Those perfect lips parted, and it felt like a hundred breaths passed as I waited for his response, though it probably wasn’t more than a few seconds. My chest felt too tight, but I wasn’tgoing to pass out. No matter what his answer was, I could handle it. I hoped.
But then Benoit slid his hands up my chest to curl his fingers around the lapels of my jacket and pulled me in closer. “I think I could,” he said, meeting my gaze, the green in his hazel eyes shining fiercely tonight. “I think…I might.”
The relief that went through me was so intense that it was a good thing I had a hold on him, or my knees might’ve given way. That wasn’t the image I wanted to portray, especially here in the midst of so many power players.
At the moment, though, I didn’t give a fuck about any of them. There was only Benoit and the soft smile on his lips, and…
There might’ve been one other thing, but I’d surprise him with that later.
“I was hoping you’d say that,” I said. “I would’ve hated to force your hand.”
“Hated it?” Benoit arched a brow, and I smirked.
“Maybe I would’ve enjoyed it.”
“Now that sounds more like you.” He leaned into my ear, his breath warm on my neck, and added, “Feel free to show later how you would’ve forced my hands…or any other part of me.”
I couldn’t help my growl as I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him against my body. Unable to resist another second of keeping this polite, I took his lips in a crushing kiss that he met with the same intensity. Those soft, pillowy lips I’d dreamed about for weeks—the ones that let fly nothing but smartass, sexy remarks that both infuriated me and drove me crazy—opened without hesitation.
I could faintly hear the sound of voices whispering, but they all faded into the background, until there was nothing but the feel of Benoit in my arms again. His hands slid up my shoulders to wrap around my neck as I slipped my tongue inside his mouth for the taste of him I craved.
The moment I got his text in Germany, I should’ve been on a plane. Instead I’d spent weeks torturing myself, trying to convince my heart and my brain that I was better off without him, that he was better off without me, that we were too complicated, that there was no possible way we could be together or trust each other, that it would all end badly. Until one night an undeniable truth hit me: I didn’t care.
No matter how much it didn’t make sense, Benoit was the one I wanted, and being here now, with him wrapped up in my arms, nothing had ever felt so right.
He licked inside my mouth, long, teasing strokes that had me grinning when he pulled back to look up at me.
“Hold on, is that asmile?” He gasped, his hand going over his heart. “I didn’t even know it was possible.”
I tried to force a scowl, but it was impossible to hold for long with the amusement shining in Benoit’s eyes.
I leaned in to steal another kiss when I felt at least a hundred pairs of eyes staring at the two of us. I slowly craned my neck to the side, observing the surprised faces of those in the crowd.
“What the fuck are you all looking at?”
Benoit chuckled and cupped my jaw, turning me back to face him. “Now, now,mon monstre, no need to scare off the guests.”
“They’re staring.”
“Only because they’ve never seen such a handsome scowling man before. You should be flattered, considering there’s a prince in our midst.”
I immediately locked eyes on Prince Theodore Rinaldi, who was casually watching us with a mix of amusement and wariness, a kretek dangling between his fingers.
“A friend of yours?” I asked, turning back to Benoit.
“A brother.”
Shit, there was another one, and an influential one at that. No wonder Benoit was so confident. Not only was he a force to be reckoned with, but he had men of high caliber at his back.
I respected that. But even more, it gave me peace of mind over this decision. My job wasn’t a safe one, but Benoit was surrounded by family that wouldn’t let anything happen to him, and that was only if anyone dared to go through me first.
“Come with me,” he whispered, putting his lips to my jaw. “After all, you’re here to see me not scowl at them, are you not?”
My eyes came back to his sparkling ones, and I nodded. Damn right I was there for him, and I needed no more invitation than his slipping a hand in mine to follow him wherever he wanted to lead me.
Hell, I was starting to believe I’d follow him to the ends of the earth. That thought had once caused complete and utter panic deep in the pit of my stomach. But as Benoit pushed out of the ballroom and into a smaller, more private room, I closed the door and drew him to a halt.
He stopped and glanced over his shoulder at me, and before I could say a word, he was back in my arms.
