Page 40 of Shadow Lies

When the smallest sound of pleasure escaped from her throat, his self-control, which had already been wavering, broke.

He unleashed all of the pent-up desire he’d buried for a year.

Bracketing her soft face between his work-roughened palms, he thrust his tongue between her lips.

It wasn’t enough. He couldn’t get close enough so he dropped his hands to her hips and hauled her body closer to his.

The hard length that tented his baggy cotton pants pressed against the juncture of her thighs. The feeling, even while they were separated by their clothing, had a low groan escaping his throat.

He moved against her, increasing the friction and the pressure until both of their breaths came in gasps stifled by the ongoing depth of their kiss.

What they were doing felt even more sinful given what he was wearing.

His one solace was that he was wearing what he wore to train and not the full robes worn for prayer. Especially when she reached between them and stroked him.

His lids squeezed tighter as he absorbed the painfully good feeling of her touch. Then common sense—or perhaps guilt—took over.

He pulled away from the kiss and grabbed her hand as she was about to slip it inside his pants. “Alexis.”

“Mmm?” she responded.

“This—us—can’t be anything more than this. You have to be okay with there being nothing more. Just right here, right now.”

“All right,” she said, her answer unconvincing.

“I need to know you truly understand what I’m saying.”

“I understand.” She moved back in.

A short laugh escaped him. This was no laughing matter, but her continued stubbornness was so characteristic of her and so frustrating, all he could do was laugh. “I don’t believe you.”

She straightened her spine and set her shoulders, pinning him with a determined stare. “Kane Lee. I’ve wanted to kiss you since I was thirteen years old and plotting my sister’s death so I could steal you from her.”

A breath escaped him as did a smile. “Oh.”

“So if you think I haven’t thought this through or I don’t know what I’m doing, you’re wrong.”

“Okay,” he agreed.

“Then why aren’t we naked and in bed yet? As much as I’m disturbingly turned on by your monk outfit, I’m ready to pretend we’re just two normal people for a little while.”

He let out a breath. “This is anything but normal.”

But as he hoisted her up with a palm beneath each of her butt cheeks, he too was ready to pretend it was. That they were.

At least for a little while.

ChapterThirteen

Kane carried Alexis to the bed, like she’d imagined him doing countless times in her teens—and admittedly, in her adulthood too. Especially recently.

From her position on her back as she lay sideways across the mattress she could see the ornate décor of the room’s headboard. That was until Kane’s face blocked out the view. Then she was treated to the perfection of his deep brown eyes focused solely on her.

How many hours had she spent wishing he’d see her—truly see her—back when he’d been dating her sister? And now, he did.

And they were about to have sex.

Holy shit.

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