Page 53 of To Catch A Rogue

Charlie drew back, staring down into eyes the color of green jasper. Starbursts of brown and gold streaks fanned away from her pupils. He could drown in her eyes and consider himself a lucky man.

"I missed you too," Lark whispered, her gaze dropping to his mouth.

He was only a man.

And he'd wanted her forever, it sometimes seemed.

Leaning down, he angled his mouth across hers, capturing the gasp on her lips. One final, irrevocable step across the line drawn in the sand between them. They would never be the same, and he didn't give a damn, for he was tired of all the push-pull between them. Tired of yearning for her when he didn't dare reach for her.

Tired of dreaming of her in his arms, only for her to evaporate the second he woke.

Lark resisted for all of a heartbeat, but then she was yielding with sudden fervor, responding to the intense demand of his kiss. Soft. Her mouth was so fucking soft. And hesitant. Not with distaste, but as if uncertain precisely what she was asking for. As she would be. Her first kiss had been stolen from him—proficient, she'd said—but her second.... He'd be damned if he wouldn't give her an experience to remember. Charlie dragged her into his arms, fusing their bodies from the lips all the way down as he took control of the kiss.

Soft thighs straddled his own, and then she was melting against him, her own arms twining around his neck as she slowly began to kiss him back. The soft slick of her tongue stirred through him, igniting the hunger, but it was the feel of her breasts pressed flush against him that broke his concentration.

Or stole it, perhaps.

Groaning under his breath, he drew back half an inch, his heart rocketing through his veins.

Lark looked just as dazed as he felt, both of them flushed and breathing hard. A moment to acknowledge what had just happened before her lashes lowered in half-dazed surrender, and her gaze dropped to his mouth.

More.

The command was unspoken but he felt it rush through him, leaving him dizzy with desire.

And then he was nuzzling her jaw, and stroking his hands down her throat. Chasing his own touch with his mouth, until the flickering beat of her pulse hammered against his lips. The soft swell of her breast curved beneath his palm, and Lark gasped, arching into the touch.

The world around him vanished, leaving him nothing more than a creature of need and hunger.

All he could feel was the softness of her body, slick and silky smooth.

All he could taste was her skin.

And all he could hear was the thunder of her heartbeat, so close to his face.

Capturing her nipple in his mouth, Charlie suckled hard, kneading her back with both hands.Fuck. He was turning to pure flame, the heat in his cock threatening to consume him. Years of unfulfilled desire surged through him, like the banks of a river finally bursting.

Rearing up, he claimed her mouth again, sloppy and hard. No more kindness in the caress. No more gentle touching. He pushed her against the wall of the pool, his hips sliding into the vee of her thighs. Hot and slick, and fuck, but he couldn't help thrusting against her, yearning to bury himself inside her. Needing to claim her. To make her his, once and for all, and—

Lark broke the kiss, pushing him away. "No," she rasped, her mouth full and swollen. "No. We can't do this."

"Why not?" He pressed closer, so certain all of a sudden of what he wanted. "I want you, Lark. And you want me. You can't pretend you don't. I know you inside and out."

She held him at bay with a single shaking hand pressed firmly against his chest. "Of course I want you. But you don't understand. You make me forget who I am. When I'm with you, I'm reckless and crazy and I take foolish bloody risks without thinking about the cost—"

"I'm not certain what the problem is there." Sinking beneath the water, he captured her hand and kissed the palm.

"Because I can't afford to forget who I am!" She tore her hand away from him. "We're in Russia, Charlie! We walked right into a trap tonight because we weren't bloody thinking. We don't have time to... to do this. Look at your eyes. You're not in control right now. And neither am I."

Charlie drew back, swallowing hard. She was right. There was no color in the world, only shadows carved of black and white. The craving had slipped its leash, burning through him like wildfire.

And he couldn't allow himself to lose control.

Fear cut through desire like a knife.

He hadn't been this on edgein years.

"We can't afford to make this mistake," she said, and then she fled from the pool with a flash of her rounded bottom, leaving him hard and swollen.