Page 75 of The Exception

Skin flushed. Lips puffy and parted in anticipation. Her hand giving a gentle squeeze.

I groaned, silently encouraging her to do it again. To domore. So when she started exploring me over my pants, I couldn’t help it. “Fuck. That feels amazing.”

Something shifted in her gaze, enough for me to lean in and brush my lips against hers.

“Tell me to stop,” I rasped against her lips. But she didn’t.

Instead, the kiss quickly turned heated—tongues and lips and teeth. A battle. A dance.

She gasped, arching up into me, grinding against me. “I’m still mad at you.”

Her words, like her movements, were hard, meant to punish. Instead of pushing her away, I held her closer, looking into her eyes, even as we continued writhing against each other still fully clothed.

“So, be mad at me. Punish me.” I pressed into her, pulling her more fully to me. Letting her feel me. I was so hard, I ached. But god, was this hot. She was hot. “I’d deserve it.”

“I—” Her eyes darkened. “Yes.”

I slid my hand up to cup her breast, measuring her response. Her breast was full, heavy, practically overflowing my hand. She was perfect. She was mine.

I pushed away that possessive instinct from the less-developed caveman part of my brain. She wasn’t mine. And this wouldn’t last. It never did.

“This doesn’t change anything,” she panted, perhaps at war with herself. She was right, but I still hated to hear her say it.

“Of course not,” I said, surprised by how level my voice sounded, even as I kissed her neck, her collarbone.

She grabbed my belt and yanked on it, bringing my attention back to her face. “And if youever—” She gave it a tug, moving me like a puppet on a string. Hell, that’s how I felt with her. At her bidding. “—lie to me again, we’re done.”

“I would expect nothing less.”

“Good.” She kissed me. Hard.

I crushed my lips against hers, intoxicated by her scent. By the feel of her in my arms. This woman was going to be my undoing.

I let myself get carried away. Let myself just feel—my mind blissfully blank of anything but Liliana and her scent. The little moans she made. The way she shifted her hips, as if seeking release.

Fuck.She was perfect.

The kiss at our wedding had been a shock—intense despite how chaste it had been in comparison. And this one was just as electrifying. We might not have an audience like we had at our wedding, but I wanted her, and she wanted this. We both knew exactly what this was—mutual release. Nothing more.

I couldn’t offer anything more.

She clawed at my shirt, releasing the buttons from their holes. I scrambled to untie the straps that caressed her shoulders. Our clothes came off in a frantic, desperate rush until I was naked, and she was left in only her underwear.

In that moment, I swear my soul left my body. She was… God, she was magnificent. I didn’t have the words to describe her, so instead, I tried to show her.

I kissed every inch of bare skin I uncovered, marveling at the heavy fall of her breasts, the dusty-rose color of her nipples, the dip of her navel. She writhed and moaned beneath my hands, pushing her breasts into my hands. Begging for my touch.

Her skin was so smooth, my hands slid over it like the finest silk. It was the most pleasurable sensation. And I couldn’t wait to see what was beneath her underwear. Though, judging from the sheer panel at the front, she was completely bare.Oh god.

“Is this what you wanted from me?” I taunted, sliding my hand over her smooth mound and rubbing her clit through the material. She shivered. “Is this what you need,mon petit poisson?”

“Sit down and shut up.” She pushed my chest, and I fell back onto the bed.

I tried to hold back my smile, but holy fuck was that hot.

I watched her from my elbows with a heated gaze, waiting to see what she’d do next. No one told me what to do. But I was willing to give Lily all the control. Hell, if I were honest with myself, she already had so much power over me it was terrifying.

Lily stood there, hands on her hips, staring at me. Admiring me.Me.

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