Page 22 of The Secrets He Keeps

Boldly, irreverently, she tilted her head back and met his gaze with a challenging stare as she twisted her beautiful lips into an expression of sensual superiority. “Do your worst, Maxwell.”

He could see in her eyes she expected to be disappointed. He couldn’t allow that.

Stepping closer, he bracketed her feet with his, allowing his thighs to rest warmly against hers. Then he lifted a hand to her throat, caging the lengthened column with his fingers. The green of her eyes flashed brightly and her lips parted to allow a swift, subtle exhale. But beyond that, she did not react. He took a moment to meet her gaze, looking into her eyes with heavy intention, showing her what he wanted. Revealing the dark hunger in his soul and the secret yearning beneath the shadows.

As her eyes narrowed, shielding the flash of light he saw in their depths, he lowered his head and took her mouth in an instantly possessive kiss. The lush cushion of her lips—the spicy and unexpectedly sweet, heady taste of her—nearly distracted him from his purpose. Full, brutal honesty. Still holding her gaze, his hand remained secure around her throat as he swept his tongue past her teeth.

She answered the invasion with a short flick of her tongue against his. It was taunting and insolent. A reminder that she was no common conquest.

What she failed to accept was that Erik had never seen her as such. She was perfection in form. To him, she had already surpassed every prior lover he’d ever known. And there had been many...more, perhaps, than she even realized. At this moment, he only wanted her to know how deeply he wanted her and how badly he wished to please her.

He gave another long lick of his tongue within her mouth. It was wet and thick and unabashedly erotic and he was rewarded with a slight flutter of her sooty lashes and the darkening of her gaze.

Tilting his head, he fit his mouth more securely to hers. Gliding his tongue in and out until she responded with a languid swirl of her tongue past his lips. Taking advantage, he suckled her tongue, drawing it deeper into his mouth before releasing it. As her eyes finally fell closed, he nearly moaned but subdued the sense of triumph he felt at her subtle, momentary surrender. She was not a woman to remain submissive for long. He’d need every bit of his skill to show her why they shouldn’t stop with a kiss.

He gave a brief and gentle squeeze of his hand at her throat, before sliding his fingers down over her collarbone, between her pushed-up breasts, to the inward curve of her waist. Grasping her in both hands, he brought her up against him—body to body—a stunning fit.

She seemed to agree as she brought her arms up around his neck and finally—fully—gave herself over to the kiss. Lips, tongue, teeth, breath. Swirling, tasting, licking, biting. It was passion and fire—a willful, intentional destruction, but he lost track of who was destroying whom as they went up in flames together.

Reminding himself of the need for patience in the midst of mindless desire, Erik finally pulled back, lifting his head enough to press a final kiss to the corner of her lush mouth.

A feeling unlike any he’d experienced before spread through him then as he slid his gaze over her features, noting the kohl-rimmed eyes, the fine cheekbones, and the way her lush, sensitive mouth curved just slightly downward at the corners. The sensation was bright and heady and wonderfully consuming.

As her eyes swept open, he felt a deep reluctance to let her go, even for the time being. A part of him feared she wouldn’t let him this close again.

“We should return to our hosts,” he said in a roughened voice.

She gave a short sound of derision. “Should we?”

He smiled at her show of scorn. “Though you sound put out, I suspect you fully enjoy their company. Even the children.”

Pulling back from him, she smoothed her hands over her gown before replying, “One kiss and you presume to know what I enjoy.”

Stepping closer to her, reclaiming the distance she’d placed between them, he replied in a heavy tone, “Your pleasure has become a part of me, madam. I cannot separate it from my own.”

Though she arched her brow in a show of disdain, her pulse fluttered at the side of her throat and her gaze slipped briefly to his mouth before she replied coolly, “I hope that doesn’t prove too painful for you.” Then she swept past him and left the room.

The damned woman was forever walking away from him.

It was his greatest desire to change that.

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