Page 43 of How to Seduce a Slender

“And what punishment befits the crime of running?” she blurted out, cheeky as ever. As if she didn’t make him chase her through a graveyard…as if her legs weren’t trembling already. The tingling started at her chest, crawling down her skin just as the initial prickling sensation had. It teased her nipples that already ached, made her stomach clench up, and her hips ache.

“I haven’t decided yet…” His raspy pant for air was the final straw.

“Smith, please,” she confessed.

“Please what?” His face was close enough she could taste the coffee they shared going into town. He’d gotten something with berries for the creamer.

“Kiss me, touch me, something!” She pleaded as her hands shook, forcing her to flatten them against the marble behind her.

“Is that what you want?” His voice softened, the grip around her throat, light as it was, easing as well. His body shifted. The arm that was pinned above her fell to her side. His fingers wrapped around her side, tilting her body till the only thing between them was fabric. What she wouldn’t give to rip it off her body, to feel him fully against every inch of her. His knee speared between hers, spreading her thighs and resting him flat against her aching cunt. Her eyes nearly rolled back in her head.He didn’t even know… how easily he had her wrapped around his finger.Lips brushed her forehead. Then her temple. Then her cheek. Down her face he traveled till his voice floated directly into her ear. Her heart hammered, blood pumping to the point of dizziness in her veins. If he so much as kissed her throat, he’d feel it racing.

Smith groaned. “Melody, I need you to consider all the terms and conditions for this…because when I kiss you, the deal is struck and I will not allow for loopholes, you understand? If…if you’re mine, you’remine. You have not just seduced me, mind, body, and soul…Ms. Deathless, you have possessed me. And if you agree, there is no exit clause, there is no escape. If you run, I will hunt you, my wicked little prey.”

He pulled back, leaving only an inch between their foreheads. Melody stared up into a hollow face. No static, no noise, nothing but the hazy gray fog behind him and a pearlescent face staring back.

Melody’s hands rose between them, taking up the lapels of his vest. She couldn’t help the tease falling out of her lips. “Just like a lawyer to put terms and conditions on a kiss.”

“Melody, this isn’t just a kiss.”

“If we negotiate terms, will there be room for us to continue to negotiate them later?” She arched a brow up at him. His hand around her throat shifted, clutching the nape of her neck instead. Like he was cradling her in an extreme dip, she was already spinning as if upside down.

“As long as you stay, we can negotiate terms any time,” he confessed, fingers digging into her hip.

“And what if I run, like I did today, what if I like being hunted? Will that break this agreement between us?” She lifted her face closer to him.

He sucked in air sharply, making the air cold as death around them. “If your intention is for me to chase you…forfun…then no, it does not break the agreement.”

Melody smirked, inching closer till she felt lips brush hers. A zap of something ran down from her lips into her spine. It left her breathless. “If you’re hoping for me to back down, Smith, you’re going to be disappointed.”

“Are you sure?” he asked once more.

“If you ask me if I’m sure one more time, Smith, I’m ducking under your arms and booking it. And I’ll keep running until you realize that I want you to claim me. I’ve wanted to feel found my whole life. So, if that’s what it takes…we’re going to be running this graveyard all day.” She grounded herself in her resolve.

No more beating around it. No more pretending like he might not have been flirting or that it was an accident. She was on purpose going to be his biggest problem and she was going to make him face the facts…she wanted him.

“Melody, I need—”

“Okay, well, we’ve chosen a chase then,” she huffed, ducking down under his arm, spinning away from him. Her muscles were prepared for the sudden burst of movement. Except, they didn’t get it.

Not as he grabbed her by the neck once more, ripped her back into the spot against the cold marble wall, and shoved himself against her. His lips were soft. She hadn’t expected them to be buttery or sweet, but they melded against hers. Melody’s fingers returned to the fabric of his vest, tugging him right where she wanted him…which was practically inside of her. His knee returned between her thighs. She bucked against it, needing to feel friction but being denied the pleasure. When there were clothes involved, his touch was dampened to the point of non-existence.

But his hands weren’t covered. Not as he shifted to hold the back of her neck, his vibrations directly plugged into her spinal cord. Wave after wave of delight washed down her torso. Almost like he were pulsing. His other hand was at her thigh. The one exposed by the slit in her dress, he hiked the fabric up enough and pinned her knee against his hips. His palm stroked across the side of her thigh tenderly, leaving her skin tingling.

As his kiss deepened, his fingers dug into her skin. A moan filled their mouths, and she wasn’t sure if it had been hers or his, but that’s all it took. Teeth clinked together in a nasty battle. Her breath was haggard as she struggled to keep up with him. Smith only pulled away long enough to tug on her lip then returned with a vengeance. Round and round, she wasn’t sure where up or down was. All she knew was one of his fingers was against her pulse and with every subtle buck of her hips against him, he would send another wave of delightful tingles down her body.

Her thighs were trembling harder than ever. She was inches from disaster but not able to cross over. Melody broke the kiss, gulping down air. “Please...”

“Are you alright?” He lightly kissed her forehead, as if afraid of the touch but not wanting to miss it.

“I’m so close,” she confessed, and it seemed a lightbulb came on for Smith. As they both stood there, frozen in place for a long moment, then they both looked down to where her core pressed against his thigh.

“Oh,” he murmured.

“Smith, your touch doesn’t hurt.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“That explains why you’re warm,” his voice darkened again as the hand at her thigh gripped her tight enough to bruise. “and wet, I can feel you seeping through my pant leg. Is that why your legs were shaking?”

Melody nodded, chomping down on her bottom lip as the vibrations in her skin kicked up a notch. Those dastardly hands loosened only to lower her leg. A whine of disappointment broke from her throat. He chuckled, another kiss pressing to the center of her forehead. Then his palm ghosted across the front of her thigh. Smokey tendrils slithered from his body and her muscles tensed.

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