Page 71 of Red Masquerade

“I could do this forever,” he breathed.

Against my better judgment, I sighed with ecstasy. “As could I.”

His mouth found mine once more, his free hand roaming across my back, pulling me closer to him, his arm wrapping around the back of my waist, crushing our bodies together. I could feel the defined muscles of his chest through his shirt, through my thin shift. My breasts pressed against his chest, the fabric of my nightdress too thin to conceal how much I craved him.

He wandered with his mouth, pressing feverish kisses along my face, down my neck. He licked the sensitive part under my jaw, under my ear, and I gasped. Emitting a growl that sent bolts of pleasure through me, his tongue ravished the flesh of my neck. He nipped at me, sucked at my skin, and I only tilted my head further to give him more space to continue his ministrations.

I wanted him to mark me. I wanted that bite. I wanted him to leave behind evidence for everyone to see. To let Wright know that no matter if he was successful in gaining me as a wife, he would not gain me as a lover. That my mind would forever be elsewhere. That someone else had already gotten to me first.

Adam pulled away, his hands still gripping me tightly, panting as though it took the utmost restraint. His dark eyes begged for more, a hunger deep within them, his arousal evident in the press of his body against mine.

“What will it be?” His voice was hardly above a gravelly whisper, our breath mingling in the small space between us.

“What do you mean?”

I knew what he meant. But there were two sides within me warring, and I did not know which would win.

“Will you return home with me, leave this madness behind, damn your family—or will you stay here and force me to think of you always, but never be able to have you fully? To let another man claim you when you could be free?”

“Free?” I could hardly mutter the word.

He nodded. “I would never implore you to do my bidding, Helena.” He pressed his forehead against mine. “The only thing I ask of you is that you let me cherish you. All I want is you, every day, every night.”

I gazed into his eyes, those shining, icy hazel eyes, and saw my home there.

I pressed a chaste kiss to his lips.

The words did not even have to come out of my mouth. He had his answer. Triumph darkened his eyes, a near-sinister gleam in his irises as he swept me into his arms. His mouth was suddenly upon me again, my body burning for his, as he swept me away into the night.

Part Two

Arriviste

Twenty-Four

Ido not remember driving to the large house on the hill. I had the distinct understanding of being carried into a vehicle, but my thoughts were otherwise engaged on the man before me.

He whispered his promises to me, his breath tickling my ear deliciously, his tongue reaching out to stroke my neck. It was maddening, the way he consumed me. I wanted him to devour me. I wanted to devour him. We could feed off each other forever this way, in an endless cycle of lust, and I would never tire.

I felt wetness still at my eyes, tears that had not yet fallen.

I straddled his hips, my slip bunching up at my waist. His hands trailed along my hips, gripping the flesh there, pulling my core as close to him as possible.

“It is unfair that you are practically naked, and I am fully clothed,” he muttered, before his lips met mine. He ran his tongue along my lip, sucking, sharp teeth teasing.

I pulled away. “That is fixable.”

His head fell back against the seat with a groan. “We should wait—”

But the words were cut off when I captured his lips with mine. I missed him. I needed him. Iwantedhim, more than I ever wanted anything. Iachedfor him.

I didn’t want to think about my family or the heir who thought he had a claim on me. My mind was frenzied with the need to distract myself, to fall into Adam, no thoughts of anything else.

I held his strong jaw in both hands, directing his face to mine. There was a slight stubble along his jawbone, a dusting of dark hair that drove me mad. He exhaled a sound of approval, of acquiescence, and kissed me just as hungrily.

His arousal pressed against me, and all my thoughts fell to nothing. I did not care that we were not in the privacy of a bedroom; the feel of him sent jolts of anticipation up my spine and through my fingertips. I was absolutely electric and wondered if he felt it, too. Where we met, there was lightning. All my nerve endings were charged with an urgency to feel him, skin to skin, to get lost in his body. To give over to him. To take him into me, to become one. To let him get so deep within me that he was in my skin, forever in the cells of my body.

He rocked my hips against him, first slowly and then with such ferocity, sliding my core against the ridge of his arousal. My thighs quaked, tightening on either side of his hips, his legs spread so wide to accommodate his size, that he pushed my thighs nearly as far apart as they could go.