Page 70 of Merciless King

He wanted me.

I pulled the door open and my breath rushed from my lungs. Van stood there, tall and gorgeous in a suit. It was midnight blue and he wore a white shirt underneath, open at the collar. His strong, tanned throat looked sexy. Could throats be sexy? Apparently, because I wanted to lean forward and nuzzle that strip of skin, lick it.

“Hey,” I forced out, feeling incredibly nervous. “You look nice.” Major understatement.

His eyes weren’t on mine; they were taking me in, a slow perusal from my spike-heeled shoes all the way up to my hair. Then his heated gaze came to mine and I thought my knees might give out.

“Fuck, London.”

It was all he said, all he had to say. He liked the way I looked, it was in the tone of his voice, the emphasis behind it. No one had ever looked at me that way.

I flushed with pleasure.

He watched this and cursed, then he stepped forward and cupped the side of my face. “Christ, you drive me wild.” He slid his fingers along my jaw, making me shiver. “Pack a bag, sweetheart. You’re staying with me tonight.”

I didn’t argue. Why would I? I wanted that, too, more than anything. “I’ll be right back.” I rushed to grab a bag and threw in what I’d need for the next day.

When I walked back out, Van watched me with undisguised hunger.

“We better go,” he said when I reached him.

I was tingling all over, desperate for him to kiss me, but he was holding back, and I didn’t know why. I was done tiptoeing around this man, and I was done waiting for what I wanted. That wasn’t who I was anymore. So I dropped my bag, reached up, took hold of the lapels of his jacket, and tugged him down. His mouth met mine and I kissed him fiercely.

He growled against my mouth when I pressed closer, when I sucked on his succulent lower lip and slid my tongue against his, angling my mouth under his, deepening it.

He let me have my way, let me lead, and I took full advantage.

I finally pulled back and smiled up at him triumphantly.

Van didn’t smile. No, he looked rattled.

I smiled wider, feeling extremely pleased with myself.

“Trying to keep it together here, sweetheart. You kiss me like that again, and we won’t make it to dinner.”

Oh, I liked that. A lot. “We better go, then,” I said.

Van grinned and I melted even more.

Van took me to Nova. I’d never been to the restaurant before and it was beautiful, all dark and moody with low lighting.

As we walked through the room, several women watched Van pass by. Attractive, slim, gorgeous women. He didn’t seem to notice. He also completely ignored the waitress when she flirted outrageously with him right in front of me. In fact, he was almost cold with her, abrupt.

But when he looked at me there was nothing but warmth. No, warmth was too gentle a word.

Van took a sip of his beer and leaned back in his seat. “So you’ve been going to dance class at Steph’s?”

When I looked up, I expected to see humor dancing in his eyes, after he’d walked in on me drunkenly gyrating on the pole in Steph’s dining room. There was no humor, just more of that heat.

“Uh-huh, yep.” Not the most articulate of answers, but I was struggling to think of actual words with him looking at me like that.

“You looked like you were enjoying yourself,” he said.

“It’s hard not to with those women. They’re kind of awesome.”

He dipped his chin. “They are. And seeing you with them, so happy, so free…I liked that, baby. I liked it a lot. You looked fucking beautiful dancing, laughing. You’re always beautiful.”

I lowered my eyes, unable to hold his. His intensity was too much for me at times. “Thank you,” I said, because what else could I say to that? I made myself lift my chin and look at him. “They’ve made me feel like I belong, I guess. Shared with me. It turns out we have a lot in common.”