Page 54 of The Scarab's Game

I pulled my hand from around his back and traced his jawline, raking my fingers through his short beard.

His lids flickered shut for a moment. Was he enjoying it or trying to come up with a way to tell me no? When his eyes reopened, they burned with an intensity the dim light couldn’t hide. A rumble formed in his chest, reverberating through me.

My core tightened in response, a desperate ache building. Flashes from my dream hit me. His lips on my breasts. His hands digging into my hips. His whispers as I threaded my fingers through his hair. I ground down on his cock, searching for friction, making my need clear.

“Fuck,” he groaned, eyes sliding shut again.

There was so little fabric between us. Did he feel how wet I was?

“Jenn,” he ground out. One of his hands moved into my hair, wrapping his fist around the strands, holding me in place. When he reopened his eyes, a war raged inside them. Desire battled with restraint, and for a moment, I was terrified he’d push me away.

I grazed my fingers up his jaw, through his hair, and settled them at the nape of his neck. I urged him closer, our breaths mingling in the scant distance that remained. His eyes locked onto mine. I could almost taste the desire radiating off him.

What had he been dreaming about? What scared the unflappable Emmett Reynolds?

“You are so fucking beautiful.” He dipped his head slightly, lips hovering just above mine, his breath dancing against my skin. And he paused. No more than an inch between us. “But we can’t do this.”

Underneath me, he hardened, and I rubbed myself against him, the heat growing unbearable. “Why not?”

“You have a boyfriend.” His forehead dropped to mine, a tinge of regret in his words.

“I broke up with him before I left for Nice. He was cheating on me.” It should have been a lot sooner than that.Focus on the moment, Jenn.“For once, I want someone who cares about me.”

“I care about you.” He let out an ironic laugh. “I care so much, I can’t… can’t touch you. I promised Scarlett I’d keep you safe.”

“Safe from you?”

He nodded, but didn’t separate from me. “You deserve someone…”

We sat in silence for seconds that felt like minutes, until I realized he wouldn’t say more. I applied pressure to the back of his neck, hoping to encourage him forward, but he resisted. So I drifted my fingers down his jaw again, tracing my thumb against his lips. “Someone what?”

His lips parted, and he pulled in a ragged breath. His tongue followed, dragging across the pad of my thumb. Slowly. Excruciatingly slowly. He leaned back, shaking his head. “Someone who takes you back to your room when you need sleep. That’s what someone who actually cares about you would do.”

Cutting off any protest I could offer, Emmett slid his hands under my knees and around my back, lifting me effortlessly. Too confused and overwhelmed to argue, I let my head rest against his neck. I imagined he was lifting me to his own bed, to do everything Dream-Emmett was doing in my fantasy.

Did Awake-Emmett want me the same way? Was he making excuses to avoid me again, or did he believe what he was saying? Was running my hand over his hard pecs going to turn him on or embarrass me come morning?

“I’m sorry I scared you, Jenn.” He swallowed hard. “It’s the last thing I ever wanted.

Why did he have a gun in Monaco, let alone sleep with it under his pillow?

The gentle rocking from his steps as he carried me down the dim hallway calmed me. His warmth seeped into my skin, his pulse a steady rhythm against my ear, relaxing me.

We reached my room, and he nudged the door open with his foot, stepping inside without breaking stride. He moved through the bedroom with the ease of someone who’d carried a hundred women to bed this way.

I pushed that thought aside.

“You’re safe.” He laid me on the messy bed, pulled the cover over me, and pressed another kiss to my forehead. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“I know, I…” I curled up on my side.So tired.Break-ins and forgeries and staring down the barrel of a gun. This trip was supposed to free me, not bring everything crashing down.

“You need rest.” He rounded the bed, slid in behind me, pushed a thick arm under my head for a pillow, and draped his other arm over my waist. “I’ll stay until you’re asleep.”

I nestled against him, breathing in the scent of his cologne. Cardamom, bergamot, and a hint of vanilla. Dark. Mysterious. So sexy.

So not the right time to think about that. I snuggled against his muscled body, hoping to rub my ass against his erection, but it was gone. No matter how hard he’d been, he didn’t genuinely want me. Not that way.

“Don’t think about anything. Just sleep.”

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