Page 53 of Tall, Royal and Grumpy

Fay nodded at whatever Esmeralda said, his hand going to the spot between her shoulder blades. He leaned in and said something back in her ear. Jealousy bit down around my chest harder and ground its teeth together, but the burn came hand in hand with something smoky and dark.

Because Esmeralda kept her gaze on me the whole time.

Her eyes gleamed in an audacious challenge and a beckon that made me feel warm and alive inside but riled me too. She was obviously planning something. I could feel it.

With a wink in my direction, she said something to the older lady she and Fay were with. Then she spun on her heels, walking quickly away from me, a soft swing to the full curve of her hips.

Throbbing heat roared through my veins.

She wanted me to follow her, didn’t she?

She drowned my doubts when she threw a glance over her shoulder, daring me to come after her. And my excitement skyrocketed.

I knew what this feeling was. The heady thrill. The aggressive need to hunt her. To catch her and put her in her place. I knew because I’d spent more nights than I could count researching what it was in an attempt to figure out why I felt it and how I could control it.

I had always been too scared to act on it. Told that wanting to be rough was wrong, therefore too anxious of anyone finding out what I wanted. Even by accident.

With Esmeralda, I knew I had to be careful, but scared? No, she didn’t make me feel scared of the feeling. And maybe that was scarier.

I would’ve thought with my previous toxic relationship that I would’ve struggled to open up to Esmeralda or even admit that I was attracted to her. But I didn’t. I hadn’t. I trusted her.

So, I chased her. I bypassed Fay without even acknowledging him and followed Esmeralda with purposeful steps that I tried to keep casual. But the faster my heart pounded, the faster I walked.

Out in the corridors of the City Hall, I caught Esmeralda’s hair whip around the corner to my right. I headed the same way, trying to act cool as I walked past the presence of security watching me.

The red of her dress swishing out of sight was a trigger that made me feel wild. I was possessed with the need to get to her. Thankfully, I had a natural advantage over her.

I was taller, my strides were bigger. And she was in high heels.

It didn’t take me long to catch up to her. She gasped and attempted to zip around the corner as fast as she could, but I snatched her by the arm, and we went around together. I spun her back to the wall and curled my arm around her waist, dragging her body to mine.

She slammed into me, her hands clinging to my biceps, my legs bracketing hers. Her stomach cushioned my half-erect dick. Big eyes locked with mine. Lips parted. Chest heaving. Shaking.

Or maybe that was me. Because I was aroused in a way I really shouldn’t have been in public.

Cupping the back of her head, I angled her back to take my kiss. She moaned as I lavished her mouth with barely restrained control, giving her the attention I hadn’t been able to give her all day.

I couldn’t say how long we kissed, only that we kissed with tongue and teeth like our lives depended on it. But not once did that silk thread of control snap. Even in our drugged state, we both knew we couldn’t go back to the hall full of hundreds of people with an after-sex glow on our skin.

That wasn’t to say when the kiss faded into a string of long-second pecks that my mouth wasn’t stinging, and Esmeralda’s lips weren’t swollen and bright red.

Her hands found my ears to trace, and my arms cinched around her waist, hugging her close. I dropped my mouth into the crook where her neck met her shoulder and pressed a string of kisses to her warm skin as I drowned myself in her scent.

She smelt so ridiculously good. Sweet like a peony rose, with a mellow fruity undertone. It was addictive. I could have kept my face buried in her neck for hours. But with one more kiss, I forced my head up and let her hand guide me until our foreheads were resting together.

“Hi,” she whispered after a moment.

“Hi,” I rasped back, rubbing the length of her back with one hand.

“I missed you.”

I felt myself smile and didn’t try to fight it. “I have been at the same event as you all day.”

“Yes, but you’ve been so far away all day. So, I missed you.”

It was a struggle to remember why I’d been frustrated earlier when she was being so cute. But I managed to pull back and arch a brow. “Is that why you’ve been giving me teasing glances all day?”

She bit down on her bottom lip, trying to hide a cheeky smile. “Teasing glances?” She widened her eyes innocently. “I don’t know what you mean.”

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