Vipers and Virtuosos (Monsters & Muses, #2)(22)

And now that we’re here, I don’t intend on wasting the opportunity.

“Fuck.” Breaking away, I slide my hand around to her jaw, holding her head back to stare into those clear blue eyes. They’re glassy, round with lust, and laced with vulnerability.

“Oh, my god,” she breathes, her breath cool as it brushes my lips. Her fingers touch the corner of her mouth, and she drops her gaze to the chain around my neck. “I’m so sorry, Aiden, I don’t know what I was thinking.”

My eyebrows jump, nearly grazing my hairline. “Well, that’s a first.”

“What?”

“Never had someone apologize for kissing me. I can’t decide if that’s worse than you saying you’ve outgrown me, or not.”

Her cheeks take on a rosy hue, and she lets her hand fall to her lap.

Her mostly naked lap.

Arousal rushes down my spine like a waterfall, and I slowly inch the hand resting on the table toward her leg. My fingernail scrapes over her knee, and my palm smooths over it, stopping mid-thigh and giving a tight squeeze.

She jolts forward, bringing her cunt to the edge of the table. The lace material of her underwear strains against her, caught between the two of us. It’d take almost no effort for me to slip a finger beneath the band and rip, baring her to my eyes.

My fingers. My tongue.

“I-I don’t…” She licks her lips, her hand encircling my wrist. Barring entry.

“Don’t what?” I bend down, dragging my nose across the crown of her head, trying to find where her peppermint perfume begins. “Don’t want me to kiss you?”

“I don’t know why you’d want to.”

The admission feels like a brass-knuckled punch to the gut, knocking the wind out of me. My free hand moves up, cupping the back of her neck so she’s forced to look up at me. Glacial eyes blink back, rife with unspoken emotion and secrets.

They’re captivating, like a whirlpool that sucks you into its current, and I feel like a man who never learned how to swim.

“Fishing for compliments?” I ask, arching an eyebrow.

Her mouth flattens, the blush from before darkening. “No, just making an observation.”

My fingers flex around her, my thumb finding her pulse point. It stutters beneath me, as if struggling to keep a steady beat.

“Do you think I’d be here if I didn’t want to be?” Pressing my hips against her, I move so she’s bowing back over the table and slide my hand into her hair, threading lightly in her roots. The tips of our noses brush as I ghost my mouth over hers, teasing but not kissing.

Desire builds in my chest, like water held back by a dam.

“That whole ballroom was stuffed full of beautiful, elegant women tonight. Women who I probably wouldn’t have had to pay for.”

My other hand pushes back against her, moving higher up her thigh, until I’m close to the spot I’ve just tattooed. She opens to me and our breaths mingle, passing interchangeably between parted lips.

“But all I saw was you.”

A soft gasp escapes when my fingers drift around the tattoo, soothing the heated flesh, and I swallow it, sealing our mouths together.

Her answering moan damn near unravels me, and I’m practically climbing on top of her in my search for more.

More friction.

More sweetness.

More of her.

Wiggling her hips, she kicks out of the NYU sweatpants and wraps her legs tentatively around my waist. I feel her hands slip up my back, roving over the raised lines of each of my tattoos. My hands fall to her hoodie, hooking beneath the hem.

I draw her bottom lip into my mouth, sucking sharply as I begin lifting the hoodie up.

She jumps, yanking back for a moment, holding my hands in place. Anxiety colors her features, and I frown.

“I need to see all of you,” I say, but she just shakes her head.

“Shirt stays on. Please.”

My jaw clenches, irritation slinking through my nerves. “You realize I saw you topless earlier?”

“An innocent accident,” she says, shrugging one shoulder.

It’s like she thinks that remaining clothed will protect her from me.

“Fine.”

Releasing the hoodie, my fingers dip lower, traveling lightly over her pubic bone. Her face seems to tighten and soften at the same time, as if she likes what I’m doing, but it pains her to admit.

“Then I want more.”

Teeth sinking into her bottom lip, she hesitates. “I guess we can keep kissing—”

Snorting, I pull back and smooth a palm down the front of my jeans, cutting her off mid-sentence; her eyes widen as they track the movement, taking in the sight of my erection straining against the fabric.

“I don’t have a condom,” I say, cursing myself internally for not thinking to grab one from the penthouse. Though, to be fair, I really hadn’t planned on needing one. “But I would always regret it if I left tonight without getting to taste you.”

She blinks several times, her blush darkening and crawling down her neck.

I can’t help but wonder if it stretches farther.

Short breaths puff from her chest, and she glances back at the door Gio and Jenna went through. “What if someone comes back?”

“They won’t. I’ll be done before they do.”