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“Let me touch you,” he demands.

Even at the height of my lust, I taunt and shake my head with a smile.

“I want to watch you come undone.” Bringing his hand to the front of my throat, he grabs it but doesn’t squeeze. Trailing his fingers down the swell of my heaving breasts, both his hands lock around my waist, pushing me down roughly on his thigh once. Twice. He drives me closer to my peak, only to put me down on my feet in a flash with a harsh and authoritative taunt, “But not if you’re going to be a bad little girl.”

“Kingston!” I hiss angrily.

He isn’t the least bit sorry and softly grazes my flushed cheek with his lips, his beard tickling me in the most erotic way. “As for your irrelevant concerns about my compatibility with your friend, Tina could be standing here and I’d still pick you. Still see you. Ache only for you. My connection is withyou, not with a girl I read about on a silly little piece of paper. A bunch of words don’t decide who I’m meant to be with.”

Fingers flexing on my hips, his mouth travels to my pounding pulse before he commands, “Stop pushing me toward your best friend, Twinkle. Even if she was my soulmate, I’d still give us a chance and see where it leads us,” he rasps in a deep and guttural voice. “Doubt me again and I’ll kiss you each time to prove you wrong.”

“Don’t you think you’re moving too fast? You haven’t even given yourself time to think about the whole messy truth.”

It’s a miracle I’m acting rational under the onslaught of his wicked touch.

“I’ve had six fucking months to think andI. Want. You.”

CHAPTER – 9

Twinkle

I want you.

“Downstairs, you’ll find the living room with a fireplace and a small kitchen. We also have room service if you want to eat here. Everything is freshly baked,” Kingston says, as he carries my suitcase up the spiral staircase at the back.

I want you.

“The bedroom and the bathroom are upstairs. The room attached to the balcony has a hot tub. You’ll love the view from the floor-to-ceiling glass.”

I want you.

I smack right into him just as he abruptly turns before we even reach the bedroom. Rubbing my nose, I grumble, “What?”

“Are you even paying attention to me, darling?”

“Of course, I am.”

He taps his knuckles on the door to my right. “What’s in here?”

“Bedroom?” I utter it like a question.

Instead of answering, he twists the doorknob and shoves it open.

A blast of cold air slams into my body. I forget the momentary discomfort as my jaw goes slack at the breathtaking view from the balcony. Worth every single penny. At a loss for words, I step closer to the railing, curl my gloved fingers around it, and simply stare.

The houses of the whole village are lit up like stars in the sky, glowing like golden jewels. White snow covers the ground as well as the roofs of a few of the nearby homes. I can’t see the mountains or the tall trees in the dark, but I know they’re there.

For a minute, I think I’m standing at the gates of heaven.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

I look up into Kingston’s soft gaze and smile. “The pictures don’t do this place justice. And you grew up here?”

“I lived here till I was fourteen years old and then my parents moved to the States. We would alternate between visiting my dad’s family here and India for my mom’s family to celebrate the holidays. Now, they’ve both retired and moved back to India.”

“Wow, you’ve moved around a lot.”

He laughs. “Told ya.”