The man did the same.
Royce.
I wondered what the sound of it might be like coming from my tongue.
I stumbled when I broke out of the crowd and into the narrow, dimly lit hall, the decibel of the bar diminishing to a dull thrum. The only sound I could make out was the thunder of my heart pounding in my ears and the man’s footsteps edging up from behind.
“You don’t have to watch over me,” I whispered into the hollow vacancy.
A tattooed hand snaked around to palm the front of my throat.
I felt it like a rough caress to my soul.
“I don’t know how to let you walk away.”
Oh, God.
My knees went weak, and the plea was spilling out, “Then don’t.”
He exhaled a shaky breath, and he was slowly turning me around and edging me deeper into the hall, the shadows swallowing us as we moved farther into the recesses. He backed me into the wall, and a tremble ripped down my spine when he planted both palms over my head.
Heat surged as he covered me in the shroud of his gorgeous body. A whimper of need bled from my tongue.
“Royce.” I murmured his name like it was a dream.
He ran his nose along my jaw, and my chest was heaving, my wayward heart reaching out for him.
“You’re going to regret this,” he grated.
I probably would.
This was so not me.
But tonight—tonight I didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was this.
Feeling.
And I wanted to feel with him.
“Please . . . just . . . kiss me,” I begged.
Royce wavered.
Rocking forward then edging back, needy pants ripping up his tremoring throat.
“Please,” I said again.
“Shit,” he muttered, then his mouth crushed against mine.ThreeRoyceShit.
Motherfucking shit.
What was I doing? What was I doing?
Making another one of those huge, massive mistakes, that was what.
Didn’t understand why I couldn’t stop. Why I didn’t fucking want to.
Nothing made sense. Nothing but driving my fingers deep into long, thick curls of blonde hair as I kissed her like a madman.
A lightning bolt ridged down my spine, my cock steel, a boatload of lust dumped into my bloodstream, so thick, it obliterated all reason.
Chased out all rationale.
I was going to regret this. But sometimes one moment was more important than a thousand others.
Unforgettable.
Impossible.
Because there was no chance I was actually feeling this.
Emily exhaled in surprise, and I swallowed the needy sound, my lips slanting over hers in frantic possession.
Those little hands fisted in my shirt, the girl trying to keep up with the assault, gasping for air as she fought to kiss me back.
Could feel the heat, the need, the way she struggled to get closer. No chance that either of us could get close enough.
For a desperate beat, I edged back to look down at her, the girl so gorgeous it knocked the breath from my lungs, my mind canting to the left, disconnected from all logic.
She was cut in sharp, defined angles, cheeks high, her mouth the only contradiction, a soft, silken bow that I wanted to lose myself in forever.
But it was those sage-colored green eyes that gutted me, the trust that swam in their lapping depths, the storm of gray that rimmed the outside.
“Royce,” she begged.
All it took was my name raking up her throat for me to completely lose it. No control left.
Fuck it.
Only thing that mattered was getting closer.
I lifted her from the ground, one arm around the small of her back and the other wrapped up in her hair. I pulled her to my hungry mouth, kissing her wild, lips and tongues and teeth.
Cherry coated her sweet tongue, and need thrummed her heart into a fury.
“You were right, what you said. You were right,” she whispered frantically. “I want you to take away the pain. Take it . . . just for a little while. Just for tonight.”
Fuck.
I was a bastard.
A monster.
But I couldn’t stop.
On a groan, I spun around and rushed us five steps deeper into the hall, like that was going to do anything to keep us concealed.
Her upper back hit the opposite wall with a thud, and she wrapped her legs around my waist.
Flames licked, friction rising from the barest connection.
I dove in deeper, possessing her mouth, and my palm greedily slipped up the silky bare flesh of her long, toned leg. The material of that red country dress that had driven me out of my mind all night bunched up over her thigh.
A warning screamed from the depths of my mind that this was spinning out of control.
Realization that I was devouring her right out in the open. The shadows had nothing against a powerful camera lens.
God, this was stupid.
Reckless and foolish and brash.
I knew this girl was out looking for a reprieve. Sanctuary. To find something that was so clearly lacking, but I didn’t think she had the first clue what she was signing up for.