Chapter 58: Not like this|
His chest rose sharply against hers, and for a moment it felt like the world had frozen—until it shattered.
"Damn it," Nicholas muttered under his breath, his voice gravelled and tight. And then he snapped.
He surged forward like a dam finally giving way, his mouth crashing into hers with a force that stole her breath and reason in one punishing sweep. His fingers buried themselves in her hair, fisting at the nape of her neck, while the other hand grasped her jaw and tilted it just enough for him to take everything he wanted.
And he wanted everything.
His kiss wasn’t gentle. It was desperate. Hungry. Fierce. There was no pretense, no build-up, just a raw unleashing of everything he had buried.
He kissed her like he’d been starving and she was the only thing left in the world that could keep him alive. Like she was salvation and sin wrapped in the same skin. His lips molded to hers with feverish intensity, each movement fast and frantic, like he was trying to memorize the shape of her mouth before the world ended.
Ella whimpered into his kiss, her hands flying to his shirt, fisting the material, needing to feel more. Her knees buckled, and he caught her, pulling her closer, pressing every inch of himself against her until there was no space left to breathe. Her mouth opened under the pressure, willingly, and he groaned low into her as he deepened the kiss.
His tongue pushed in, dominant and demanding, and she met it with her own, the taste of him exploding across her senses. He tasted like tension and heat and something she didn’t have a name for but wanted more of. Her hands moved to his hair, dragging him deeper into the kiss, her nails grazing his scalp, earning a guttural growl that vibrated against her mouth.
"God," he rasped, breaking the kiss for half a second, their foreheads touching, "I can’t—fuck—I can’t stay away from you."