White-hot rage blinded me to the risks of stalking the mayor’s daughter in broad daylight.
He had kissed my Allie. Nikolai Ivanov was a dead man walking. I should’ve killed him last night for daring to touch her.
But I’d followed her instead, possessive compulsion driving me to her doorstep to ensure that she got home safely. It’d taken everything in me to stop myself from pounding on her door and pushing my way inside. She would’ve yielded. She’d never been able to resist the maddening chemistry we shared. All I had to do was cage her in my arms and claim her mouth, and she would’ve been mine again.
She hadn’t flinched from my touch when I’d protected her from that creep outside the bar the other night. Not until her friends interrupted us, breaking our connection.
My scar prickled with the memory of their horrorstruck expressions, tinged with revulsion. I scrubbed the ruined flesh with my fingertips, as though I could dispel the irritating sensation. Deadened nerves barely registered the touch of my hand.
When Allie had touched my face, she hadn’t flinched from my scar. I’d felt the tender brush of her fingertips on my soul, even if my senses had been irreparably dulled to the feel of her.
My craving for her was a burn at the back of my throat, almost nauseating in its intensity. She was mere inches away from me but utterly out of my reach. More than just the towering shelf of books separated us. We lived in different worlds, and I’d already pulled her too far into mine.
I’d put her in danger. I’d put her in the crosshairs of Nikolai Ivanov.
Rage boiled in my veins, and for a moment, red washed over my vision. The library dissipated around me, leaving only the image of his hands on her, his mouth claiming her.
My fists clenched at my sides, and my teeth cut into my cheek. I tasted copper on my tongue.
A soft, hitching exhalation pierced my fury like a needle to a swollen balloon. The sound of Allie’s distress instantly cooled my rage and harnessed my full attention. Another muffled sob hooked deep in my chest, and before I knew what was happening, she pulled me toward her as though she’d looped a rope around my heart.
I rounded the shelf to find her dashing tears from her cheeks with a jerky swipe of her fingers. Her other hand strained up high, and she rolled onto her tiptoes to grasp at a book that was out of her reach. A frustrated growl huffed from her chest, followed by a sniffle.
Suddenly, I was at her back, crowding her as I easily plucked the book from the shelf. She whirled on a gasp, her delicate body going rigid with a burst of fear.
I should’ve backed off. I shouldn’t startle her like this.
I shouldn’t like it when her doe eyes found mine, wide and glittering like gemstones. Even her tears were beautiful, no matter if the sight of them made my gut twist. They glistened on her freckled cheeks. Dark circles bruised the almost translucent alabaster skin beneath her lovely eyes, but they did nothing to dull the desire that punched me square in the chest. Her light, floral scent surrounded me, and I breathed her in like she was oxygen, like I’d been drowning without her.
A small tremor raced through her body, making her appear achingly fragile in my imposing shadow.
“Max.” She breathed my name, barely more than a strained whisper. It caressed my skin, teasing over my mouth. Somehow, my lips were a hairsbreadth from hers. Her chest rose and fell on quickened, panting breaths, making her breasts brush against me in a tantalizing rhythm.
A heavy thud echoed around us as the book dropped from my fingers, utterly forgotten. My hands came up to bracket her shoulders, bracing against the glossy spines to cage her in. Her head tipped back, her face lifting to mine. Her stunning eyes still shone with tears. This close, I could make out the wet droplets that darkened her pale lashes. I’d never seen her like this: totally bare of makeup, revealing the raw beauty of her delicate features.
I wanted her stripped totally bare beneath me, so I could caress and possess every inch of her creamy skin. I wanted to memorize every freckle, to worship each one with my lips until she quivered and begged for me to handle her more harshly. To unleash the most savage cravings that drove me close to madness.
Her lashes fluttered, and another glittering tear spilled down her cheek. My lips brushed over her face, catching the sign of her grief as though I could erase her sadness with a tender touch.
“Max.” Her voice was little more than a whimper, tight with something between pain and longing.
My mouth descended on hers, smothering the keening sound. As soon as my lips touched hers, all thought was obliterated from my mind. All I could do was take everything she would yield to me, to mark her with my tongue and teeth. She wouldn’t so much as think about kissing Nikolai Ivanov ever again. Not after this.
She released a breathy moan into my mouth, a sound between desperation and relief. The black beast that’d sunk its claws into my chest ever since I’d seen her kissing the Russian bastard finally eased its sharp grip. The pain that’d lanced my heart ebbed as she shuddered and softened in my arms, her surrender soothing the darkest parts of me.
I kissed her like a man possessed, the fiery chemistry between us driving me close to madness. Nothing in this world was sweeter than Allie giving herself to me, her breathy little gasps against my lips as her tongue tangled with mine.
“Hey!” The exclamation was sharp with rebuke. “This is a library. Go find somewhere else to make out.”
The wash of heat to Allie’s cheeks kissed my face with a pulse of tantalizing warmth, and my fingers flexed against her back to hold her closer. I wanted her sweet shyness all to myself. I wanted all of her. My Allie.
She jerked her head to the side, forcibly breaking our kiss. Her shaky gasp wracked her delicate body with a tremor, and my arms firmed around her to offer support.
She shoved against my chest, pushing away from me. A low growl slipped between my teeth before I could bite it back. I didn’t want her to push me away. I didn’t want any distance between us. Nothing felt more right than having Allie soften and sigh in my arms. I wasn’t ready to lose this. Not again.
“S-sorry,” she exhaled, the apology to the guard hitching slightly. Her cheeks were rosy beneath the constellations of freckles, and her stunning eyes were shielded by lowered lashes. They were still damp from her tears. “Let me go, Max.”
It wasn’t until she released the tremulous demand that I realized I had her pinned between my body and the bookshelf at her back. She couldn’t get away if I didn’t want to let her go. She was so small in my possessive hold, so soft and warm.
The guard cleared his throat. “Leave.”
I released Allie with a sharp curse, sanity crashing back down on me. I was practically grinding against her in public, where anyone could see us. There were probably security cameras that’d caught us in the act. If her father decided to follow up on her whereabouts for any reason—the man was paranoid when it came to his precious daughter—there would be a clear record of my stalking.
And my dark craving for her.
I’d be dead if Fitzgerald ever saw that footage.
I took a step back, finally severing our connection. Allie sucked in a sharp breath and darted away from me, practically bolting in mortification. My sweet Bambi was spooked, and she was running.
My fingers captured her wrist before she could escape.
“Max,” she warned, tugging against the iron shackle of my much larger hand around hers.