Page 103 of Forbidden Empire

He kissed me with a kind of longing that curled through me, warm and steady. I pressed closer, every inch of me greedy for it, for the feeling of being held tight in his arms and pulled right up against him.

His tongue teased at my lips, careful, testing.

I let him in, easy, no resistance. My mouth opened, and the kiss deepened, heat and comfort tangled together.

Oh, fuck.

I moaned before I could stop myself, and then Aidon kissed me harder, like he was trying to drown out my thoughts and feelings with his mouth.

And honestly? It worked. We were just there, all lips and tongues and raw hunger, until it was impossible to ignore the way my whole body wanted him.

It was real. Straight up honest, no bullshit. Intimate in a way I didn’t even know I needed, but damn if I wanted to let go.

This wasn’t about winning.

It wasn’t about keeping score.

Not about power, or playing games, or who could resist the longest.

None of that crap.

It was just…a kiss. For pleasure. For comfort. For the hell of it.

And holy shit, it was good.

With all the other stuff stripped away, it was just pure, stupid bliss. The second Aidon’s shoulders relaxed, and he held me against him, soft and careful, I freaking knew he felt it too.

Not that either of us would ever say that aloud.

Feelings? For each other? Yeah, right. Let’s not get carried away. Neither of us were anywhere close to that mess.

But in that weird, quiet moment, with no drama, no tension, just us and the way being together felt…it was deep. Uncomplicated. Unflinching.

And I wanted more.

So much more.

Before I could overthink it, I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he lifted me like I weighed nothing and carried me to the bed.

He set me down, but the second he looked at me again, any hint of tenderness vanished.

His eyes were wild, greedy, like he was going to devour me.

I could see it all over his face: he thought I was his. Which was cute because there was no way in hell I’d ever belong to anyone.

Not even someone like Aidon, who was the definition of sexy, successful, and impossible to resist.

Nice try, though.

“You don’t own me, Aidon,” I said, forcing the words out.

Even as I tried to talk tough, my body wasn’t getting the message.

That look he gave me. It should have pissed me off.

Instead, it sent a shiver all the way down, making my whole brain short-circuit with lust.

The war in my head? Alive and well, and there was no sign of a truce.