Page 58 of Bad At Love

He laughed and when she shivered, pulled her closer. Mona and Dom strolled over, wanting to know what was going on. Dom’s whoop-whoop brought the others, and DP stated his plans again with growing excitement and Chaaru’s chest ached.

It hurt that he wasn’t going home with her. Or rather, he was taking her home—his heart, with him and leaving her hollow.

22

It was their last night together at the resort. In their suite. Maybe the last time they were ever together like this in…forever.

The thought haunted Chaaru as she and DP rode the elevator together. A complete contrast to when they had arrived a week ago. The idea of sharing a suite with him had freaked her out then.

Now, she was in love with him, and they had very little time together.

That he’d asked his travel agent to find him an earlier itinerary shouldn’t have been a surprise either. DP claimed it was because he needed to get home and work through his long to-do list since he barely had a week to leave.

TJ, he said, couldn’t be trusted to get the house cleaned and closed up properly. Plus, all the things he’d have to take care of with the accounting firm while he was gone, and Maggie and health insurance stuff, he added, with a rueful smile.

Maybe all of it was true.

But she also knew that he’d moved his flight up to spare her any awkwardness or to avoid forcing his company on her. He was determined to give her space.

It was all she’d ever wanted from a man, but from him, she craved the opposite. She wanted him to claim her with the same possessiveness she’d felt in his touch, his kisses, the way he pinned her down and pounded into her.

Remembering how he’d made love to her that very afternoon buoyed her sinking spirits. She knew better than anyone that flesh communicated where hearts couldn’t, and minds wouldn’t.

He had wanted her for years and he wanted her now. Every touch spoke of it. And while he finally lived out a long-held dream of his, she would get used to this rollercoaster feeling of being in love. When he returned to her, whenever that was, she would be steady and ready. She would be the best damned life partner he’d ever dreamed of, a woman who could meet his love with the same fervor and devotion.

The resolution filled her with a sudden urgency to taste him, to touch him and to reduce him to the same mindlessness.

She closed the door as soon as he was inside and pushed him against the wall. Then she went for his mouth, pouring every word she couldn’t say into the kiss. Like every contact between them, this one exploded right out of the gate. Desperation tinged it, unlocking any previously held inhibitions. Not that they held anything back from each other when it came to desire.

With a rough, gravelly groan that soothed her, DP wrapped his fingers around her neck, bracketing it like a collar, and devoured her mouth.

There was no other word for it. He nipped and bit her lips and then swooped in with his tongue like he was some medieval marauding beast who’d been finally let loose after centuries of captivity. At least that’s what Sanjana’s latest comic sketch had claimed and it fit this situation so well that Chaaru giggled.

In one blink, DP flipped them until he had her back against the door. “What’s funny?”

“Sanju’s latest comic strip…the beast in it matches you.”

“Is that a good thing?” he asked, and now, when she knew him so well and understood his moods and quirks, she heard the vulnerability in his question.

“Being the beast?” she said, teasing her teeth down his neck. The salt and sweat of his skin spurred her appetite. “He’s ferocious and loyal and sexy and has been pining away for his love in captivity…so you tell me.”

He nipped at her lip again, in punishment for her teasing. When he flicked his tongue over the hurt, she sank into him, pressing herself shamelessly from chest to thigh. His erection was a searing brand against her belly.

“This comic was adult?”

“Yes,” Chaaru said, desire sparking through her like lightning. “Adult and explicit. She specializes in erotica comics. I think the first time Dom saw them, he kinda lost his shit.”

DP laughed. “I didn’t know erotic comics were a thing.”

“Me neither,” Chaaru said, throwing her head back against the wall as he sucked at her neck. “But it’s inspiring at the least.”

His large hands stole under the low neck of her blouse until he was cupping her breast. The rough scrape of his fingers against her nipples had her arching into him. “What does this beast do when he finds his maiden?”

“He takes her up against the wall, with her cheek pressed to the door. From behind. Relentlessly.”

“Without her consent?” he said, his frown ferocious.

“Oh, she gives him consent, all right. Before she frees him, he tells her what he’s going to do to her if she does. She grabs a sledgehammer from the smithy and goes to town on his shackles. You see, she’s spent centuries looking for him too and he was right under her nose.”

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