Page 10 of Forged

She leads me down the hall, hips swaying with the kind of confidence that makes my pulse pound. I follow a step behind, my hand still in hers. We reach the door and she stops to pull out her phone to tap the digital key and I snap.

My hand goes to her hip, pulling her back into me as I lower my mouth to the curve where her neck meets her shoulder. The first kiss is soft, barely there; the second isn’t. I wrap an arm around her waist, draw her flush against me, and let my teeth scrape her skin just enough to hear her inhale.

The phone wobbles in her hand.

“I’m trying to open the door,” she murmurs, but she tilts her neck, offering me more. Tempting me to take it.

“I don’t give a damn about the door, I’ll fuck you right here if I have to,” I whisper against her skin.

She finally taps the lock, the mechanism clicks, and when the door opens, she turns toward me, and we stumble inside together—her walking backward; me devouring every inch of space between us.

The door shuts behind us; the lock sliding into place. The city lights outside wash the room in soft gold, but she outshines every bit of it. I step back and look at her because she’s captivated me since the moment she stacked those chips and took a grown man’s pride with nothing but her mind and a bluff that should be criminal.

I move in, slow enough that she can stop me if she wants to, until her shoulders meet the wall and her breath brushes my mouth. My voice comes out low and raw.

“I haven’t wanted a woman like I want you in averylong time.”

Her lips part, a question forming, but I don’t let her speak. I drag the backs of my fingers along her jaw, down the line of her throat, until they rest over her pulse—fast and alive, telling me she wants me just as badly.

“Sitting across from you while you read that table like you could see into every soul at it…” I shake my head, a dark smile cutting through my control. “Smart, cunning, and breathtaking. I haven’t been that turned on from a card game in my life.”

A sound slips from her, a mixture between a laugh and a gasp, and I feel it like a vise around my spine. Reaching up, I pull the clasp holding her hair in place and watch as it falls into messy waves over her shoulders.

I lean in, letting my forehead touch hers. “Tell me you want me,” I say. “I won’t take a single thing you don’t offer. But if you say yes, Neomi, I’m going to ruin you in ways you’ll remember every time you touch those cards.”

Her hand fists into my hair, pulling me closer. “Yes,” she says confidently. “Ruin me, Lars.”

With that permission, I claim her mouth, and the heat between us builds into molten energy. My lips move slowly against hers until I slide my tongue against the seam of her mouth, and she opens. Her head tilts, inviting me in deeper. My tongue slides against hers and her breath is a sharp inhale. Her body presses to mine, a perfect match of heat and intent.

I pull back just enough to speak against her lips, breath uneven. “Look at you…brilliant, dangerous. So fucking gorgeous that I nearly forgot my own name watching you play.” Her exhale trembles, and I catch her bottom lip between my teeth, until she moans. “I wanted to clear that table, lay you out on it and fuck you right then and there.”

My hand slides down her thigh, gripping just above her knee, notching my growing erection against her center. She comes willingly, and fuck, it hits me, how fast she could undo every layer of control I’ve spent a lifetime building.

She drags her mouth along my jaw, nipping, and I feel my resolve crack right down the center.

I lift her thigh higher, hitching it around my hip. She gasps, lips parting, and I swallow the sound, my free hand sliding into her hair. Her body presses tight against mine and desire pulls me under like a rip current.

She places her hands on my jaw, turns us, and pulls me toward the bed. I don’t let my mouth leave hers for long. Just long enough to slide my hand beneath the hem of her silk top and drag it upward, knuckles grazing the warm curve of her waist. She lifts her arms without being told and I pull the fabric free, dropping it to the floor.

I step back, my gaze roaming over the lace covering her full, plush breasts. It’s a deep burgundy, delicate, meant to be admired.

“Jesus, Bella…” My voice shakes with reverence. “You wore this just to play cards? Dressed to kill to take men’s money?”

Her smile is teasing. “Worked on you, didn’t it?”

I hook a finger beneath one strap of her bra, tugging it down enough to bare one perfect breast, nipple peaked in anticipation. I lower my head and trace a lazy circle around her nipple before sucking it into my mouth, gently at first, then harder when her breath shatters and her back arches.

When I release her, the hardened bud is glossy, hard, begging for more. “Sit,” I tell her, nodding toward the edge of the bed.

She goes, and I follow, dropping to my knees between hers. Her breath stops as I place my hands on her thighs, thumbs stroking slowly upward, close enough to her center that her hips tilt, seeking contact. My fingers move up to brush the slim waist holster, and I pause, glancing up at her. I can’t hide my grin as I unfasten the strap and ease the holster free, sliding the gun out, checking the safety. I push to my feet and set both carefully on the nightstand beside the bed.

“And you carry. Fuck, that’s so hot,” I say, appreciating the sight of her gun.

She licks her bottom lip. “Why is that hot? I could end up killing you if you’re bad in bed.”

I laugh, unbuttoning my shirt to reveal my own weapon, the holster positioned at the base of my spine. I take it off and set it right next to hers.

“I don’t think I’m in any danger there, Neomi.”