Page 22 of A Bond Beyond Blood

“Vinny—”

“What is your Christmas Eve tradition, Jacqueline?”

I rolled my eyes.“This again?”

He raised his eyebrows.

“You’ll hate it.”

“Try me.”

“Oh my god.”I tried to pull away from him, but he was relentless in his hold and far stronger than me.“Fine.”I huffed.“Rockefeller Center.”

“To look at the Christmas tree?”

I nodded.“And skating.”

Vinny’s jaw twitched with something akin to a grimace.“It’s going to be a madhouse.”

“See?I knew you’d hate it.”

“It’s important to you?”

“No, it’s fine.”I dropped my gaze.

He gripped my chin and tilted my head back so he could look into my eyes.“Please don’t lie to me.Were you planning to go by yourself?”

I sucked in a breath and pressed my lips into a fine line, then nodded.

“What time?”

“After I have dinner at my brother’s.Late...like ten-ish.”I shrugged.“It’s on my way home.”

“I’ll meet you there.”

“You don’t have to—”

“Obviously I don’t have to, Jacqueline.”As he said that, the shadow of an emotion I couldn’t place crossed over his face, but then he leaned in and pressed his lips against mine and all I could think about was the feel of him.

I reached up and circled my arms around his neck, stretching my body along his.

As he tightened his arms around my waist, his tongue drove into my mouth, deepening the kiss and sending warmth to gather between my legs.Where our first kiss was tender exploration, this one was consuming demand.Each lash of his tongue against mine sent heat through my veins.Arousal tightened my belly.

Why hadn’t we done this sooner?

I moaned and Vinny froze.

When I pulled back to look up at him, his eyes were closed and his face was pinched painfully.

“What’s wrong?”I whispered.

“You smell so fucking good.”He opened his eyes and they were damn near glowing red.

I reached up and touched my hair self-consciously.“I haven’t even showered...”

My words trailed off as his eyes flashed brighter red with desire and I registered the hard length now pressing against my lower belly.My cheeks flared with heat in response to that look in his eyes and I realized what he’d meant.

“Oh,” I whispered.

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