Page 61 of Velvet Corruption

She held my gaze, took another sip of her water.

But there was no water left in her glass.

The room was still. Too still. The kind of still that doesn’t soothe, just crackles. Ruby shifted, her leg extending so that her foot just barely brushed against mine across the space between us.

She didn’t move away.

And I—God help me—I didn’t either.

I let my eyes drag over her like a confession. The line of her jaw. The way her lips parted, like she almost wanted to say something. She didn’t.

But I couldn’t sit still anymore.

I stood. Crossed the distance between us in a few quiet steps. Then I dropped to my knees in front of her. My hands found hers, and I held them gently, like something sacred…something breakable. I wanted her to know that even when she was hurt, I wouldnevercause her pain again.

It was a lie, of course…I’d come back into her life with the express purpose of causing her pain.

But tonight I didn’t care.

“Do you want me to drive you home now?” I asked.

Ruby was so close now—close enough that I could feel her breath disturb my hair, see her throat work as she swallowed. Her t-shirt hung loose around her shoulders. She looked tired, bruised, beautiful. “No.”

“Then tell me to stop. Please tell me to stop.”

Her eyes stayed locked on mine, dark and sharp andhungry. “No.”

That one word cracked the world open.

She moved first—fast, fierce, furious with need. Her good hand fisted in my hair and pulled; the bandaged one gripping my shoulder like she couldn’t bear the thought of letting me go. She yanked me forward and devoured me.

Our mouths crashed together—sloppy, heated, violent with all the things we couldn’t say. She tasted like exhaustion, like bad decisions, like every fucking thing I’d ever wanted. I let her take the lead, felt her press against me, a collision of intent and consequence.

My grip found her waist, fingers curling into the hem of the t-shirt, pulling her closer, letting her take me wherever the hell this was going. The blanket slipped off of her and I realized she’d taken off her pants at some point in the night, leaving her in a pair of plain black panties that were somehow the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. Ruby shifted until she was sliding off of the couch and into my lap, straddling me until there was no space left.

No room for doubt or hesitation.

There never had been with her.

Always just…need.

I could feel the way her heart raced against my chest, the way her breathing quickened as she drew me deeper into the kiss. We were a mess of tangled limbs and messy history, none of it mattering as much as the urgency pulsing between us.

My hands moved on their own, memorizing the curve of her hips, the way she felt. Everything was burning hot, and I could barely think. All I knew was her mouth on mine, fierce and consuming.

Ruby’s hands were all over me, dragging over my muscles, my tattoos. She didn’t waste any time. Neither did I. My fingers found the bare skin of her hip, brushing against it, feeling hershiver under the touch. We were already breathless, half-gone, desperate to make it all the way.

Her weight shifted in my lap, and suddenly she wasn’t just kissing me—she was consuming me. Lips crashing against mine with a wildness that made my pulse jackhammer in my throat. I let out a low, guttural sound—somewhere between a groan and a growl—and she matched it, biting my bottom lip hard enough to make me flinch.

Fuck.

She was crawling into my lap now, one thigh sliding over mine, hips grinding down like instinct had taken over. Like she wanted to bury herself in me and never come up for air.

And God help me—I wanted it too.

My hand slipped under the hem of her shirt, hot skin meeting my palm, and I felt her shudder. Every inch of her was heat and tension, her back arching as my fingers dragged up her spine, slow and reverent. I palmed the curve of her waist, memorizing her like I had every right to—like I’d earned this, even when I hadn’t.

Her breath hitched against my mouth, and I swallowed the sound, kissed her deeper, dirtier. The kind of kiss that said don’t stop. The kind that promised more.