Page 54 of The Bloodfeather Promise
I’m trembling when I stand. My blouse is pulled over my head with one swift motion and dropped onto the lounge chair. Hiding my nervousness, I pick up the bottle of wine and the glass that’s almost full. I drain the glass and begin the nerve-racking walk toward Greyson.
His arms lower, crossing over his chest, and his eyes narrow. An air of charged electricity crackles in the space between us, a space closing with every step I take. It feels as though a rope is tied between us; one he is tugging until I finally reach him.
I set the wine bottle and my glass on the ground beside his. My fingers shake as I unbutton the capris I’m wearing, and as I drag them down over my hips, I reach up with my free hand to hold his shoulder. An attempt to balance myself when he’s got me so off balance.
Greyson brings a hand to my waist, further steadying me as I kick the capris away. I cannot determine what he is thinking. His eyes are so dark, nearly black as they bore into me, and his body beneath my fingertips, against the palm of my hand, is scorching enough that I think I might melt just from touching him.
When I finally stand before Greyson, clad in a nude set of underwear that is more lace than true fabric, I realize I haven’t taken a proper breath since I tugged my blouse off. Lightheaded, I suck one in now. Obviously, my nervousness amuses him. His full lips curl into that familiar smirk, and my heart thumps erratically in response.
“You changed your mind again,” he murmurs, pulling me around so that we face each other. Toe to toe, chest to chest, his hand resting on my hips, mine gripping his forearms. I can feel my body gravitating to his. Feel the heat coming off his skin. Smell the spicy clean cologne that makes my mouth water. It mingles with the sweet, peppery smokiness of the whiskey he’s drinking. I want to drink him in. Absorb him until I am drunk and drowning and unable to form a rational thought.
“You are so damned beautiful.” His voice drops a register. It’s much huskier, sexy. Dark. I clutch his arms even harder in heated response, and Greyson drags me closer. I’m caught in his undertow. There is no swimming safely to the shore. He’s taking me down with him and I go willingly.
“Let me look at you, Emerson. Let me see all of you and do not hide from me. Because I will remember this moment forever. The moment you placed yourself in my hands. Jesus, you have no idea how many times I dreamed of this. Of you. Of us together.”
A haze of lust envelopes us both. I’m almost panting when his head dips, his mouth mere inches away from kissing me. His whisper ignites every nerve ending inside me. Dissolves me into a puddle of need and the truth is inescapable.
I will give this man anything he asks for.
He nips at my lower lip and utters the words that seal my fate.
“Let me see what will soon be mine.”
