“Mine.”
That was the thing about Ash. We fought. We fought like brothers. Because that’s exactly what we were. Not by blood. But by every single thing that counted. He’d had me pick out one of the rooms and told me no matter where I went, I’d always have a home.
Blue eyes flickered with some kind of hope.
Stay. Stay. Stay.
Every rational part of me knew I needed to stamp it out. Tell her no. Warn her we had six weeks to go.
That was it.
The end.
But I couldn’t make the words form on my tongue. Instead, I pulled off one of those sexy-ass heels and kissed the inside arch of her foot, then turned and did the same to the other.
Shivers rolled through her body and lust curled in my gut.
I wanted to fuck her more than I wanted air.
To experience all she had to give.
To taste her courage.
To swallow her insecurities.
“Lyrik.” It was a breath. A question.
“You’re so damned pretty.” Part of me wished she wasn’t. Truth was, it was getting harder to look at her. Because I just kept wanting more and more. Asking for trouble. For heartache and pain.
I knew better.
I’d learned a long time ago to shuck the worry and the bullshit chains. Life was so much easier to glide through with nothing weighing you down.
I already carried more than I could bear.
Still, my heart picked up a beat when I leaned over and flicked the button of her jeans. The ripping sound of her zipper echoed against the walls. She whimpered and lifted her ass from the bed, making it easy for me to drag her jeans and underwear down her legs.
I didn’t even try to hide my moan. The girl was so insanely hot. A promise of heaven and a temptation sent directly from hell.
Right where I belonged.
Setting a knee on the bed, I leaned over to the side so I could trace that serpent tat on the outside of her thigh. My tongue ran along the lines while I slipped my hands beneath her shirt and dragged it up. My tongue followed the path as I lifted it over her head.
My entire body shook with quickly unraveling need. Control disintegrating.
Red was in nothing but a lacy black bra, which had to be illegal in all fifty states. Cruel and unjust punishment, because I just might die if I didn’t get to touch.
Those tits spilled out over the top while the distorted heart tattoo wept in the middle.
Ante omnia cor tuum custodi.
Urges hit me. Ones to kiss it until it was perfect and whole.
Shit.
I was losing my head. My foundation.
Consuming need twisted through me when I licked over the aching red, and I stole one hand under her back to undo the clasp. I moved back far enough to pull it free.
Her pulse ran wild and her chest heaved.
Quick to dive back in, I took a pink, pert nipple in my mouth. I sucked it deep, flicked at it with my tongue.
She wound her hands in my hair. “Shit…Lyrik…that feels so good.” She released a confused groan. “Why do you feel so good?”
I grinned against her skin. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear. That she felt good, that I was the only one making her feel that way.
My mouth trailed down the side of her breast. I lingered at one spot, drawing the silky flesh deep into my mouth. Maybe a little harder than necessary, but I was making sure to leave a mark. Because that’s what I promised her I would do.
Both my hands cupped the fullness of her tits, squeezing and lifting so I could tease and torture and make her squirm as I turned to the opposite nipple.
“I need you,” she said as she clawed at my shirt. Cool air hit my back as she tore it off, and those fingers sank right back into my skin. Begging as they burned and scraped and pleaded for more.
This was the more I could give her.
She deserved more, but I’d give all I could. For her.
I wanted her to trust me in a way she hadn’t trusted anyone since that bastard had broken her. For her to know she was beautiful, and what he’d done didn’t have the power to define her.
Didn’t have the power to destroy her.
I wanted her to know I saw something beautiful.
Something good.
A precious gift given to this world.
My head spun and my heart hammered a warning in my ribs. It caught time with the beat of hers, wild and erratic and violent, her breaths just as harsh.
Frantic, she dragged my mouth back to hers.
Tingles rolled across my flesh, and this achy feeling compelled me I was doing something wrong. Violating a promise. But I did nothing but kiss her back.
Because I couldn’t fucking stop.
Her tongue slipped past my lips in a delicious tease, tangling around mine. Eager and demanding.
Every inch of me lit.
A hazardous frenzy thundered through my veins, and I pressed up onto my palms. My head dipped down as I kissed her wild. My jean-covered cock pressed into her bare *. Underserved need squeezed every cell, filling my breaths and my lungs and my head.
No.