Page 132 of Silver Elite

“No, I’m not.” His laughter heats my cheek. “You’re not timid or weak, Dove. You’re a firestorm, and you’re going to burn everything in your path if you don’t learn how to restrain yourself.”

I hate that he can see right through me. Right into the tumultuous storm of emotions raging beneath the surface. I’m always on thebrink of losing control. I’ve felt it my entire life, that precarious sensation.

Cross trails his fingers along my hip, up my arm, toward my face. His thumb traces the curve of my cheek. I can’t muster up the words to lecture him about touching me without permission, because I’m enjoying it too much.

“I’m not like this with women,” he mutters. “I don’t chase. I don’t fucking beg.” He groans. “But you…You make me want to break down your defenses.”

A sliver of moonlight enters the tunnel, illuminating his face. Eyes smoky with desire, locking with mine. Daring me to act.

I twist my gaze away, unable to bear the intensity of his any longer.

“Look at me,” he commands.

I do, giving an intake of breath when his thumb brushes my lips in a silent invitation.

We stand in the darkness, caught in a silent battle of wills.

“This is a bad idea.” My voice is barely audible over my thrashing heart. It feels like it’s trying to pound its way out of my chest.

“Probably.”

His face is too close again, his mouth hovering over mine in a phantom touch.

The last threads of my willpower are unraveling inside me. When he releases a strangled noise, I feel it everywhere.

“I need to know what you taste like. Let me have it, Dove.”

I lick my lips, and he groans again.

“Let me. Fucking. Have it.”

I can’t move. Can’t look away. My breaths escape in shallow, rapid bursts as our lips linger just millimeters apart.

I swallow hard, the lump in my throat betraying my nerves as I lean in, drawn irresistibly closer. And then, in an explosion of pent-up need, the dam breaks and I’m reaching for him, my fingers twisting the fabric of his shirt as I yank him toward me.

His lips crash against mine in a fierce kiss. There’s no hesitation. No restraint. In that single, electrifying moment, my entire body is alive with energy.

My hands tangle in his hair, and I pull him even closer, as close asI can get him, my body straining against him. As his lips devour mine, every nerve ending screams with sensation, and the world around me fades into oblivion.

He drives the kiss deeper, his tongue chasing mine into my mouth. Greedy. Primal. Like he’s trying to consume me. To claim me. His hands travel down to my waist, sliding over my ass, tracing the contours of my body, while his tongue finds mine and explores.

“Knew it would be like this.” He’s breathing hard.

I can only moan in response, kissing him again. Every brush of his tongue ignites a fire of need inside me.

I never want it to end, but the sound of voices breaks through the fog. It takes a second to realize it’s just the guards in the tower by South Plaza, chatting to one another, but it’s too late. Cross and I have already broken apart, and it’s like time has stopped, leaving me suspended in a haze of pure, deep, helpless, hopeless lust.

As I struggle to catch my breath, an eerie sensation skitters through me. Fear. Not of him, but of how badly I want to keep kissing him. There’s a rawness to our connection that defies explanation.

“May I be dismissed?” I whisper.

He looks as dazed as I feel. His head dips in a nod. I hurry out of the tunnel, leaving Cross Redden in its shadows.

Chapter 30

They have us jogging early in the mornings now. Hadley got it into his head that some of his Red Cell recruits aren’t in the shape that he expects them to be. And somehow that means Black Cell must suffer the same consequences, which means the two cells now have the pleasure of jogging at dawn.

“It’s too early for this,” I hear Kess mutter.

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