Chapter 129

“Am I supposed to be turned on now?” she asked, aware that her hands were in fists at her sides, and not willing to ask herself why. She was supposed to long for open discussions like this. It was supposed to herald her maturity. And she already knew he slept around, or he wouldn’t have been the perfect person for her purposes. There was no reason this should all make her feel a bit like crying.  “Because I’m whatever the opposite of that is. And I feel absolutely no trace of anything resembling impending giddiness. In case you were wondering.”

“I know these practicalities are so confronting,” he said, and he did bend his head then. But only to put his face…near hers. As if he was contemplating sinking his teeth into her neck like some kind of vampire.

Lexi had no idea what it said about her that the very idea made her break out goose bumps. And not because the notion disgusted or scared her.

“Are you sure you’re the opposite of turned on?” he asked.

And she could feel his breath in the crook of her neck. He was so close. He surrounded her, and there was something dominating in the way he stood there, holding her in place without touching her at all. She should have hated that, but it was Tyler. And the fact it was Tyler made it worse. Wrong, and strange, somehow so much better.

Her pussy began to pulse, in time with that same restless beating thing inside her. And her nipples were so hard she couldn’t quite tell if the sensation that washed through her from the tight points was pleasure or pain. Only that it didn’t stop.

“I can’t decide if you’re trying to scare me off or if this is your seduction technique,” she managed to say, aware that she was panting a bit as she spoke. “But I’m beginning to think that the reason all those girls look so giddy is because of some kind of head trauma. Is that your secret?”

She felt the brush of his lips. Or she thought it was his lips, there for a moment where her pulse went wild. Then gone, and it was like being walloped with another storm system. He was wrecking her. Remaking her.

“Fucking someone through the headboard sounds fun in theory, but no one likes a concussion when all they want is to come,” he rumbled against her neck. She could feel it when he spoke. It danced in her. “Don’t you agree?”

But she was lost in a cascade of too-hot, too-bright images of him and her and that bed of his with all its wrought iron, and all Lexi could do was gape at him when he lifted his head.

“That’s what I thought you’d say,” he said, and even his smile was dangerous.

Then Tyler bent that last little bit and slammed his mouth down on hers.

_____________

There were very few things in life that exceeded expectations. And it turned out, Lexi was one of them.

Tyler didn’t waste time on niceties. He claimed her mouth with his, finally. He’d been building up this particular hunger since the moment he’d met her, and he’d long since given up hope it would ever happen with them, so he didn’t hold back. It didn’t occur to him to hold back.

He’d warned her. He’d given her every chance to back out or change her mind. And despite all that, he knew full well he was the one who was going to have trouble closing this bloody door now it was opened. But he couldn’t care about that now. He couldn’t tie himself up into knots over the future when there was still now. When there was still this.

Her mouth beneath his. The touch of her tongue. And her taste, better than he’d imagined—and sweet Lord, had he imagined it. Over and over again.

Tyler didn’t kiss her sweetly. This wasn’t a fairy tale. He ate at her mouth, holding her face where he wanted it and indulging himself. At last.

She fit him. He’d imagined she would, year after year, but this… The taste of her surpassed every last fantasy he’d ever had. Particularly when she kissed him back, hesitant at first, but then meeting him fully. Hot and greedy, just the way he liked it.

Deep and wet and long and perfect, and he had to fight to remember that they weren’t in private. That he had to control himself when that was the last thing he wanted to do. Because it was so good. Because it was Lexi.

Tyler wrenched his mouth away, aware that he was breathing too hard as he dropped his forehead to hers. “I told you,” he growled at her, and he didn’t even know what he meant. Only that he’d warned her. And there was a madness in him, bright and hot and tangled up deep, and it had her name written all over it.

She was panting and her eyes were closed, and he angled himself back a bit, dimly remembering once again that they were in public. That his cock was so hard already that he was likely in danger of scaring off the tourists, and a chat with the local police was not part of his plans for the night. Not when he’d finally gotten his hands on Lexi. This was Lexi. He had her taste in his mouth, still. She was in his veins now, the fire in his blood. And God knew she’d been in his bones for years. She was the ruin of him. But Tyler didn’t feel ruined just then. Or he liked the ruin, maybe.

But her eyes were still closed. And he found himself tensing as he watched her struggle to control her breath. As he waited to see if she’d set him back on his heels the way he’d always imagined she would. That was the way it went between the lady of the manor and an upstart chancer.

It felt like an age or two before Lexi's lashes fluttered, and she opened up her eyes to look straight at him. The brown of her eyes that he knew so well was shot through with gold. There was a flush on her cheeks that made his cock feel heavy. The look on her face made his fingers itch to tear off her clothes and see where else that flush touched.