Page 256 of The Invite
Twirling around, she bites the corner of her lip, and coyly asks, “How do I look?”
“Like my reason to breathe.”
Her lips part, amber eyes turning molten as though my words touched the deepest parts of her soul. Advancing on her, Iback her into the mirror and cage her in with my hands on either side of her head.
A shudder runs through my chest when she presses her palms against my abs. They slide up my torso, blazing a trail of fire along my skin, and curl around my neck after a brief caress to her name inked there.
In a soft voice, she asks, “Will it always be like this?”
“No.” She tenses. I smile, toying with a lone strand. “It’ll be better because my need for you escalates every day, little prey.”
Her smile is a mix of relief and mirth. Rising on her toes, she demands, “Kiss me.”
Gripping her ass, I meet her lips halfway and lick the seam until she lets my tongue inside. Her saccharine taste makes my head spin as I stroke her tongue with mine. So does the satisfied moan she lets loose.
My girl loves to be kissed.
As much as I love that she’s the only woman I’ve kissed.
After one final lick, I pull back. My chest puffs when she chases my mouth with her eyes still closed. Fuck! I can’t resist. Framing her cheeks, I lock our lips again and taste her sigh on my tongue. I sense an underlying urgency in the way she glues herself to my body, arousing my protective instincts.
“Honey,” I murmur in between little nips and soft pecks against her lips. “Are you nervous about tonight?” A hesitant nod. Hoisting her up in my arms with her knees around my waist, I cup the back of her neck and kiss her tenderly to soothe away the tension. Pulling back, I nudge her chin until she meets my gaze. “Tell me what’s worrying you the most.”
“What if he sees us coming?”
“That’s what Ace is here for. Even if Anonymous sees us coming, he will never see Ace until it’s too late.”
A haunted look passes over in her pupils. “I’m still not okay with what we have to do.”
“Not we, me,” I correct her.
“August—” I shush her.
“As soon as we out him, Maverick is bringing you here.” She wrenches my wrist down with surprising strength and opens her mouth, but I cut her off again. “Either you leave willingly or I’ll drug you, Nessa. I fucking mean it. I’d rather have you mad at me and safe than in danger.”
Wide-eyed, she reads the determined set of my jaw and lowers her gaze in submission. “Okay. But I’m not coming here.” Her head lifts, eyes daring me to argue as she delivers her term. “I’ll wait for you outside of the park with Maverick. If he forces me, I swear I’ll jump off his bike and crawl back to you.”
Her threat spoken in that feisty tone makes my dick hard. It equally makes me furious and my chest bursts with warmth at the sheer protectiveness she has for me.
God has blessed a selfish man like me with a goddess. An eternity is too short to make me worthy of her. But fuck if I’ll let her be anyone else’s.
“You sound unhinged like me, little prey.”
“Side effect of being in love.” Arching a brow, she demands, “Do you accept?”
“Yes, my queen.”
She bites the inside of her cheek to stifle her smile. Placing her on the ground, I mess up her bun by grabbing a fistful and tugging her head back. Bending, I lick the column of her exposed throat and bite down hard. Led by the feral urge since the second I laid my eyes on her tonight.
“August!” she screams as I leave a matching hickey on the swell of her tit peeking above the neckline.
“All this virginal white lace is making me want to paint you in my blood.” Flipping up her skirt, I twist the string ofher thong. “Tarnish you.” Smacking one ass cheek until she whimpers, I growl, “Bathe you in unholy sins.”
“You’re my biggest unholy sin, Augustus Grayson,” she rasps, smiling with lust-drunken and devoted eyes. “My favorite sin. And I don’t want salvation.”
***
Nessa does a double take, drops the spoon she was eating with, and almost slides off the barstool herself when I enter the kitchen and head straight for her.
