Page 46 of Hidden Attraction

Her fingers dug into his shoulders, nails scraping the tight cotton of his shirt, and he grinned against her lips. She felt it without seeing it. Smug. Dangerous. Like he knew exactly how far she’d already fallen to allow him to break through all her barriers and have her this way.

Then the world spun.

Her back hit the mattress, the thin quilt bunching beneath her as Julian came down over her, one hand braced beside her head, the other already sliding up her thigh, pushing her skirt higher, his knuckles hot and possessive.

“I shouldn’t want you like this,” he said, voice hoarse. “But I do. So bad it’s driving me crazy.”

“Then don’t hold back.” Her voice came out rough, breathy. Begging.

That was all it took.

He kissed her like he was starving. Mouth greedy, demanding, teeth catching on her bottom lip until she moaned and tangled her fingers in his hair. His hips pressed to hers, and when she shifted and rolled up into him, she felt just how ready he was to break every rule between them.

“You’re playing with fire,” he muttered, nipping along her jaw, tongue chasing the sting.

“Then burn me.”

That cracked something inside him. With a low, wrecked sound, he tore her shirt open, sending the buttons scattering. He tugged off her bra and kissed the skin he revealed, tongue dragging over the swell of her breast before he caught a nipple between his teeth. She arched, crying out, back bowing as heat raced through her.

He didn’t stop. Rough hands slid over her ribs, down her hips, gripping tight as if he didn’t trust himself to go slow.

But then…hedidslow.

She blinked, panting, as he looked at her—reallylooked. His pupils were blown, jaw tight, lips swollen from kissing her senseless. But behind the hunger was something else. Reverence. Regret. Something tender that wound through her belly and made her ache in a whole new way.

“You sure?” he asked, voice gravel and silk.

Her fingers slipped into the waistband of his pants. “I’ve never been more sure of anything.”

It felt like they both surrendered.

He made a sound like a curse and kissed her again—softer this time. Like she wasn’t just something he needed to consume, but something he wanted to remember. He stripped her with slow purpose, claiming her lips with tormenting kisses. Between those kisses, every piece of clothing was tossed to the floor.

As his fingers moved lower to slick between her thighs, stroking and circling until she was squirming beneath him, she realized something dangerous.

This wasn’t just lust.

This was something bigger. Wilder. The kind of thing they couldn’t take back.

“Julian,” she breathed, nails digging into his shoulders.

“Tell me what you need.”

“You.Now.”

He didn’t tease. Didn’t drag it out. In seconds, he had a condom in place over his long, thick cock. When he poised between her thighs, their gazes met in a look that sent her senses scattering in every direction.

In one hard jerk, he filled her, and her body arched into his, a broken cry slipping past her lips. He groaned, forehead pressed to hers as he started to move—slow at first, grinding deep, then faster, rougher, until the bed creaked beneath them and her cries grew breathless and wild.

Each thrust said what neither of them could.

That they needed this. Neededeach other.

She hovered on the brink, her release battering at her insides even as the man unraveled the rest of her.

His name left her lips again and again, and when she came, it was a full-body shatter—her fingers twisted in his short hair, her body clenching around him, as white-hot heat spread through her.

Julian wasn’t far behind. On a broken sound, he thrust one last time and came hard, buried to the hilt, arms shaking as he held her through it, like letting go might crumble everything.

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