eyes to my lips and back again.

My thumb moved to tease the outline of her lower lip as I watched her face, promising myself that I would drop my hands if I saw even a hint of uncertainty.

But her pupils blew wide, and her lids went heavy.

When her lips parted slightly, there was no going back.

My hand slipped under her jaw, and I lowered my head, waiting a beat to see if she pulled away, then sealing my lips over hers.

A low moan escaped Violet as she swayed into me, her hands grabbing my arms, holding on as my lips pressed deeper.

Her lips came alive under mine, taking, giving, demanding more.

My hand slid to the back of her neck, holding on as my tongue moved inside to claim hers.

Her moan vibrated against my mouth, making my fingers tighten on her neck.

My other hand moved down her side, then around her hips to sink into her ass, dragging her more tightly against me.

A shiver racked Violet’s system as she felt my hard length against her stomach.

Violet’s hand slid down my arm, over my hip, then between us, stroking over my cock through my pants.

My own hand moved then, teasing the waistband of her panties.

“You can’t,” she said against my lips.

“Why not?”

“I’m so sweaty.”

“I don’t give a fuck,” I said as my hand slid under the waistband of her shorts, finding her already wet and ready for me.

She moaned against my lips as her hand stroked me again.

Then, as my fingers slipped inside her, hers moved to pull down the waistband of my shorts, closing around me again without the barrier.

I swear I almost came right then and there.

There were a million other circumstances that would have been more romantic. But, somehow, sweaty and bloody and shaky from adrenaline, felt right for us as we drove each other up.

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