Page 118 of A Shade Too Far
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The Billy Idolblasting from inside Hotel Terminus took me so aback that I almost didn’t knock, and when I did, no one answered. I wasn’t one for walking into someone’s house unannounced, but Laurent never listened to anything other than jazz and classical. What if he’d been attacked and was bleeding out to ’80s British New Wave?
“Laurent?” I pushed inside and came to a dead stop, my mouth hanging open.
He was jumping around to “Rebel Yell.” He’d committed to it with the same absolute intensity that he gave everything, singing at the top of his lungs and headbanging, his chocolate curls flying. He punched the air with his fist, belting out the chorus, and the sheer carnality of the song and this man made me rock back on my heels.
I licked my lips.
Boo jumped and pounced along with him. He scooped her up, dancing with the kitten cradled against his bare chest.
I pressed back into the shadows so I could watch him without being caught. Yes, there was an unflattering word for that and I so didn’t care.
The guitar solo kicked in, and Laurent whipped around, catching sight of me.
Boo pawed at him, but when Laurent didn’t continue their game, she jumped out of his hold and ran off.
The melody fell away, cutting to percussion and Billy’s sexy croon while Laurent prowled toward me, his eyes gleaming like green crystals from an undersea kingdom.
I backed up, hitting the wall.
He caught me around the waist with one hand, jamming his leg between mine. The fabric of my wrap dress slid sideways, my bare legs straddling his muscular denim-clad thigh, as he rocked us back and forth, dancing and singing about selling his soul for me.
Had he not been holding me down, I might have floated off the ground with only his eyes to tether me. His grip tightened, exerting enough pressure to pull me closer to him, the sundress getting twisted and making things slippery.
I swallowed and clutched his forearms, the drum beat vibrating inside me.
The music amped back up but Laurent fell silent. His hand still gripped my side, his leg between mine, but neither of us moved.
“Mitzi.” The sound of my name in a breathless French accent wrapped around me and my guts twisted themselves into knots. This was the precipice and once jumped, it was free fall all the way.
I drank him in from his ripped abs to the dimples in his hips, his jeans slung low, for once in my life not wanting to think, just leap. “Yes.”
He turned my wrist up and rasped his teeth against my skin, his tongue laving the mild sting.
My breath caught, a hot spear of arousal spiraling up from deep inside. It had been so long since someone desired me and never like this. It was intoxicating.
It was terrifying. I almost ran back to the comfort of my house and my sofa and the familiar confining box of my life.
New to-do list: Laurent.
I closed the gap between us and sucked on his lush bottom lip.
Laurent growled and clasped the back of my neck, his mouth claiming mine.
I grabbed his shoulders, falling dizzily against him and rising on tiptoe so we didn’t break the kiss. I was lost to the friction of his tongue tangling with mine and the press of his fingertips against my belly as he found the ties that unwrapped my dress.
Without even thinking, I slammed my hands down, dislodging his and pulling the material taut.
Laurent stilled for the briefest second, but before I could stammer out an apology, he placed his hands on the wall to either side of me. He ducked his head, dragging open-mouthed kisses over my neck, pausing to suck on my fluttering pulse.
My head fell back and I clutched his belt loops with one hand to steady my rubbery legs, sinking the fingers of my other into his hair. His curls were as soft as I’d imagined and his lips as hot, branding me. I moaned.
When he lifted his head, his ragged breathing matched mine. “Are you nervous?”
I blinked, uncomprehending, and he pressed his hand to my racing heart. “I forgot you could hear that.” I didn’t dare think about what else his wolf senses were picking up about me because I was already so wet. “It’s not nerves,” I assured him. “Not anymore.”
He regarded me through half-lidded eyes, fringed with those dark lashes that were a silky screen hiding all but the barest sliver of green, then his lips curled up in a gleeful smile. Keeping hold of my hand, he steered me through the main room and into his bedroom, teasing me with sweet kisses that left me light-headed.
