Page 61 of An Heir to Blood and Power

His lips were warm, soft, opening under mine. A touch of alcohol ghosted on his breath as the humid warmth of his mouth filled mine.

I tried to keep the kiss light, touching, experimenting with him, with kissing, but his hand grasping the hair on the nape of my neck angled my head to deepen the kiss.

And I was lost.

The touch of him—the press of his tongue tangling withmine, his hands skidding on my silk dress, dragging the skirt up to my knees—deluged my senses, an overload I wanted to drown in.

Nicolai flipped the hem of my skirt as his hand swept up the outside of my bare leg.

I gasped at his touch on my skin. Yeah, it was the first for that, too, and the intensity of his hands and touch jarred through my whole soul.

He broke off the kiss and searched my eyes. “Too much?”

“No.” I gulped air, frantic to kiss him again. “Not too much.”

He rested my forehead against his, his ragged breath feathering my throat. “Don’t tease me. Don’t tell me what youthinkI want to hear. Say red if you want me to stop. Yes, for more.Understand?”

“Yes.”

He gripped my bare thigh, his fingertips digging into my skin, and he guided my mouth back to his with his fist gripping my hair, murmuring, “You are truly unlike anyone I’ve ever met before, Lexi.”

He devoured me, holding my lips to his, sucking and nipping at my lips like he was starving for me, then tipping my chin up so he could mouth my jaw and down my neck, his fingers gripping the swells of my thigh and hip under my dress like he was afraid I’d blow away.

I sagged against Nicolai, my weight shoving us closer than just being held. His thick erection was a rod nestled up against me.

I thought that’s what it was.

I was pretty sure.

When I moved against him, his breath hitched in his throat.

His hand moved up under my skirt, caressing my thighand then my bottom through the satin of my panties, his whole hand palming my curves.

When his thumb found the whaleboned edge of the bustier under my dress, he groaned. “Jesus, what are you wearing under here?”

“Black satin,” I choked out, my throat closing as I tried to speak.

“Fuck, I can’tbelievewe’re in a damned car,” Nicolai growled into the place where my neck met my shoulder.

Under my dress, he explored the hem and ridges of whaleboned satin over my hips and up my spine with one hand, his fingers kneading my body. His other hand grabbed a deep fistful of my hair at the nape of my neck, and he kissed me, kissed me harder, kissed medeeper.He pressed my body down to sit on his thighs and straightened, and then he was taller than I was again, kissing down on me.

His hands, his mouth, his faint natural masculine musk and the vanilla and smoky forest wafts of his cologne overwhelmed me, the heat of his body penetrating my clothes and warming my skin until I burned.

His harsh breath in my ear and against my throat dizzied me.

I had been keeping my virginity, staying innocent and naive, denying myself this intoxicating passion, butwhy?

Whyhadn’t I chosen this whirlwind?

I wrapped my arms around Nicolai’s neck and whispered,“Yes,”in his ear.

I felt his head shake no, but my mind blanked as his hand curled over the top of my thigh and stroked the satin panties over my clit, a shiver that made me gasp and clutch his suit jacket shoulders in my fists.“Yes.”

“Not here,”he whispered.

“I want?—”

“Jesus, Lexi,” he whispered, his voice rasping on my throat. “Tell me red. Tell me tostop.”