Page 12 of The Champion
Her rejection was expected, but the curious expression in her eyes, and the fact that she had come back to my apartment alone, made my stomach roll with delight. Taking a chance, I touched her hair and let my finger glide down her arm. “I’m not asking you to sleep with me. A kiss will suffice, for now.”
Freya didn’t push me away. “If I give you a kiss, will you then guarantee that Banni can stay indefinitely in the Northlands?”
My mind was busy memorizing everything about this moment. Time alone with Freya was rare, and I usually couldn’t stand this close to her without her protectors scowling at me or her moving away. With all the times she had rejected me in the past it felt surreal that she was willing to kiss me. Letting Banni move to the Northlands would be easy for me. I had already raised the question that he might choose to do so with the members of Parliament who approved of him working there in the first place. In their eyes, Banni had outlived his life expectancy. The mortality rate among our Explorers was high and Banni had survived longer in the job than most. No one was counting on him to return. And besides, the reason he was in the Northlands was to train people to replace him here in France.
In my mind I thought back to the last time I had asked Freya for a kiss. Back then my offer had been a kiss in return for my support on a point on the agenda at a summit. She had replied that giving sexual favors in exchange for something made a person a prostitute. I was smart enough not to bring that up now, but as if she could read my mind, Freya said:
“It’s just a kiss.”
My heart felt like it had shifted places in my body and was now beating in my throat. “You’re right. A kiss is nothing,” I said to ease her mind. That might have been true with everyone else, but a kiss with Freya Aurelius was something I had dreamed of for more than a decade. I knew it was a massive thing to her as well. As far as I knew from our correspondence, she hadn’t given anyone else the honor.
“First, tell me that you’ll send us the guarantee before we reach the Northlands.”
“I can do that,” I confirmed.
“All right then.” Freya licked her lips again and shifted her weight from one hip to the other, all signs indicating that she was nervous.
Taking control, I cupped her face and was just about to lean in, when she stopped me with a hand to my chest.
“Wait. You need to flush your mouth. I don’t know what parts of her you kissed.” Her tone was accusatory. If she had been French, it would have annoyed me, but with Freya it had the opposite effect.
Feeling aroused, I teased her, “Is that jealousy I’m hearing? Was seeing Yvonne walk out of my bedroom upsetting to you?”
“Of course not. It’s hardly a surprise to me that you fuck whatever walks. I’m willing to kiss you for Banni’s freedom, but I won’t do it unless you flush your mouth with water or something.”
“I assure you that I cleansed my mouth.” My face was close to hers and nose to nose, I decided to play with this innocent wonder of a woman. Instead of kissing her, I bit her lower lip and tugged at it while looking into her eyes. I saw confusion as if she was wondering why I didn’t kiss her the right way.
Letting go, I arched a brow. “Hmm.”
Her breathing was fast. “What was that?”
“I changed my mind,” I said but my cock called out my lie as it poked her through my pants.
Too innocent to understand the game I was playing, Freya just stared into my eyes. It was the flash of disappointment that got to me like a giant sledgehammer smashing the box I had locked my heart up in.
Bending a little, I kissed Freya with such force that she would have lost her balance if I hadn’t held onto her.
Her little sounds of surprise morphed into cute moans as we unleashed years of mutual attraction in that one kiss. My hands were grabbing her body hard, my fingers boring into her skin and my hunger for her making me lean forward as she leaned backward.
Knowing that it would be a matter of seconds before she would stop me, I pushed our kiss as far as it could go. My tongue challenged her in a different way from our usual sharp banter.
I should have known that despite her inexperience she wouldn’t let me outdo her. With her hands in my hair, Freya kissed me back with equal force as if this was just another of my challenges.
Kissing Freya felt like a gateway to something euphoric. My arms wrapped her tight as if my body refused to ever let go of her.
When we ran out of breath, we stood close with her hands still in my hair, and my arms holding her in a strong embrace.
“Who taught you to kiss like that?” I panted.
“No one. I’m just a quick study.”
Fired up with lust for her, I pulled her close and grabbed a generous handful of her butt in each of my palms. “Be honest with me. Was this your first kiss?”
She had never looked more beautiful, with her lips slightly puffy, her cheeks full of color, and her eyes hazy with desire for me. “Make sure we have the guarantee in five hours.”
I hesitated to let her go, but when she gently pushed away from my body, I released her with a groan. Looking down to my pressing erection, I complained, “Look what you did to me. Won’t you stay and finish what we started?”
“No. The others are waiting for me.” She smoothed her hair with her fingers and brushed it back. “No one can ever know about this.”
