Page 38 of Bedding Rose
God. I shouldn’t have thought about that.
Khan has always been a guilty pleasure fantasy for me. The idea of a brutal warlord storming in and cutting everyone in sight down to win back his woman …
Fuck.
No. Turn it off.
Angelo didn’t necessarily do it for romantic reasons. One night of flirting isn’t the equivalent of marriage.
God, do I even want to know his reasons? Yes and no. I’d beckoned Angelo inside a moment ago but part of me is scared to hear any explanation from his gorgeous lips. It’s intimidating because I both want to know what he’s going to say and I don’t know if I’m ready to hear it.
My body flushes hot for a moment then cold—simultaneously elated and terrified. What do I tell him?
I’m still trying to process this jumbled mess I’ve become when someone opens the door to the meeting room. I turn away from the window only to see Angelo outlined by the bright warm lights of the lobby, the warm tones gleaming off the sheen of his suit and skin like an aura.
My throat constricts at the sight of him and all the conflicting emotions within me surge up in one massive wave that nearly knocks me off my feet.
God, why does he have to walk so fast? I’m not ready.
He fills the doorway, looming, his presence seeping into the room, large and violent and utterly breathtaking.
When he closes it behind him, my lips open but then close, uncertain what to say. I lick my top lip and my fingernails drag along the sides of my legs, over the smooth fabric of my dress.Just thank him,I scold myself.Wait. Thank him for hurting someone?
When I hear the snick of the lock, my eyes dart to the door then to his back. What’s he doing?
He turns, a deep fire banked in his eyes that broadcasts his intentions. An electric prickle bolts up my spine when he steps toward me. Flutters start in my stomach as he slowly prowls forward, stopping just in front of me.
In a low tone that’s just shy of a whisper, I finally manage to say something. “I can’t decide if you’re a white knight or a criminal.”
Those plush lips of his tilt up at the edges as his unsullied hand darts forward to encircle my waist. His fingers are so massive that they span across more than half of my back as he pulls me forward into him, away from the window. Our hips meet and my body eagerly soaks up his heat and luxuriates in the feel of his hard muscles as he leans down and nuzzles my ear before whispering, “What if I’m both?”
Oh.My breath catches and my hands fly up to grab at Angelo’s suit jacket because my knees are dangerously close to buckling. I swoon for the first time in my life.
I hear Angelo’s low chuckle, feel it rumble through his chest beneath my fingertips, just before his lips move from my ear to my mouth as he whispers, “I told you. You’re mine.”
His lips descend, kissing me hard as his hand on my back pulls me into him so tightly it’s like he’s trying to meld us into one. He kisses me until I’m breathless, and even then, he doesn’t relent; he keeps me close, allows me one quick gasp before he’s diving back in, tongue stroking over mine. Meanwhile, his fingers drag a hot trail up and down along my bare spine, teasing at the bit of the dress that covers my ass.
The kiss in the parking lot?
It was amazing. Volcanic even.
But this is a natural disaster that’s planet-ending. World-reshaping. Because that was an angry kiss about lust and betrayal. This? This is gratitude and elated astonishment on my part, mixed with a whole lot of delicious possession on his. I thought our prior kiss was the best I’ve ever had, but this one quickly shoves that one to second place. The kiddie corner. The lost and found.
When he finally pulls away, I’m gasping. I have to remind my legs how to work, how to hold myself upright when all I want to do is stay tucked against him.
I’ve only just managed it when his hand, the one that was gliding over my spine, comes up to cup my cheek.
I stare into his eyes as I wilt under his touch, ruined. Because after that kiss, I know I’ll never be able to turn away.
My eyes are soft and my heart’s melted into a soggy mess. I’m pretty sure I’m counting what just happened as his grand apology for spying on and attempting to blackmail me. After all, Angelo basically removed Nick’s tonsils for him. How can words compare to that?
The widest smile stretches across my face at that thought. It continues when Angelo bends forward and places a series of tiny kisses over the pulse of my neck. When his tongue darts out and traces the hollow at the base of my throat, I give an involuntary sigh as my thigh muscles tighten. I have to resist the urge to press them together. Giddiness and lust are a potent combination.
Still leaving the hand that touched Nick clenched at his side, he caresses me with the other. He slides it up and down along my side gently before grabbing my hip, fingers squeezing, showing how his restraint is just as on edge as mine. I have to admit, I kind of love that.
The flutters in my stomach move lower and my hands climb up to his shaved hair, sliding over the soft velvety blackness while he sucks a tiny patch of skin near my collarbone. Inside the pasties, my nipples begin to ache. When his lower lip drags in a straight line across the base of my neck, hot breath misting over my skin, my eyelashes flutter shut and I wish that we were somewhere else. Somewhere private where we could take this moment and let it bloom into something more.
Angelo’s mouth pulls away, and I give a regretful sigh as I release him from my hold.
