Page 64 of Forbidden Fate

I’m supposed to be the one with the upper hand here. I’m naked. He’s half-dressed. I invited him over. I set the pace. I have the ball in my court, damn it.

But then he says something like that in that low, rough voice, and I want to hand him the ball just to see what he’ll do with it.

No.

Absolutely not.

I lean forward and press my mouth to his chest.

He gasps.

Good.

I kiss the warm skin over his heart. He slides his fingers into my damp hair. He doesn’t pull. He just holds.

I drag my mouth lower.

“Robin.”

I look up at him. “Yes?”

“Don’t start something you don’t want to finish.”

A laugh slips out of me. “Seems I’ve heard those words before.” I drop my eyes to his crotch. “No worries. I always finish what I start.”

His eyes flare. I ready myself for him to let go. But instead of pushing me back onto the bed, he cups my jaw and tilts my face up.

“Last chance,” he says.

I meet his gaze, look into the dark fire in his eyes.

He bends and kisses me.

Not like last time.

Not at first.

This kiss is slower. Deeper. Like he’s giving me every chance to pull back.

I don’t. Instead I grab him by the shoulders and pull him down with me.

I slide my hands down his back, feeling his muscles tense under my palms. He kisses my jaw, my throat, the place beneath my ear that makes me go insane.

“Don’t stop,” I whisper.

“Not planning on it,” he grits out.

Something inside me twists. “Then take off those fucking pants.”

24

CRUZ

I’m not stupid. I know what this is. Another transaction.

A different room. Cleaner sheets. But the same bargain. Her body for my loyalty. Her mouth for my protection.

I know it as clearly as I know the weight of the pistol I left within reach on the bedside table. As clearly as I know there are men in the world who would slit my throat for touching her, and others who would do the same for not delivering her back in chains.