Page 38 of Gilded Locks

“Yes.”

“How?” Dew gathered on her warm skin, gathering and trailing down her body in a slow race with gravity. He leaned closer, licking up a drop that gathered by her collarbone. “I’m very good at uncovering secrets, little rabbit. All kinds of secrets.”

As he leaned in to taste the salt on her fevered skin, his groan rumbled through her like distant thunder. He pressed her back to the warm cedar bench. Without invitation, he cupped her breasts in his large hands and kissed her.

It was nothing like Ash’s kiss. Stone kissed like he was claiming territory, marking what belonged to him with absolute certainty. His mouth devoured hers with demanding strokes of his tongue, unforgivingly challenging her until she found herself responding with equal hunger.

The sheet fell away, but she was beyond caring about modesty. Stone’s hands mapped her body with clinical precision, finding every sensitive spot and exploiting it ruthlessly. When she arched against him, gasping his name like a prayer, his laugh was dark with satisfaction.

“That’s it,” he murmured against her throat, his voice rough with desire and dominance. “Let go. Stop thinking. Just feel.”

He shifted to kneel on the planked floor as steam swirled around them. He pressed her knees open, burying his face between her legs.

One deep lick and he groaned with masculine satisfaction. “I knew you’d be sweet like honey.”

She gasped as his tongue darted into her, circling and teasing. Slick sweat coated her body as the heat made her dizzy. They were cocooned in a haze of swirling desire, so thick and drugging she stopped calculating consequences and surrendered to pure sensation.

Stone broke down her walls with methodical skill. Every gasp stole her senses. The heat of the small cedar room made it impossible to catch her breath. And the more she panted the less she could think—of reasons she should push him away, reasons why he was her enemy. It was as if the steam and his talented mouth were working together to put her under some sort of spell.

He didn’t back off until she was boneless and shaking in his arms, wrung out and shaking with tremors from her intense release. He cradled her against his hard chest as they lay tangled together on the cedar bench.

“Note to self,” he said as he stroked her shoulder. “You stop pretending when you climax.”

“How do you know? Maybe I was faking—Ouch!” He pinched her ass.

“That was not faking. A man knows.”

“They all say that.”

“I know.”

Strangely, she believed him. She didn’t think she could fool Stone. He was too observant and too thorough. He was also very good with his tongue.

“We’ve been in here too long.”

She was feeling a little more breathless than usual, but she assumed that was the result of her orgasm.

“Come.” He eased her up and unlatched the door. “I want to take care of those feet—” His words cut off as Hunter rounded the corner.

She shifted behind Stone to hide her nudity. How had she forgotten the dangers of this place so quickly?

Hunter’s expression wasn’t one of arousal or satisfaction. There was something cold and calculating in his amber eyes, something that made the blood freeze in her veins.

“Hunter,” Stone said in warning, drawing his glaring eyes away from Marigold. “Did you need something?” Stone’s tone held an edge of challenge.

“We have intel.”

Stone reached a hand behind his back as if to assure her she was safe. “We can discuss it later.”

“We will discuss it now.”

His gaze fixed on her with predatory intensity. “Facial recognition is a wonderful thing.”

Marigold tensed. They had her picture from the surveillance cameras. They could have found anything. Panic rose inside of her. This was it. This was where everything fell apart.

“She’s connected to an old friend of ours.” Hunter’s grin was feral as his eyes locked on hers with laser focus. “Someone who has a score to settle.”

Chapter 10