Page 79 of A Forbidden Arrangement
“You just reduced hundreds of years of tradition to something silly?”
The tightness in my chest finally eases, and I can breathe again. Of all the reactions I imagined, this wasn’t one of them, but it’s exactly what I should have expected from her.
“Do you like memorizing scripts?” she teases, a mischievous smile tugging at her lips. All I can think about is how damn good she makes me feel.
I grab her and pull her in, tickling until she’s laughing so hard she can’t catch her air.
“Say mercy.”
“Mercy, mercy, mercy.” She leans against a table, chest rising fast, eyes bright with laughter. “Big scary Lord, always gets what he wants.”
I huff, letting her go. “Not recently.”
Her eyes find mine, and the teasing fades into something heavier. The light in them shifts, pupils wide, hunger written all over her face. The air tightens, charged as her gaze drifts down my chest.
She lifts the mask into place, lips curling as her tongue traces the edge of her mouth. My pulse slams against my ribs. Each button she undoes feels deliberate, skin appearing in slow, torturous inches. By the time her blouse slips off her shoulder, she’s bare, breathtaking, and she’s taken my every thought with it.
She moves with an ease that wrecks me. Every motion is calculated, drawn out just enough to make me ache. She shimmies out of her pants, and they pool on the floor. Black lace hugs her hips, thin straps disappearing against skin that begs to be touched.
She leans back on the table, a quiet invitation that hits like a punch. Her body is flushed, curves soft and full, every small movement pulling my focus tighter. My mouth goes dry. My dick twitches as her nipples harden beneath my gaze, and all I can think about is getting my hands on her.
Mask still covering half her face, she tilts her head, and I take it as permission.
I run my fingers down her neck, along her collarbone, between her breasts, trailing all the way down until they meet the edge of her panties. Her breath hitches as I dip below the fabric and run along her seam. She shivers under my touch, a soft, needy sound escaping her lips. Swallowing her cry, my kiss is hot, desperate, hurried. Our teeth clack together and noses brush as we fight to take more of each other in. Her fingers lace through my hair, pulling me down. Her movements frantically erase any distance between us.
I growl low in my throat and lift her by her thighs, placing her on the edge of the table. The glass display box shatters on thefloor when I shove it away. Dahlia startles, but I grip her chin, thrusting my tongue into her mouth, keeping her attention on me. She gasps, breaking apart, and I move to her throat, nipping and sucking, leaving marks in my wake. She moans when I cup her breasts, weighing them in my palms.
She’s too fucking tempting. I lower, taking her nipple into my mouth and swirling my tongue around the peak. Her legs clamp around my hips, fingers digging into my biceps as she arches into my touch. I hiss through my teeth and bite her just shy of pain.
Her moan breaks when I run my tongue over the bruise I made.
My cock’s painfully hard as I admire the imprint I left on her skin, begging me to sink into her.
The muscle in my jaw flexes, and my teeth grind together in the effort to pull myself away. She shivers, a question in her eyes as they search mine. Both of our chests heave and fall in an attempt to return to normal.
I drop my forehead to her shoulder, breathing in her sweet scent and sighing. “I can’t do this right now.”
She stiffens in my arms, and I hate it. Running soothing strokes down her back, I say, “If we do this now, I won’t be able to stop myself from being too rough.”
“What if that’s what I want?” Her words are unsure, barely above a whisper.
My entire body freezes, every muscle tensed to keep myself still as I wait for her to continue.
“I know…I know it’s a little weird… Does it freak you out?—”
I kiss her hard, cutting off her words, hating how vulnerable she sounds. I don’t stop kissing her until she melts in my arms.
I run my nose along her jaw. “I don’t know what I did in a past life to deserve you, but fuck, I’m glad I did.”
“It’s really okay if you don’t like that sorta thing.”
I catch her lower lip between my teeth, just hard enough to make her gasp, proud of her for asking for what she wants.
“How rough?” My voice drops low. “Tell me, Dahlia. How rough do you want it?”
“As much as you’ll give me.”
The words tear a sound from me, low and guttural. “Fucking Christ.” I breathe through the need clawing at my control. “I’m going to come before we even start.”
