Page 26 of Shifting Desire
Chapter Eleven
Ari
Almost Ours
Ishould have run.After everything he said, after everything I felt ...the smart move would have been to walk away.Slam the door.Pretend I never came to him at all.
But I didn’t.I stayed.
And now I’m sitting in the middle of Malichai Veythronn’s impossibly sleek, stupidly expensive apartment at the top of Veythronn Tower, barefoot, curled into the corner of his absurdly plush sectional, with a dragon shifter watching me like I’m the first sunrise he’s ever seen.
“Tea?”he offers.
I look at him, a little incredulous.“Tea?”
He shrugs, mouth tilting into the barest curve.“I’m trying to be a gentleman.”
“I don’t need a gentleman,” I mutter with an eye roll.
I don’t know what happens next.Who am I supposed to be in his space?
He sits beside me on the sectional and smiles.“Come here, Arinaghwyndrelle.”He holds out a hand to me and for a moment I hesitate before taking it.
Malichai pulls me closer, lifting me until I am sitting on his lap, straddling him.“What are you doing?”
“Something I have dreamed of for three years,” he mumbles, his hands resting on my hips.“I can’t tell you how badly I have wanted to simply hold you.”
“Mal...”I start but he cuts me off.
“This isn’t about sex.I just want you near me,” he explains.“I know you haven’t decided yet, so I won’t push you.”
I already made my choice.The goddess knows, I decided to be his before I stepped foot out of my apartment and came to him.But he doesn’t know.
“I already made my choice, Malichai.”
I lean forward and place my lips against his, kissing him softly.I feel the shock vibrate through him before I pull away.He stares at me with wide eyes.
“Ari.”He says my name like it’s a prayer.“You need to be sure.”
“I thought all the choices were mine.”
He traces my features with his gaze before nodding.“They are.”
“Then I choose you.I choose us.”
He lifts me like I weigh nothing, pulling me closer to his chest and palming my ass.His erection presses against my sex through the yoga pants I am wearing as he nuzzles my neck.
“Goddess...I don’t think I have ever felt relief like this.”He licks my clavicle.“I thought you were going to reject me.”
My head tilts back, exposing more of my neck to him.
“I thought about it,” I say honestly.
