Page 43 of Fallen Prince
He was still trying to scare me off. Well, I wouldn’t allow it. My body burned for him, no matter how much he tried to intimidate me.
“Because you’re not very frightening.” I tried to keep my tone flippant to avoid the deeper feelings of residual terror from overtaking my brain, but my breathy voice hitched slightly. Just because I’d decided that I wanted to kiss Max didn’t mean that the instinctive part of my mind had forgotten the danger.
I breathed through the echo of fear, and a tantalizing buzz flooded my veins. Maybe my problem wasn’t that I couldn’t sense the danger Max posed. Maybe Ilikedthe danger. I’d never felt more alive than I did when I was in his presence. It was wild and thrilling and possibly a little twisted, but I craved more.
“Allie.” Max said my name like a warning, but the savagery eased from his sharp features. He wrapped his long fingers around my shoulders, holding me with the careful but unbreakablegrip that made me feel both sheltered and trapped. A shiver danced over my skin, and I swayed toward him. He frowned down at me.
“Why aren’t you afraid of me?” he asked again, more softly this time. His black eyes pinned me in place even more effectively than his strong hands on my shoulders.
He didn’t say the next part out loud, but I saw it in the taut lines of his face:You should be scared.
He truly didn’t understand. I wasn’t sure if I fully understood it, either.
“I’m choosing not to be afraid,” I replied, my voice still breathless from his merciless kiss. “I know I should be, but I don’t want to be. I’m choosing to see you, Max.”
The words held so much more weight than implying that I wanted to date him. I sawhim: the man beneath the monstrous mask. His pain and protective instincts called to something deep inside me that I couldn’t deny.
His mouth descended on mine, hungry for the trust I offered him. His tongue traced my lips, as though savoring the flavor of my fervent words. He kissed me like I was a miracle, his hands bracketing my face with aching gentleness as he claimed me in deep, fiercestrokes.
I opened for him, offering him everything he wanted to take.
I’m not scared. You’re not a monster.
I conveyed the promise with my own fierce kiss, sharing myself with him in a way I’d never connected with anyone else. He’d made himself vulnerable with me, and he held me like I was something precious and fragile.
One strong arm wrapped around my waist, tugging me impossibly closer. His other hand left my face to rove lower, long fingers skating down the column of my neck. Just the light brush of his rough callouses on my throat drew a moan from my chest. Fireworks popped and tingled beneath his featherlight touch, my body crackling with awareness.
Suddenly, he cupped my breast, handling me with shocking confidence. I gasped into his mouth, and he hummed his approval, the sound rumbling all the way down to my core. My nipples pebbled to hard peaks, and they throbbed gently in time with the deeper ache between my legs.
His hand dipped between my modest cleavage, easing one button undone on my blouse to allow him better access to my breasts. He toyed with my nipples, and hot lines of pleasure sizzled directlyfrom the tight buds to my core. Something inside me clenched, and I cried out against his lips.
He groaned, the sound torn between longing and pain. His other hand dipped lower behind my back, his long fingers sinking into my bottom as he clutched me close.
My body molded to his, and he growled into my mouth when my hips rubbed against his hard length.
For a moment, I stiffened. I’d never felt a man’s arousal before. It was intimidating and thrilling. A heated rush surged beneath my skin, a wave of feminine gratification.
I did this to him. I made himwant.
My belly quivered, equal parts aroused and reluctant. As much as I craved Max, I didn’t think I was ready to have sex. Just kissing him like this was more than I’d ever experienced with any man.
Suddenly, his grip shifted, and my moment of uncertainty dissipated when the world tilted. One strong arm braced behind my back, and the other hooked beneath my knees. I became weightless as he lifted me up to cradle me against his hard chest.
He held me as though I weighed nothing, and his lips remained hungry and demanding on mine as he carried me to the couch, never once releasing me from his kiss.
He set me down so that I was nestled in the cushions, and he dropped to his knees before me as his hands began to explore my body once again. His mouth lowered, trailing hot kisses over my neck. His hot tongue traced the line of my throat at the same time as his fingers tightened around my nipples.
A ragged cry left my chest, and I arched into him. I wound my arms around his shoulders and pulled him closer, urging him to take more.
He touched me as though he wanted to learn every inch of me, to claim and own. He touched me as though he had every right, and I welcomed his exploration. I had no idea what my body was capable of, and he was wringing pleasure from me in ways I never could’ve imagined.
His teeth grazed the shell of my ear before he sharply nipped my lobe. The little flare of pain sent an answering pulse of need to my core, and the throbbing between my legs intensified to a deep ache.
A strange, needy sound whined from my chest, and I writhed in his hands. I didn’t know what I wanted him to do. I just neededmore.
His deft fingers found the delicate buttons at the front of my blouse, freeing each one with aching slowness. He trailed down my sternum, working hisway to my belly, until his hand brushed just beneath the top of my skirt.
I gasped and clutched him to me, lifting my hips in silent invitation for more. My fingers tangled in his glossy black curls, and I tried to drag his mouth closer to mine.
