Page 50 of Tall, Royal and Grumpy

I clapped my lips together and slammed both hands against his chest; he barely even swayed. “You asshole,” I cried.

He captured my wrists in his hands, holding my palms to his chest. I squirmed and struggled, shoving and pulling at his hoodie with no give whatsoever as I threw a few insults at him. But laughter weaved its way between my words.

“How could you make fun of my height when I was being serious?”

He grinned. A toothy one that made my heart flutter. “But you are small. I don’t think you even come up to my shoulder. Not by a few centimetres. So how could you reach?”

I choked on a shocked noise. “Oh, that’s it. I’m shoving you into the rain you hate so much for that!”

Kai’s smile collapsed immediately. I leaned my weight back, getting ready to shove him with all my might but I was suddenly the one being swung around.

I slammed back against an open door, not hard enough to hurt, but the surprise impact knocked a gasp from me. Dizzy, dazed, and breathless, it took me a moment to recalibrate my position.

Kai was all around me. Everywhere. In my space, surrounding me. In my lungs, sweet, woody, and enchanting. His face right above mine, his parted lips inches away. And my wrists? He had them in his hands, pinned to the door just above my head, arching my body into the curve of his.

For an eternity, or a few seconds, we stayed just like that. Nothing said. Nothing done. The only thing that could be heard was our breaths and the softening rain. The tension that held us captive was blazing so hot, I couldn’t feel the cold air anymore.

Kai’s hands squeezed around my wrists as his gaze levelled on my mouth again. “Do I still have permission to prove myself?” he rasped.

My heart stuttered. “Yes.”

There was no sudden rush to mash our mouths together, but my pulse went mad with anticipation when Kai brushed the tip of his nose ever so gently across mine. He dipped his mouth and for the life of me I couldn’t tell if I froze or met him halfway.

But when our lips touched… Seven years of imagining, dreaming, hoping for this moment and it was so much better than I could have ever even contemplated.

Fireworks, butterflies, violins, a shower of petals, blinding heat. Everything exploded inside me simultaneously and I swear I died for a second. But I came back to life when Kai moulded his mouth firmly around mine. Kissing me slowly with skill and warmth that anchored me to him.

I melted and sunk back against the door, letting him take my mouth however he wanted. I gave back what he gave and memorised the shape and warmth of his soft lips.

I didn’t feel him let go of my wrists, but I felt the solid steel beam of his arm curve around my back and drag me flush against him. Our mouths separated for just a moment, but his palm cupped my cheek, and my hands found his shoulders, gripping them for leverage, pulling him down and closer.

With a gruff, rolling sound, he pressed his mouth heavily against mine, pushing my head back, bending my body over his arm so I had no choice but to rely on him to hold me up. I gasped at his sudden forcefulness, sparks scattering all through me.

But Kai abruptly pulled back. “Sorry—sorry, did I hurt you? Are you okay?”

I whimpered at the loss of him, clambering up him like a tree in an attempt to pull his mouth back down to mine. “No, no, I’m good, so good. It was perfect. Why did you stop?”

He drew me up, his dazed eyes flickering all over my face. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

It was either a mad surge of power driven by adrenaline or the advantage of surprise, but I urged Kai back, and he stumbled, slamming into the other door with a grunt. I crashed into his chest, his hoodie scrunched in my fists, and giggled breathlessly when I looked up at him.

Gosh, he looked gorgeous pressed up against the door with his cheeks flushed a faint pink. His glasses sat wonky on the bride of his nose, shock widening his eyes.

“Sorry,” I purred, pushing myself up onto my tiptoes, rubbing my front up against his hard body. Looping one arm around his neck, I pinched the frame of his glasses between my fingers and pulled them off his nose. “But you stopped.” His hot stare sunk to my chest as I pushed one arm of his glasses down the V-neck of my silk shirt, letting them hang there. “And I need more.”

Without giving him the chance to answer, I crushed my lips against his.

He groaned, low and long, and the sound vibrated down to my core, turning me liquid and hot all over. His hand went to the back of my head, scrunching my hair tightly in his fist, holding me still as he kissed me back with just as much force. I moaned under the sensation.

Desperate to taste him, I skated my tongue out. But instead of meeting his lips I brushed against something warm and wet. His tongue. Just as he flicked it out to plead for entrance too.

We both gasped at the touch, and a bullet of arousal shot through my belly. My legs shook under me, but Kai crushed me against him, and we scrambled into a frenzy.

We latched onto each other, blazing greed taking the place of sweet affection. Pulling and pushing at each other. His tongue claimed mine. My lips tugged at his. His hands in my hair. My hands on his body. Hungry and needy. And it was so good. So fucking perfect.

I was swollen and throbbing for him. Silk teased the hot, sensitive skin of my inner thighs. And against the softness of my stomach, I could feel something hard pushing into me.

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