Page 35 of The Kings
“Here.”
“Time to disappear,” I say, and we melt into the darkness, slipping into the car with Tarquin at the wheel, spinning back around to pick up the other vehicle.
“Did I miss anything?”
“Only a party,” I say with a grin, which he returns.
Blood and adrenaline pump fiercely through my veins as we slip through the night towards home. The mission is behind us; now, it’s all about getting back to base without leaving a trail.
“Shit, Eliza, you sure know how to make an evening interesting,” Raph murmurs.
“Interesting is one word for it,” I reply, my body on high alert, every sense attuned to the environment around us.
“After this, I reckon we deserve a little celebration, don’t you think?” His eyes, dark in the night, bore into mine and I feel the sweat start to form.
“Maybe,” I murmur. “Safe and sound, for now,” I say as we reach the privacy of our shared residence, tucked away from prying eyes.
19
TARQUIN
Every nervein my body is like a live wire. Tonight’s heist has left a buzz under my skin that only Eliza can deal with. Raph is right beside me, silent as a ghost, his gaze locked on her just as tight as mine as she heads up the stairs.
That walk of hers, all controlled power and fluid grace, does things to me. Things I can’t even try to tame.
Raph grunts in agreement, the sound low and guttural, knowing my thoughts as he always does. I haven’t breathed a word about the hard and fast fuck in the courtyard, but he knows. As I know, he has been with her as well. I don’t know when, I can’t place the moment, but I know. It’s instinctual. Moving as one, we skulk behind her, Kings trailing a Queen. She doesn’t look back, but I swear she knows we’re here – her every move is like an unspoken dare.
I’m burning to touch her the way my body needs to. Slow and deliberate, to claim, to remind her that this night is far from over.
As Eliza glides toward her bedroom door, I know we’re about to cross a line that’ll change everything. I don’t just want her; Ineed her, fierce and all-consuming, and by the hunger in Raph’s eyes, I can tell he feels the same way.
James and Oliver aren’t a part of this. Not yet. She is ours first. She knows it as well as we do.
Eliza leaves the door open, an invitation she knows we are already here for.
She’s standing by the window, and I’m struck—fucking floored—by the woman who commands both respect and desire without uttering a single word.
She turns, slow and deliberate, and fuck me, it’s like watching the sun rise after a lifetime of darkness. That knowing smile of hers, sharp as a blade, cuts through every defence I’ve ever had.
“Shut the door,” she murmurs.
There’s no need for words as I kick it shut, locking out the rest of the world, leaving the three of us in this bubble to sin until sunrise.
We stalk her, Raph going right, me going left. We surround her senses, and she doesn’t know which way to look first. She is trapped, and she knows it. So she closes her eyes with a slow smile.
From behind her, my hands find her waist, pulling her close until the heat of her body sears against mine.
Raph drops to his knees in front of her, unbuckling the holster as I pull the gun out of the back of her pants. The belt hits the deck as I place the Glock down carefully on the dresser before returning to her. Raph undoes her boots, pulling them off with her socks before trailing his hands up her legs to undo her pants. The button pops open with a snap, my cue to grip the hem of her tee and pull it over her head. Raph’s eyes flick to the small bandage stuck to her side, and they go darker.
He removes Eliza’s pants and underwear as she arches her back for me to unclasp her bra. It falls to the floor, forgotten as Ikiss her shoulder, keeping my eyes on Raph. He is nothing short of pissed.
His hands linger on her hips, his mouth planting soft kisses over her stomach before he reaches up and rips the bandage off her with a rapid tug.
“Fuck!” she yelps and glares down at him. “Warn a bitch next time, you ass.”
“Needed to see how compromised you were.”
“You must’ve seen it earlier when I got dressed. Why not just fucking ask?” she hisses.
