Page 134 of The Forbidden Note

It’s a fruitless ask.

I know what’s beneath that towel.

I want what’s beneath that towel.

“We also had that run-in with your dad.” I swallow hard. Heat throbs under my skin.

Zane looks at me, eyelashes bouncing sleepily, like a lion stretching after a long nap and going hunting for the easiest prey.

I keep walking back, heart skittering, antsy, breathless. “I apologize. It was wrong of me to… to kiss you. As your teacher, I shouldn’t have—”

“You shouldn’t, but you wanted to.”

“No.” But it doesn’t sound convincing. Not even to my own ears.

Zane takes my wrist and brings my hand to his chest. The contact of skin against skin makes us both inhale sharply.

I’m on edge. Stretched taut.

The fact that any of his brothers, Cadence or Viola can walk out and see us makes this moment feel even more fraught with tension.

“Touch me,” he growls.

“Zane.” I try to pull away, but he holds my hand captive, slowly dragging it down until it’s just above the line of his towel.

Warmth skims the edge of my fingertips.

I glance up and see his eyes lingering on my lips. I swipe my tongue across them unconsciously and his grip on me tightens, almost like he’s thinking about that kiss last night and wondering what it would be like if we took it further.

“I’m tired of fighting this,” he whispers. “I want to claim that tight little body of yours. Hard and fast. And then slow. So slow you’re begging me for more. I want you screaming my name. I want you groaning with need like you did that night in the hotel room when I devoured you against the balcony.”

I gasp out, my legs turning to jello and my entire body in flames.

His words are too crass. Too rude.

Too raw.

I need to think of something else to douse that heat.

Bunnies. Sick children. Horrific train accidents.

But it’s too late.

This chemistry is powerful.

I can see it. Feel it.

Every sensation of that night. The way he had me gripping the bedsheets. The way our bodies joined over and over and over again.

The wild, rough, forceful brutality to his kisses. To his invasion. Shadows stripped away in the darkness. The thick pulsing need sated by grabbing hands and whipping hips. The freedom of no names, no ages, no responsibilities.

I tasted reckless abandon for the first time in my life and I was hooked.

Then everything turned to chaos.

Student.

Step-brother.