Page 53 of First Offense

I swallowed, my eyes dropping to the water droplets on his chest. I’d marched up here with the intention of delivering a piece of my mind, but now I couldn’t remember a single word of my intended lecture.

“Layla.” He uttered my name with such intensity that my limbs locked into place, refusing his command. Not to be purposely disobedient. I just couldn’t move. He’d paralyzed me with his ire, just as Novak had frozen me with his gaze.

These two males were going to be the death of me.

With a growl, Auric grabbed me by the neck to drag me the rest of the way into the room, then slammed the door closed behind me.

Trapped, I thought.Oh gods, I’m trapped.

The heady cologne of smoky evergreen and sex swirled around me like chains, locking me in place even more.

Imprisoned by lust. Driven to madness by their scents. Fallen for reasons I didn’t understand.

“Layla,” Auric said, his hand still on the back of my neck but his grip less severe than before. His voice had also dropped an octave. “Look at me.”

I am, I thought, my eyes practically glued to his chest and the seductive drops of water sliding down his sculpted form.

His thumb brushed my pulse, the gesture almost gentle. “Lay,” he whispered, using a nickname from my youth, one I hadn’t heard him utter in years. “Breathe, sweetheart.”

The endearment made me shiver, but his words caused me to frown.Breathe?

His forehead met mine, causing a funny feeling to flutter in my chest. One that burned a little. Actually, no. It burned a lot. Like a hell of a lot. To the point where my limbs began to shake, my frigid form thawing beneath an inferno of agony.

“Inhale,” he said, his opposite arm circling my waist, hugging me to him while his lips hovered far too close to mine. I could feel his breath on my lips, his presence intoxicating and perfect.

My skin prickled as my stomach dipped in anticipation.

But still I burned.

Everything started to sway.

His irises swirled with dark dots.

“Come on, Lay.” His soft words tickled my lips and stroked my heart.

Lay, I thought, delirious.He just called me Lay again.

“Auric,” I mouthed, my voice not working.

I have no air, I realized, my chest tight and my lungs screaming in agony. I blinked in confusion, then gasped and nearly fell over from the overwhelming scents hitting my senses.

His arm flexed along my lower back, holding me to him. “Good girl,” he breathed. “Again.”

I didn’t really understand what he meant or why he’d felt the need to praise me, but my insides quivered as a result. Auric rarely ever delivered words of encouragement or pride. So I knew he meant it whenever he bestowed a compliment upon me.

I took another breath, the inferno inside me flickering to a simmer, my limbs seeming to function once more.

“Good,” he said, his thumb brushing my pulse. He didn’t release me, his lips still a scant inch from mine.

It would be so easy to angle my head and taste him.So close, I thought, sighing against him.So, so close.

He held me like that for several minutes, his wintergreen essence surrounding me in a protective cape that was all Auric.

Yet I sensed the leather fringes, Novak’s fragrance acting as an exterior line that coated me in a similar cloak of guardianship.

My nose twitched, the hairs along my arms dancing on end.

Something was happening here.