Lucius (Acquisition Series #4) - Celia Aaron Page 0,41
mouth and suck her skin between my lips, tasting her.
“Lucius.”
Fuck, the way she says my name lights a fire in my blood. I kiss lower, grazing the edge of her dress, and then I pull back.
Her pupils are blown, her lips parted.
I kiss her. Not gently, not a request. I take this kiss. One hand at the back of her neck, the other at her waist. When her tongue dances against mine, my restraint—what little I had—evaporates. I press her against the seat, claiming and sucking and licking. She grips my jacket, her body pushing back against me, giving me every bit of friction and touch. I can’t stop kissing her. Angling her head so I can go deeper, feel more, take more. She’s giving me life, and I will happily take life if it means I get to experience this again.
She bites my lip. I taste blood and give it back to her, kissing and overcoming her, making her feel how small she is against me, how easily I can give her pleasure and pain. Fuck, I want to take her right here, right now. To lift up that dress and make her straddle me, take me all the way inside.
“Lucius.” She pants against my mouth, her heart frantic against my own. Chest to chest, face to face, we take each other’s measure.
“I want you, Evie. And not just quick and dirty right now. I want more.”
She takes a shuddering breath. “No.”
“No doesn’t mean anything to me when it comes to you.” I kiss her again, harsh and claiming.
She responds, her tongue lashing against mine as the car finally slows to a stop. I run my hand up her waist and cup her breast through the lace. Her nipple is taut and wanting. It needs my tongue, my teeth.
“Please, we can’t.” She presses her palms to my cheeks, her skin burning just like mine. “We have to survive tonight. We have to. And then … Then we can figure this out.”
“I don’t need to figure anything out.” I kiss her once more, a final touch in the dark back seat. “I know what I want.”
She gulps a breath as I back off.
“We’re going to finish this, Evie. You can lie to yourself all you want, but you and me—we’re going to happen. We’ve been on this path for years, we just didn’t know it.” A collision course, more aptly, I suppose.
“You shouldn’t do this. You can’t go in there and expect them not to realize who you are. They’ll know.” She pulls out her compact again.
I wipe at the lipstick I’m certain is smeared on my mouth. “They aren’t as smart as you seem to think they are.”
“It’s not a matter of smart. They have eyes and ears everywhere. When Charles doesn’t show up, they’ll be on high alert.”
“You know so much about them?” I ask.
She reapplies her lipstick. “I grew up with it. So did you.”
“Fair point.” Pulling back, I turn and look out the window at the large Mediterranean estate. Palm trees line the entrance, and beyond them a fountain pisses water into the sky. I’m a ridiculously wealthy man, but I still find this sort of excess pathetic. It’s all a show, one intended to impress other rich assholes. Well, from one rich asshole to another, I’m not fucking impressed.
“Shit.” I flex my aching fists.
“What is it?”
“I forgot to get a shot in for Tyrone.”
“Who?”
“Just an associate of mine I suspect that Hitler Youth motherfucker killed.” He got in some decent face shots on me, and I can tell the left side of my face is a touch swollen.
I reach into the back window and pull out my mask.
“Plague doctor?” She frowns at it. “You don’t think that’s a bit much?” She pulls hers from her bag. It’s a lacy black mask with sapphires along the top edge.
“I think it’ll be a hit.” I reach for the door handle, but pause and ask, “Are you ready?”
She laughs, but it’s tight and dark. “Ready to go to a party with people who might want to kill me, with a man they definitely want to kill, and with no idea what sort of terrors await? Sure. Why not?”
“That’s the spirit, darlin’.” I open the car door and stand, then help her out.
She’s unsteady on her injured foot at first, but she keeps a hold on my arm as we walk up the front steps and past two armed sentries by the fountain.