Page 82 of A Prince of Smoke and Mirrors

So I nodded.

Vigorously.

“That’s my girl.” He drew my hands toward his light tan skin and the black ink of his glorious tattoo.

My fingers neared his abs as Nico pulled me closer.

The heat of his body warmed my palms first, an inch before I touched him.

I stumbled a step toward him, my feet almost numb because my whole brain had slithered down my arms into my hands, reaching for his skin.

I touched him, first with my fingertips, and then Nico pressed my palms onto the ridges of his stomach.

His skin was nearly hot under my cold hands, and hard in a way my own body wasn’t.

Coarse hair softened the valley between his chest muscles and trickled down to his waistband.

His body was foreign but magnetic, flattening my palms against him, drawing me closer.

My hands descended, exploring the way his skin clung to his thick, deep muscles, feeling his warm flesh under my fingertips with no tactile demarcation where the black tattoo ink stained his skin.

The ink was under his epidermis, of course. I couldn’t feel the ink, just the slight suede of his skin.

His breaths came shallower, but quicker.

What was I doing? I was luring him into doingsomethingto me.

I lifted my hands, looking up at him.

Nico was watching me, his eyes half-hooded. “Don’t stop.”

CHAPTER 26

dirty

NICOLAI ROMANOV

Her fingers traileddown my abs, tickling as they bounced from one crest to the next, pink fingernails tickling over my skin and the black tattoo inked on my body.

And yes, I was absolutely tensing my stomach because that’s how you make those abs look good. I’d worked hard for them. I was absolutely showing off.

The fact that I was a bit dehydrated from overindulging in vodka the night before was an added bonus for making them stand out.

When I told her, “Don’t stop,” I meant it in every sense of the word.

Don’t stop touching me.

Go on, touch more.

Stay.

I should not have meant any of that.

Standing immobile while she trailed her pink fingernails down my torso, down my skin and that ill-advised tattoo,exploring me, was absolute torture, and I loved every second of it.

Yes, I had kinks. I was a wealthy man with too much idle time and more money than I could spend in a multitude of lifetimes. Nothing was rare. Nothing was off-limits.

Usual encounters had become mundane.