Stoking the Fire (Salus Security #1) - Teodora Kostova Page 0,64

nest of soft blankets, while Alec has a meager triangle left to use.

I bite my lip against a smile as I imagine him trying to unsuccessfully hustle the blanket away from me during the night.

My fingers itch with the need to touch all that gorgeous skin, to run them over the striking, black lines of the tattoos covering his body. Both my arms are covered in ink, but it looks so much different on Alec. So much sharper. More intentional. More intense.

Everything about this man is intense.

Before I realize, my hand’s reaching for Alec, my palm gliding over sharp lines and smooth skin. I feel the moment he wakes up even though he doesn’t move. His body stiffens under my touch, but he doesn’t try to move away.

Emboldened, I shut off the part of my brain that’s screaming at me to back off, not complicate things, slow the fuck down, and scoot closer, my body flush against Alec’s side. His breathing quickens, his chest rising and falling faster. Bending down, I kiss his nape, my hand gliding over a never-ending expanse of skin.

Alec moves, angling his body toward me, his head coming out from under the pillow. Squinting, he studies me, face inches away from mine.

“What are you doing?” he whispers.

My hand slides down to his ass, squeezing the firm flesh, wishing the pajama bottoms were not in the way. “Isn’t it obvious?” I raise an eyebrow, then bump his nose with mine.

“That’s not why I invited you here last night,” he says.

The rejection stings more than I anticipate. I make to move away, my hand falling limply on the mattress.

Alec catches my wrist and holds me in place. “I didn’t mean…” He closes his eyes, his brows furrowing. “I didn’t mean you should stop,” he says, firmly. “I only meant that I didn’t invite you here to take advantage of…” He gestures around, as if searching for the right words. “The situation. I just wanted you to get some sleep.”

The sincerity in his tone, written all over his face, and the spark of lust in his eyes as they roam over me, makes the last shred of control slip between my fingers as they dig into Alec’s arm.

“I’m pretty sure I’m the one taking advantage right now,” I say, never giving him a chance to reply.

I crash my mouth to his, not waiting for his approval.

It comes anyway.

He kisses me back as eagerly as I’m kissing him, no prelude, no exploring, just a raw rush of emotions and need that stands no chance of being stopped by the flimsy barrier of rationality.

Alec pulls me on top of him—or maybe I tackle him, I can’t see through the lust haze—and as our bodies lie flush against each other. I’m painfully aware of the scraps of cotton between us. Hands urgent, mouths frantic, bodies too eager with desire to be patient, we pull and claw at our clothes until there’s nothing between us.

“Condoms,” I manage to say, not willing to remove my lips from Alec’s for a second longer than necessary.

Alec stiffens, his mouth going slack under mine. “I don’t have any. Do you?”

I pull back to look at him. His mouth’s lusciously red, his eyes still a little unfocused, his cheeks flushed. I can’t imagine a scenario in which I have enough willpower to stop this from happening.

“I don’t,” I admit.

Alec groans, his arms tightening around me. “I can go get some from the store.”

“Fuck the store!”

Alec’s troubled expression clears at my outburst. I grind my hips against his, making him groan in an entirely different manner.

“I want you any way I can get you,” I murmur, bending down to drag my lips against his throat. “And this,” I breathe against his skin, my breath catching as Alec’s hips buck up. “This feels pretty good to me.”

I barely finish the sentence when Alec growls, surging upward and flipping us over. His body covers mine in a delicious, all-encompassing way, pinning me against the mattress. His hips keep rolling against mine, our bodies slick with sweat, creating the most electric friction. Every time his dick slides against mine, I feel a tingle in my balls; every time his mouth sucks on sensitive skin, I gasp his name.

“I need…” I rasp between kisses. “I need more…”

Alec’s chest rumbles with the growl he lets go, his uninjured arm sliding between us, his fingers wrapping around both our cocks.

His touch drives me wild. No man has ever managed to make me frantic with need