Page 83 of Reign of a Billionaire

I shouldn’t get close to her, no matter how hard she pulled me into her orbit. It was a betrayal to Louisa, to myself… and to Liana. She deserved better.

So then why did my numb heart bleed at the thought of giving her up?

Chapter 42

Liana

Something smelled delicious, like warm spiced vanilla. I wanted to nuzzle into it and never wake up.

I opened my eyes and yawned when my gaze landed on the body next to me. I looked up, up, up and straight into a pair of dark eyes. I scrambled back from him, my heart racing in my chest, and fell right off the bed and onto my ass.

“You alright?”

“Why are you here?”

“You asked me to stay.” He sounded offended, although I couldn’t fathom why. He was inmybed.

“Why would I ask you to stay?” He shrugged. “We didn’t—” I gestured frantically between us, sick with the thought that I might have had sex with him and not remember it. “Oh my God, please tell me we?—”

I pushed my hands into my hair, nails scratching at my scalp. A set of bare feet appeared in front of me as Kingston slid out of bed and joined me on the hardwood. He took my chin between his slim fingers.

“You had a bad dream and asked me to stay,” he repeated. “Nothing more; nothing less.”

Finding the truth in his eyes, I let out a relieved breath, then shifted to stand. I got to my knees and froze, eye level with his crotch area, where an obvious tent had sprung in his sweatpants. The images of us fooling around in his penthouse danced through my memory—his spiced-vanilla scent, his hard and uneven breathing, his mouth on my pussy.

A shuddering breath left me and goosebumps broke over my skin.

My pulse throbbed between my legs, aching to feel a human touch shaking me to my core. This man was the only one I wanted to touch me, and now, I craved to feel his hands and lips on my skin.

“Eyes up here. And get up off your knees.” I startled at the sound of his voice, jumping to attention like an Olympic gymnast. “Whoa there, easy,” he rushed to say as I almost lost my balance, his eyes coasting over my legs and hips like he was thinking of ways to steady me. “I’ve never seen you move that fast outside of killing men.”

Turmoil restarted in my chest. He knew me, but I didn’t know him. And if everything he’d told me so far was true—which I suspected it was—then I should.

It was really too early for all this. “Don’t give me any ideas.”

Maybe he’s scared of me, I thought proudly, then released an exasperated breath at the notion, mentally berating myself. Kingston—the Ghost—was one of the most lethal trackers and killers in the underworld.

He let out a derisive snort. “Touché.”

Our eyes locked, and the roaring in my ears intensified. In his dark depths, I glimpsed a spark of something that sent heat curling through me. My nipples hardened and my skin flushed with arousal.

“Thank you,” I murmured, the words leaving my lips without my permission. He stared at me but didn’t move, and I shiftedmy weight from foot to foot, restless in the silence. It was a novelty to have someone not take advantage of me when vulnerable, especially after the weeks I’d spent waiting for the auction and Cortez. “Thanks for staying with me through my nightmare.”

Dammit, I sounded vulnerable, but also husky and breathless. He felt like a physical force drawing me in, and the sensation had me taking a half step back on wobbly legs. His jaw flexed as he watched me retreat.

“How about some breakfast?” he offered, his voice soft despite something dark and savage lurking underneath his stony front.

“That’d be great, thank you.”

He nodded. “Meet me on the terrace, ice princess.”

My shoulders slumped, and I felt all the energy that had just been coursing through me trickle out. I was exhausted.Heexhausted me. “Stop calling me that,” I muttered as I turned away, not sure why that nickname bothered me.

I felt him hover by the door, his gaze hot on my back, before he walked out without another word.

Twenty minutes later, I appeared on the terrace, feeling fresh after my shower and wearing a thin-strapped dress—pink,again—with a white cardigan draped over my shoulders. Kingston already had breakfast cooked and the table set. He pulled out a chair for me, and I couldn’t help but feel like a girl on a date. Not that I’d ever been on one.

“Do you always cook?” I asked curiously as he removed the dome-shaped cover from my plate.