Her friend suffered.
She hit her knees beside him, brushing hair off his sweaty forehead. His eyes sunken, and eyelids pale. Cheeks pale, too, beneath the bruised skin beneath his eyes. He was not sleeping well. What was he doing out here? Surely the hard marble was no better mattress than the old tick upstairs. Likely less odiferous, though. She winced, already planning to ask Polly to clean it.
When she placed a hand on his shoulder, it was taut and warm, and yet she shivered, rubbing her thumb without thought over the smooth skin. What if… what if she brushed her fingers down his scruff-heavy cheek to explore the tendons of his neck, the fullness of his fine, firm lips.
They’d almost kissed.
How many times now? Too many to sustain her pride.
Each time, he’d leaned forward, gaze riveted on her lips, his hot interest making her squirm because she’d never been the focused interest of a man like him before.
A man like him. Her friend. Only that.
Despite being her husband.
A detail. Merely an insignificantdetail.
Such a liar. He was a man made for pleasure. His own pleasure. And that of whatever woman gained his interest. His focus.
Not her.
Which was exactly why she’d gone looking for him. To take advantage, to seduce him, make him go away from here. A plan born out of a heated dream with a faceless—
Oh.
Oh no.Not so faceless after all.
Felixhad found victory in her dreams. Over her lips. Over her body.Felixhad left the spot between her legs pulsing with need.
He moaned again. A different tone this time. Less pain. More pleasure. His eyes opened, blazing green. Feverish. He moved like a snake, striking with his hand around her nape, his big muscles bunching.
His lips consuming hers.
A kiss.
Finally.
Ten years in the making, countless shadowed dreams survived and forgotten in an instant, a meeting—mouth against soft, warm mouth.
No one could blame her for giving in, letting go…
She lost balance, tumbled forward, but he cushioned her fall, slowed it, his big arms taking her weight and holding her close. His lips never left hers. Not once. They slanted, they parted, they bit. Her bottom lip his means of breaking his fast.
No idea what to do, how to respond. The few kisses she’d had before this nothing like, no relation whatsoever to the way Felix devoured her. She’d wanted to trust this man to her first kiss, and he’d pushed her away, thrust a stable hand at her, but now… now this kiss might as well be her first. Felix banished all others as sun banished morning fog.
“Open for me.” His lips hot against her ear before returning to her mouth.
What did he want? “Ope—”
His tongue slipped between lips.
Open for me. He’d wanted entrance. She’d given it unknowingly. She didn’t dare rescind the invitation now. Couldn’t think how to. He’d stolen her speech, stolen her thoughts, stolen her breath. Each sweep of his mouth across hers taught her new how to do these things. Speak in husky whispers—his name,more,yes. Think of how to keep his body beneath hers forever. Breathe his exhalations.
He bent his knee, parting her legs, hiking her skirts, pressing the hard muscle of his thigh against her pulsing center.
Indescribable promise rippled through her.
More.
