Page 65 of Bad Moon Rising
“Then be sure when it does that you have no regrets over this. That you walk out of here with a clear conscience that us denying ourselves this one night is the right thing. I respect your choice.”
He leaned in over her. So close he almost touched her. “This is more complicated than the curse and my orders.”
Yet, his thumb ran over her lips, and he lowered his forehead to hers. On a ragged breath he said, “If I leave, I’ll have regrets.”
“I want this.” She wanted him at least once, especially since she’d been forced on the express train to certain death. “Do you want me?”
“More than anyone I’ve ever wanted in my entire life.”
Her heart thumped so loud, she couldn’t hear anything else. When her brain finally cleared of the fog to make sense of his answer, she said, “Kiss me.”
He tilted her head upward to align her mouth with his, and paused, took a deep breath as if soaking up the moment before he touched his lips to hers. It was a light kiss that rapidly progressed into something that melted her. Her hands tangled with the short strands of his hair as she tried to dig in deeper and glue her body to his. Just when she felt she couldn’t get any closer, Roman pulled away to take a deep breath.
His eyes were heavy. “Are you sure you want this? I can still leave. Maybe I should go.”
“I have a feeling you made your decision by being here when I arrived.”
He stared at her lips for endless moments.
Stay. Please.
Still he stared.
I’m dying.
One of his hands slid to the back of her neck and tangled in her hair to hold her in place, but his lips paused before they touched hers. “Tonight. You and I can’t have more. Only tonight.”
He brought his lips to hers and turned his head to take the kiss deeper. Shockwaves radiated through her limbs, making her feel as if she were floating. She gripped him tight, terrified she’d fall down if she let go of him.
His mouth kissed a path down her neck. He slid the strap of the gown out of the path of his mouth and bit her shoulder, not hard enough to damage skin but enough to leave tooth impressions and maybe bruise. The pain activated something deep that came upward from her gut and emerged as a growl.
“That’s it, Nova, show me the full you. I need you feral.”
Everything came into finer focus around her—the noises around them, her sense of smell and her eyesight. The scent of him—his deodorant mixed with the unique aroma of him—made her lightheaded.
He caught her face between both hands. With a finger, he traced her cheekbones, nose, and lips. “You’re exquisite. More beautiful than anything I’ve ever seen. But remember, no promises. No tomorrow.”
She smoothed hair off his forehead. “I’ll be lucky if I live through tomorrow. We don’t know anything about me or who I might be attached to. I can’t…” Her fingers roamed the planes of his face, memorizing each contour. “There can’t be anyone else in my life. If there is, it’s not like this. All I want is you.”
“I’d give you everything if I could, but I can’t. I have no control of my own life.” He rested his nose against hers.
“Have you ever thought that’s why I was thrust into your life? To enable you a few moments of escape?”
“There is no way out. I’ve gone to every corner of the planet to find one. I’ve consulted with all types of magical entities. I even asked one of God’s angels to help, which was pointless. The only way out is death or if the monarch releases me from duty, which will never happen. We’re too powerful a weapon for them to let us go.”
She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. “I’m glad you have your brothers in this and your mother. So glad you’re not alone in the nightmare. How did you end up this way?”
“We were tricked by a witch. My father died trying to find a way to free us. I’m…we’re…” His voice cracked. “I’m the reason he’s dead.”
She cupped his face. “You’d do the same if your sons were trapped. He loved you that much. He made a choice that was his, not yours.”
“It almost killed mom when he didn’t come back. They weren’t perfect together. Far from it. There were some epic fights over the years. But they did love each other.”
“I’m glad what this curse forces you to do didn’t kill you, too.”
“I seem to excel at winning and healing. Walking into death of my own making I won’t do. If I die from this, it’ll be the curse that kills me, but I’ll fight the fucker to the end.”
She touched over his chest, tracing the ridges and valleys of his muscles. “Kiss me. I know we haven’t known each other very long, but I want to do this. Do you?”
