Page 14 of Kiss of Smoke

“No shit.” He made a halfhearted bucking motion. “Get off me.”

I slid sideways, then kept going until I collapsed on my back next to him, my chest heaving as I caught my breath. After a second, he rolled over, his breathing equally labored. We lay side by side, our legs dangling off the end of the bed. As quickly as it came, the charge in the room faded.

Silence reigned for a moment, then he muttered, “Sorry I punched you.”

“Same. Your jaw’s hard as a fucking rock. I think I broke my hand.”

“Seriously?”

I lifted it and flexed my fingers a few times. The stabbing pain was already gone, replaced with a dull ache that meant any broken bones were already knitting back together. “It’s fine. Did you really speak mind-to-mind with Chloe?”

“Aye. Well, maybe. And she spoke to me, not the other way ‘round.”

“But you heard her in your head?”

His shrug shifted the bedding. “It was in the heat of the moment, if you ken what I mean, so I wasn’t about to stop and contemplate it.”

That wasn’t good enough. How could he be so casual about this? I raised on my elbow so I could look down at him. “Lachlan, don’t you understand? If you’ve got that kind of connection with Chloe, she must be your mate.”

His expression was neutral. “I don’t know, Alec…”

“What are the chances of you suddenly gaining a new gift after all this time?” Excitement pumped through my veins. “I wonder if it’s happened with other mates. We should ask the king.”

“No,” he said quickly. “Cormac isn’t exactly…lucid at the moment.”

I raised an eyebrow. “A nice way of saying our sovereign is bat-shit crazy.”

“In a different time, you’d be killed for saying that.”

“You gonna turn me in?” I smiled and ran my palm over his smooth chest, finding a flat, brown nipple and pinching it.

His breath hitched, and desire stirred in his golden gaze. “Not if you keep doing that.”

I plucked at his nipple again, pleasure rushing through me when he groaned. Splayed on the bed, he was a naked, bronzed god. Every inch of his body was beautifully formed, from his beard-shadowed jaw to his powerful chest and long, muscled legs. He began to writhe under my touch, his white teeth sinking into his lower lip as I moved to the other nipple and circled it with my fingertip.

“I hate it when we fight,” I murmured.

“Me too. But”—he gave a sexy moan, his eyes glittering with lust—“the makeup sex is worth it.”

I made my voice light as I ran my palm down his stomach and grasped his cock. “Who says we’re having makeup sex?”

“Fuck, Alec, don’t tease me.”

Stroking him, I leaned over and took his mouth. He met me eagerly, sliding his hot tongue against mine. His lips were firm but soft, and I went hard as stone as our jaws scraped and our breaths mingled. I deepened the kiss, tasting toothpaste and scotch.

He moaned again, the sound muffled by my mouth.

I stroked him harder, pumping his shaft with a firm hand. Loving the way he trembled as his need mounted. After a minute, the trembling turned to quick thrusts of his hips as he sought more friction.

“Suck me,” he rasped against my lips. “I want to feel your mouth around my cock.”

“How bad do you want it?”

“So fucking bad.”

I rolled off him and stood, unbuttoning my shirt. “Since you asked nicely.”

He propped himself on his elbows and watched me with a dark hunger that shot straight to my dick. Normally, I might have taken my time undressing just to stoke his passion that much higher. But he looked fit to burst, so I stripped quickly.

---