Page 3 of King of Deception

I’m skittering to the side, apologies tumbling from my lips, as I half hop and nearly trip in my effort to collect my things.

“I’m so sorry—” I say for the fourth time and then trip over my own shoes.

I feel myself falling but I’m too intoxicated to catch myself. That’s the exact moment strong arms circle my torso, and suddenly, I stop halfway to the floor, my front pressed to a rock-hard chest.

My eyes go wide as my hands bite into flexing biceps. I mean… wow.

Snapping my chin up, my lips part in surprise. I’m staring into the dark brown depths of the most sinfully beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen. Or maybe it’s just his whole face.

Straight nose, strong cheekbones, a jaw that could cut glass. The only thing soft is his mouth, and my God, heat floods between my legs as I stare at that mouth. I’d like for those lips to devour me.

Wait. How long have we been like this? With me suspended halfway between standing and the floor. “I… I’m… I’m so sorry,” I rasp out, my voice taking on this sultry tone I’ve never heard before. “I’ll just get my things and…”

He quirks a half smile as his hands spread out on my back. Is he tired of holding me like this?

He doesn’t seem it, his features completely relaxed. “Or…” The smile grows. “You could stay.”

My mouth drops open, as I struggle to form a coherent thought. Did he just offer to... to… I’m afraid to even finish the sentence in my head.

Even before Preston, I barely dated.

It’s part of having three overprotective brothers who are always worried about my safety. And there is the wholetheir enemy killed our fatherthing.

Worried about me being alone in New York, they assigned me a security detail when I went away to college. A guy discreetly followed me to class, out at night. I was never alone, and I was always being watched. So, unlike most of my friends, I’ve never done a one-night stand before. I’ve never done anything before.

“I couldn’t,” I whisper, my mouth dry, my hands digging deeper into his skin like they’re in complete revolt of my words. They don’t seem to want to let him go.

He slowly pulls me to standing, but he doesn’t let me out of his embrace. If anything, one of his hands slides lower, to the place just above my rear end, pressing the cradle of my hips deeper into his. The ache between my legs gives a throb.

“Suit yourself,” he murmurs, his mouth moving closer to mine. It’s like he’s hypnotizing me. My eyes flutter closed as I try to collect my wits. “Name’s Gris.”

“Bella,” I answer, my fingers on my left hand unlock enough to slide up his arm until they reach his shoulder, my thumb settling in the deep cut of his collarbone.

“Nice to meet you, Bella,” he replies and then his lips brush over mine in this featherlight kiss that is so soft, I wonder if I dreamed it.

“You too?” I return, my eyes still closed. When they finally open, I realize he’s straightened up and I feel heat completely flood my cheeks once again. How long have I been hanging on the precipice of another kiss?

His hands slide to my sides and then trace down over the curve of my hips as he lowers himself into a crouch.

The towel parts with the bend of his legs and I can almost see his… I swallow down a lump, realizing, even as I’m trying to catch a peek of his junk, that his face is just in front of my…

I’m already aching between the legs, but at the proximity of his mouth, I feel the flood of moisture and I can actually smell my arousal in the air.

Which means he can smell me too. He looks up at me with another wicked grin before he grabs my shoes and stands back up.

My hands are on both his shoulders now. When did I reach for him with my other hand? I can’t bring myself to stop touching him, apparently. He places the strappy three-inch sandals between us. “You’ll need these then.”

“Right,” I say with a tiny nod.Get it together, Arabella, I give myself a mental shake as I let go of one of his shoulders and reach for the shoes, our fingers brushing.

I just need to collect my things, slink out the door, die of embarrassment, and then figure out how to use the shower head in my own room to relieve the ache between my legs.

But as I take the shoes, I look down and see the sparkle of my engagement ring on the top of Gris’s console. The ring is a D color, VS1 clarity, set in a six-prong platinum setting. It’s perfectly cold and the idea of putting it back on my finger makes me shiver.

I look back up at the man that I’m still holding with one hand. Drawing in a deep breath of air, I lick my lips. “What are the rules if I did stay?”

Oh, the way he looks at me. It’s deliciously wicked and I want to dive into sin without looking back. “What do you want them to be?”

He isn’t serious? I swallow down a lump, the intensity of his stare makes the words die on my tongue. He’s very serious.

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