Page 196 of The Villain We Tempt

A tingle electrifies my skin when I feel him move behind me again.

“Ready?” he growls softly.

He undoes the knotted silk and then slips the blindfold away.

Holy shit.

We’re in Lochlan’s “lair”: the old harbormaster’s office down on the pier. Candles flicker and gleameverywhere, flames dancing on every surface and shelf. But what catches my full attention is the bed against the far wall, completelycoveredwith black roses.

“You didn’t specify a color, so…”

When I turn to stare at him, my mouth hanging open, Lochlan shrugs.

“I made an informed choice with black. No thorns, either.”

My pulse skips as I struggle to find words.

“You had something very specific in mind, Galina,” he growls quietly. “The prince, I’m not sure I can do much about. But the bed of roses…”

Holy. Fuck.

He did it. He took my insane, ridiculously over the top fantasy and not only made it real, butbetterthan I could ever have imagined it.

His brow furrows as he cups my stunned face. “None of thismeans you have to do anything you don’t want to or aren’t ready for. But I wanted to show you?—”

I cut him off by slamming my mouth to his and kissing him more fiercely than I ever have. Then I grab his shirt, yanking him close as I moan softly into his lips.

“I want you,” I blurt with choked need against his mouth. “I’m ready. And Iwant you.”

His jaw splits into a panty-melting smile.

“I suppose Icouldput on the mask. I mean, I can’t vouch for the validity of The Ghost Prince’s princely claims. But if a royal title is what gets you going?—”

I punch him in the chest and kiss him at the same time.

“No mask,” I breathe against his lips.

“Good.”

I gasp when he lifts me into his arms, my legs wrapping around his hips and a whimper catching in my throat as I kiss him madly. Lochlan carries me across the room and gently sets me down on the edge of my bed of roses as our tongues tangle. When he finally manages to extract himself from my embrace he sinks to his knees in front of me, skimming his hands over my thighs.

Then he takes histime.

He slips off one of my shoes, then the other. His lips trail up my calf, licking and kissing the backs of my knees before dragging his mouth higher. His fingers slip under my skirt, tracing up mythighs before they slide into the lacy waist of my panties and start to peel them down my legs.

My skirt is next, leaving me sitting naked from the waist down as heslowlyundoes each button of my top before slipping it off my shoulders. Then my bra.

“You know, if you stay totally dressed while I'm like this, I’ll have some complaints.”

He grins roguishly as he slips between my knees and opens my legs wider. “Is that a fact?”

“Oh, I willdefinitelybe taking the survey afterward and sharing my thoughts,” I say with a giggle.

Lochlan chuckles, then deftly unbuttons his white dress shirt, shrugs it off and tosses it to the side.

I pull a dramatic face. “Boo,” I pout. “Not a single bonus Ghost tattoo? Just the regular Lochlan ones? How disappointing.”

He moves over me, forcing me onto my back as I lie on the soft black roses beneath me.