Page 162 of Midnights
I grip her jaw, tilting her head up as my mouth crashes onto hers, claiming her with a hunger I’ve been holding back since the moment she walked into the ballroom. She meets me with equal fire, parting her lips for me. Her body presses into mine like she belongs there.
My hand slips up her waist as I pull her closer, desperate to feel her, to take whatever she’ll give me. My control is a thread frayed to the breaking point, and my pulse is a war drum pounding in my ears.
She gasps against my lips when my hand starts to trail up the curve of her back. I feel the way she shivers, how her body reacts to me. How every sharp breath, every shift of her hips, tells me exactly what she wants.
Then she pulls back just so she can smile up at me.
“That’s all you got?” She taunts. Her voice drips with a smugness she has no business wielding right now.
Oh, sweetheart.
Heat tears through me and my hand clamps harder at her waist as I press her into the tree, caging her with my body. My mouth hovers over hers.
“Careful, Princess.” My voice is a quiet warning. “You might not be ready for what happens when I stop holding back.”
Her eyes flash with something reckless, and I can feel her fingers trailing slowly down my chest. Testing me.
And fuck, I let her.
Her fingers pause just above my belt, her touch featherlight, teasing. “That’s funny,” she murmurs, tilting her head just enough to bring our lips a breath apart. “Because from where I’m standing, it seems like you’re all talk.”
This woman.
My lips curve into a slow smile as I tighten my hold. My hand drifts lower, skimming the slit of her dress with my knuckles. I don't give her more. I just leave the touch there, light and deliberate, watching the way her throat betrays her with every frantic pulse.
“Don’t mistake restraint for weakness, pretty girl.” My voice is low, but I can tell she feels the weight behind it. “I could have you begging before you had time to think twice about using that attitude again.”
Her breath hitches.
I lean in, trailing my lips along the curve of her jaw, just close enough that she can feel the heat of my breath. Her pulse is racing now, her hands grip my shirt like she doesn’t trust herself to stay upright.
Good.
Because I’m barely holding myself back from ruining every ounce of self-control she thinks she has left.
“Would you like that?” I murmur against her skin, pressing one slow kiss just beneath her ear. “To be against this tree, breathless and wrecked, with my hands all over you?”
A soft whimper slips past her lips before she bites it back, but I hear it.
I drag my palm up, cupping her breast, kneading slowly, my thumb rolling over the hardened peak. Her back is arched enough to push into my touch. “That’s it,” I rasp, my teeth grazing her jaw. “You want more don’t you?”
Another whimper and my other hand slides lower, skimming over her bare thigh. I hesitate, dragging slow circles over her skin and she’s arching into me again. I dip my fingers beneath the fabric of her dress, and fuck, she isn’t wearing anything.
A groan rumbles from my chest as I drag my fingers through her soaked cunt, circling her clit with just enough pressure to make her tremble.
“You’re already shaking for me,” I growl, pressing my finger deeper, spreading her open just to feel how drenched she is. “So fucking needy.”
She sucks in a breath and shifts her hips, chasing my touch. But I don’t give her what she wants, not yet. I could have her right here, against this tree, wring her out until she’s got nothing left to give me but my name on her tongue.
Instead, I straighten, forcing myself to take a deep breath, knowing that if I don’t stop now, I won't.
Her eyes are dark, hazy with something she won't name. Her body's still pressed against mine. She sways slightly, flexing her fingers against my chest, like she’s considering pulling me back in.
She won’t.
Not because she doesn’t want to, but because I won’t let her.
I drag my thumb along the side of her neck, feeling her pulse hammer under my touch. Then, before she can react, I pull back completely, leaving her standing there in the cool night air, still burning for me.
