Page 70 of Sweet Deception

“You mean,” she inches a little closer, “you went through something that horrible and it didn’t break you?”

I shake my head. “No. Something in me…snapped. I became obsessed with perfecting my skills with explosives. And I guess you could say I also developed something of a reckless streak. I treat death like an opponent.”

“Yeah, I’ve picked up on that.” The edge in her voice confirms everything.

She’s disgusted with me, and I completely understand why.

I’m the one who does the dirty work. I build bombs, end lives. Who in their right mind could ever love a person like that?

I learned to embrace my role as the Kings’ chaos agent, their weapons expert…the man who laughs while buildings burn to the ground. Fuck love. Fuck understanding. I convinced myself I’d settle for fear and respect.

But in these past few days with Veronika Kotova, I’ve lost sight of that.

It stops now.

I roll my shoulders before retreating from her personal space. The sooner I screw my head back on straight, the sooner all this will be over with. That’s what I tell myself.

Then Nika’s warm fingers circle my hand. She raises it to her mouth and kisses the scarred ridge along my knuckles. Gentle, insistent, affirming?—

I can’t take this anymore.

My free hand slides around the back of her neck, and I pull her face to mine, where I devour her lips with an unfamiliar—even for me—intensity.

My cock’s up the second her hot tongue touches mine, and I can’t stop kissing her.

She winds her arms around my neck, holding me close with all her strength. I maneuver her lithe limbs until she’s straddling me and pressing down on my throbbing dick.

She presses herself tighter to me, and our kiss turns more intimate. Something between us is deepening. I can feel it.

She knows I’ve murdered people with these hands, and she still kissed them like they were precious. Like I matter to her.

In this moment,I want her more than I can ever remember wanting anyone or anything in my life.

When we break apart several minutes later, panting, our eyes lock. Hesitation blooms over her beautiful face. She’s a logical person. Of course she’s uncertain.

Too many complications dangle between us, and I’d be lying if I said that hesitation didn’t hold me captive as well. It’s just that my desire is stronger. Much stronger.

My hands rest on her thighs, and she loosens her arms from around my neck to lower her hands onto mine. She begins tracing the scars on my knuckles again, soft and reassuring, and all my resistance crumbles to dust.

“Sit up.”

She obeys my command and rises, her knees planted on the couch on either side of my hips. From this position, I grab the hem of her sweatpants and slide them down her legs. Her hands clutch my shoulders for balance while I unzip my pants and liberate my cock.

I’m hard as a rock, standing straight up in anticipation.

Gripping Nika’s hips, I guide her down onto me. We moan in unison as our foreheads fall together. Her sweet pussy devours me until she’s fully seated in my lap, my cock stuffed inside her all the way to the hilt.

When she tries to adjust, I dig my fingers into her skin. “Wait a second.” She feels so perfect around me that I need a moment to get myself under control.

I battle the urgency flooding my blood as I slowly drag her body along my shaft. She grips my shoulders so she can meet my motions with her own.

My name slips from her sexy mouth, both a curse and a plea. “Darren…”

I understand. We feel right together.Thisfeels right, but it shouldn’t. Nothing can come from this…nothing beyond temporarily sharing carnal pleasure.

I increase our rhythm, pulling her down on my dick harder, faster. Our waists slap together, the percussion filling the room. I’m hypnotized by the obscene noises we create.

“Fuck, Nika.” My eyes find hers, and the exchange stokes a blaze big enough to melt flesh from my bones. I want to sink into her pussy and stay there forever. When she starts to move, too, flexing her hips against mine as I thrust inside of her, I fight to keep my eyes on her instead of rolling them back.