Page 152 of King of Pain

I groan—loudly. “Okay. That’s it.”

I slap my hands against his thighs, gripping them hard.

“Get your ass out of my lap and behind the wheel or I swear to God, Pacini, you're going to end up in the back seat—and I really don’t want that to be the first time I get your cock in my mouth.”

He launches into the driver’s seat like a man on fire.

And me? I’m sitting here. Soaked, destroyed and dazed.

Thoughts run wild through my mind as Ant finds a spot in the parking garage of my building, and we make our way to the elevators. As soon as the elevator door closes, he’s on me, attacking my mouth again. We tumble out of the elevator when it reaches my floor, and he continues ravaging my mouth as I steer us down the hall.

I barely register the click of the lock as I manage to open the door to my condo. We're just inside when Ant shoves it closed with his foot; his mouth still fused to mine. We’re both afraid to let go.

Wet shoes and socks come off. Hands fumble. Our bodies knock against the wall, against each other, clumsy and frantic with need. We’re both soaked, our shirts clinging to us like second skin. He grabs the hem of mine and yanks it upward,breaking the kiss just long enough to tear it over my head and toss it somewhere behind him.

The second my shirt’s gone, he steps back, breathing hard.

And then he just… stares.

His eyes drag slowly over my chest, down my abs, lingering on the V that disappears into my soaked jeans. His tongue darts out to wet his bottom lip and I feel myself twitch in my jeans.

I smirk and flex—subtle, but not really.

“Fuck,” he mutters. “How are you even hotter?”

The words set fire to every nerve ending in my body. I take a slow step forward, closing the space between us until we’re toe-to-toe. His soaked black button-down clings to his chest and outlines the muscle beneath. The top two buttons are already undone. My fingers find the third, and pop it open, revealing skin and—

Ink?

My brows pull tight. I open another button. Then another. When I see what’s hiding beneath, a possessive rumble grows in my chest.

No. Fucking. Way.

Wings. A pair of dove wings attached to a red heart. Right over his own beating organ. Inside the ink heart, in delicate script, is a name.

My name.

My chest heaves. “You… You—”

He reaches up and takes my hand, guiding it to the tattoo on his chest and pressing it there like he needs me to feel it. To know it’s real.

“I got it about a year after you left,” he says, voice raw and vulnerable. “When I finally accepted you probably weren’t coming back. I just needed you near my heart. At all times. Now there’s always something there to remind me.”

My knees threaten to give out. I feel a tear slide down my cheek and I don’t even try to hide it.

I grab the back of his head and slam my mouth to his, pushing him back until his shoulders hit the windows in my living room. The city of Phoenix blurs around us, floor-to-ceiling windows putting us on full display, but I don’t care. Let the world watch.

I kiss him like he’s oxygen. Like I’ve been gasping for air for three years—and only now remembered how to breathe. I bite his bottom lip, suck it between my teeth, and swallow his moan like medicine for my broken heart.

When I reluctantly pull back, both of us are panting.

“We’re going to talk about that tattoo later,” I rumble. “But right now, I need to get my mouth on you.”

His eyes darken, chest heaving.

“I know that was your first kiss,” I add, “but that doesn’t mean you haven’t done other things. Are—?”

“You’re going to be my first everything, baby,” he interrupts, leveling me completely.