Page 24 of Midnight Secrets

Ash’s head descended until his lips touched my ear as he spoke. “Your papa would kill me for my thoughts right now.”

My mouth fell open and my head rested back on the wall. He was pressed tight into my body, and for the first time in my life, I felt a man’s erection against me. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry because I’d spent years seducing him in my head only to be ignored.

“There’s nothing illegal about thoughts,” I said in a low tone.

My heart stumbled over its beat when he kissed the side of my neck. “In some countries, what I’m thinking about is definitely against the law.”

Unconsciously, my legs widened so his body pressed into the cradle of my thighs and I arched my back slightly. “We’re both consenting adults.”

His hips ground into mine. “You’re forbidden fruit that tempts men to sin.”

“We have an orchard out back.”

Ash’s head slowly came up until his gaze was locked with mine. My breath caught in my throat and the world came to a stop around us. I didn’t care about right or wrong, or what people thought. All that mattered was here and now. His head closed the distance between us and his lips found mine. I had no idea what to do, but he led the way, dragging me into the world of sensation with him.

His tongue flicked against the seam of my lips and I moaned, which allowed him entry to my mouth. Ash devoured me, his mouth controlling mine; his tongue delved into the recesses of my mouth, destroying my willpower. My fingertips dug into his hands to give myself something to cling to, my leg snaking around his, as I followed his mouth in this erotic dance.

Every wall of resistance around me crumbled into a heap at my feet and I succumbed to sensation alone. His hands released my wrists to cup my face and tilt my head so he could consume me more deeply. My fingers found the shorter hair at the nape of his neck while I clung to him. When his lips finally left mine, both of us were breathing heavily, and my lips felt tender and swollen.

“Shit, I shouldn’t have done that,” Ash muttered, his thumb swiping across my bottom lip.

“Which part?” I asked breathlessly. “The dragging me in here, pinning me to the wall, or kissing me?”

A faint smile touched his full lips. “All of them.”

“You’ve shared your germs with me now and infected me. I guess the fact that I haven’t collapsed means I’m not allergic to you so you can do that again.”

He tipped my head back in a gesture that was becoming ever more familiar. “Are you always such a smartass?”

“Only when I’ve been infected by someone else’s germs.”

He rolled his eyes at me. “You’re going to cause me horrendous fucking trouble.”

I blinked, not knowing how to reply. Even my little demon was too stunned to react right now.

A noise in the corridor outside made Ash push me further into the wall and cover me with his hard body. I didn’t want to point out that a guy of six-foot-two didn’t exactly blend into the wall. Instead, I relished the feel of his body on mine.

“I have your diamonds,” he finally said when he determined the threat had passed. “I’ll need to give them to you because I’m not carrying them to Krakow with me.”

“Turn left at the top of the stairs, my room is the second along. Meet me at ten tonight and that way you avoid the guards patrolling the house—and Papa.”

He glared at me as if he was going to throttle me. “Lucrezia,” he growled in a tone that made my insides tighten.

“What?” I asked with my eyes wide. “I thought you had a package for me?”

His hand grasped my throat and I gasped. “I am not the sort of man that you should pin your hopes on, Lucrezia. My life is filled with pain and suffering. The only way to keep someone like you safe, is to stay away from you.”

My fingers curled around his at my throat. “And if I don’t agree?”

“Then the two of us will end up burning each other.”

The flames of his seduction caressed my skin and I found myself leaning in to his touch. “Ten o’clock,” I said, my fingers peeling his hand from my throat. “Last chance, Ash.”

I didn’t look back as I walked out of the room with my back straight. Papa didn’t raise a weakling. If I backed down now, Ash would think he could walk all over me.

Inside the private refuge of my room, my back slid down the door because my legs gave way. He was the one man I shouldn’t desire, but the only one who made me feel. I wanted Ash more than I’d ever needed anything before. One thing I discovered in life was that if you wanted something, you had to claim it before anyone else took it.

Ash was mine and I would claw the eyes out of anyone who tried to take him from me.

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