Proof of Life (The Potentate of Atlanta #4) - Hailey Edwards Page 0,102
Either of them.
Midas was beautiful. I forgot that. I made myself forget it. Or else I would stammer and blush and never be able to speak to him without humiliating myself every time I opened my mouth.
Naked Midas made it impossible to forget or overlook or look away. Frak. I was doing good not to drool.
Between the two of us, we were road maps of life experience, scars upon scars upon scars. Exposing our bodies, our histories, took courage. I wanted him to know I saw him, and not only the marks left by his past. Even if it made me sound like an idiot. “You’re gorgeous, you know that? How are you even real?”
Bright pink splashed across his cheeks, and he shifted his weight like he might grab for the sheets to hide from my frank assessment. “Thanks?”
“You’re welcome,” I said primly, and used the wall to help me stand. “Now come here and kiss me.”
Happy to oblige, he leapt across the bottom corner of the bed and landed in front of me.
Surprise and shock mingled in a super-attractive snort. “Showoff.”
Midas set his hands on my shoulders then smoothed them down my arms until he held my hands. It was ridiculous, standing there with him, neither of us with a stitch of clothes on, while he made such a tender gesture. He wore a silly little grin while he rolled his thumb over the knuckle above my engagement ring.
The sweetness of the moment burst like ripe summer berries on my tongue when he finally kissed me, and heat swooped through my middle as he walked me back until my knees hit the edge of the bed. I fell, and he came down with me, covering me, his mouth never leaving mine.
The hard length of him pressed against my stomach, the friction between us maddening, and I trembled. I longed to wrap my hand around him, to hear his breath catch as I explored him, but he had similar plans.
I gasped for air once he broke our endless kiss, but his lips were already traveling my jaw, my throat, my shoulder. Lower. He peppered my skin with stinging nips then soothed the bites with gentle swirls of his tongue that made me shiver.
He kept going until he knelt on the floor, his palms spreading my thighs wide, and he wet his lips. But it was all too much. I was done with anticipation. Foreplay could wait. I swatted his hands aside, and he growled, but I didn’t care. I followed him down, my knees split to either side of his hips, my weight balanced on the balls of my feet.
Crimson sparked in his eyes, his question clear, and I nodded that I was ready.
A pained groan rose in his throat as he reached between us, and finally, finally, sheathed himself in me.
A ragged breath burst from my lungs, and I sank my nails into his shoulders.
It had been a long time for me, and Midas was…not a small man in any sense.
Burying his face in my neck, he let me adjust to his size as shivers rippled through his tense muscles.
He pressed loving kisses to my throat and face, and his lips were salty when they met mine. I’m not sure when he lifted me or how he got my upper body back onto the bed, but he stood between my legs, his hands hooked beneath my knees, waiting, waiting, waiting.
Rolling my hips against his, I urged him to get a move on, and his control fractured as he thrust into me. I writhed under him, unable to escape, unable to think, unable to do more than feel. Piercing his skin with my nails, I fought the delicious tension coiling tighter and tighter in my core, but Midas was ruthless in his pursuit of my pleasure.
Teeth scraping my throat, my jaw, he breathed in my ear, “Let go.”
The orgasm exploded through me, tearing a sob from my throat, and I clawed at him, pulling him closer.
“Beautiful,” he panted, his lips curving. “So damn beautiful.”
Arching my neck to reach his shoulder, I sank my teeth into the tender skin where my nails had been.
Midas came apart in my arms, my name a ragged prayer he chanted under his breath, over and over, his hips swaying as they lost their rhythm, his weight crushing when he went boneless above me.
I didn’t say a word, and not just because I had no oxygen to form them.
With a grunt of effort, Midas rolled off me before I suffocated, not that it would have been a bad way to go. I’m not proud that I considered rolling him again—right onto the floor. Payback was coming. Oh yes. But it would have to wait, seeing as how my arms were the consistency of Jell-O cubes.
“Thank you,” he murmured, his eyes drifting closed, his chest rising and falling in slow breaths.
Unable to resist, I brushed my fingertips across his cheekbones. “You don’t have to thank me for sex.”
“I meant for loving me.” A slow smile spread across his face. “The sex was good too.”
“Good?” I squinted at the ceiling. “Yeah.” I lifted a hand and wobbled it. “It was okay.”
Flecks of crimson sparked in his eyes when they opened, and he trained them on me. “Okay?”
Teeth cutting into my bottom lip to hold in a laugh, I shrugged. “It was fine.”
“I thought we agreed not to grade each other on our performances.”
“I was kidding.” I reached for him, hating I had ruined the moment. “Tell me you know that.”
Midas shifted his gaze out the window, but the telltale twitch of his lips ruined his act.
“You’re fishing for compliments,” I realized with delight, pinching his arm. “Put away your pole, sir.”
“What if I’m not done with it yet?”
Throaty chuckles bubbled up in me, and I covered my face with my hand. “You did not just say that.”
His weight landed on me, his knee wedging between my thighs before I recovered from my laughing fit. He palmed my leg, wrapped it around his hip, and slid back into me. The shock of sensation dropped my hand onto his shoulder, and I dug my heel into his spine to let him know I was with him.
Always.
Read Moment of Truth Next!
The Potentate of Atlanta, Book 5
Faeborn witches are marching in the streets, shifter packs are prowling the night with blood in their mouths, and portals into Faerie are popping up in downtown.
Hadley has one chance to save Atlanta, but it means trusting her dark side to get it done.
The city will survive. She'll see to that. But will her soul?
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About the Author
USA Today best-selling author Hailey Edwards writes about questionable applications of otherwise perfectly good magic, the transformative power of love, the family you choose for yourself, and blowing stuff up. Not necessarily all at once. That could get messy.
Also by Hailey Edwards
The Foundling
Bayou Born #1
Bone Driven #2
Death Knell #3
Rise Against #4
End Game #5
The Beginner’s Guide to Necromancy
How to Save an Undead Life #1
How to Claim an Undead Soul #2
How to Break an Undead Heart #3
How to Dance an Undead Waltz #4
How to Live an Undead Lie #5
How to Wake an Undead City #6
How to Kiss an Undead Bride #7
How to Survive an Undead Honeymoon #8
How to Rattle an Undead Couple #9
The Potentate of Atlanta
Shadow of Doubt #1
Pack of Lies #2
Change of Heart #3
Proof of Life #4
Moment of Truth #5
Black Dog Series
Dog with a Bone #1
Dog Days of Summer #1.5
Heir of the Dog #2
Lie Down with Dogs #3
Old Dog, New Tricks #4
Black Dog Series Novellas
Stone-Cold Fox
Gemini Series
Dead in the Water #1
Head Above Water #2
Hell or High Water #3
Gemini Series Novellas
Fish Out of Water
Lorimar Pack Series
Promise the Moon #1
Wolf at the Door #2
Over the Moon #3
Araneae Nation
A Heart of Ice #.5
A Hint of Frost #1
A Feast of Souls #2
A Cast of Shadows #2.5
A Time of Dying #3
A Kiss of Venom #3.5
A Breath of Winter #4
A Veil of Secrets #5
Daughters of Askara
Everlong #1
Evermine #2
Eversworn #3
Wicked Kin
Soul Weaver #1