Page 104 of Forbidden Empire

And I was soaked between my thighs. Every nerve was on fire.

I told myself to get a grip, but my libido just laughed in my face.

Brain versus body? Ha. Not even a contest.

Aidon nudged my thighs apart, slow and deliberate, and leaned in over me on the bed.

His face hovered just above mine, close enough that I could feel his breath.

Then he grinned that way he does, a crooked, cocky smile that made me want to smack him and kiss him, all at once.

Infuriating. And irresistible.

“If you’re not mine, then why do you keep coming back to me, Esme?” He caught my lower lip with his teeth and bit down, just enough to make me shiver.

I moaned. It slipped out, and I pulled back, trying to think, to weigh my options.

I could push him away.

That would be the smart, sane thing to do.

It would also be the easiest, or so it was supposed to be.

In reality, it felt goddamn impossible.

So, the other option. The reckless, delicious one. I didn’t even debate it. I spread my thighs, wrapped my legs tight around his waist, and tugged him closer.

His cock pressed against my pussy, and the sensation made me gasp, my head spinning.

His pupils went dark, all storm and sex, and it sent a jolt straight through me.

He cupped my cheek again, fingers firm and gentle, and shook his head.

“Esme, you’re fucking killing me; you know that?” His voice was rough, jagged. “Can you see it? I need this. I need you, Esme. Not anyone else, not ever. I don’t even know why. I don’t know what happens after tonight. Maybe I’ll never see you again, maybe this is it. But right now, we’re here. Right now, I don’t want to waste another second not touching you. I want to forget all of it, just for tonight. I want to lose myself in you and pretend nothing else matters. Shut everything out. ” He dragged a hand through his hair, eyes wild. “Don’t you want that, too? Tell me you do, Esme. Please.”

Hearing him talk like this, the vulnerable, it was a risk. He knew it. He knew I could laugh at him, push him away, slam the door in his face. He knew how high my walls were, how far I’d go to keep him out if I wanted to.

And still, he said it.

And yet, he still went for it and opened up.

Like, against all odds, he put his messy, stormy feelings right on the table for me to see. Same kind of chaos I was dealing with.

Without thinking twice, I grabbed him and kissed him, hard. His mouth was hot, hungry. The passion of it hit me right in the soul.

Smashed through all the walls and all the “no, don’t go there” and every little bit of caution I’d ever built up.

Hit me straight in the center, no mercy.

We must have been making out for what felt like hours. City noise drifted in through the window, while our bodies were so intertwined that nothing else seemed to matter. All other thoughts vanished.

Alone, in the darkness of his bedroom, we dropped every worry and inhibition. There was nothing left between us but raw nerves and skin, stripped bare.

His hands, rough and sure, slid over my skin, tugging at my clothes until they fell away. I fumbled at the buttons of his shirt, peeling it off his broad shoulders as soon as I managed.

Then the jeans; I popped the button, shoved them down his hips, and onto the floor.

I needed him. I needed the heat of his body pressed against mine, the way he burned from the inside out, the way his essence seemed to blanket me.