Page 5 of Claimed
“I’m a surprising girl,” she said, angling her head away from him to peer down at her legs. “I’m pretty sure I’m also going to be a crippled girl if you don’t get these nets off me though. I’m about to lose circulation.”
He moved enough to free her legs, but as she scooted backward out of the cocoon of netting, he caught her hand. The movement apparently startled her so much that she let him turnher wrist to his mouth. Holding her hand firmly in his grip, he bent forward and pressed his lips against her inner wrist. Her pulse was jumping again, and there was no mistaking the quick intake of breath as Nicki inhaled, her entire body going still.
“You taste like sunshine,” he murmured against her skin, and he didn’t mistake the shudder that rippled through her. “I haven’t tasted sunshine in some time, I’m afraid.”
“I—”
He lifted his head. Nicki’s eyes had widened, her mouth soft and inviting, her skin flushed.
“I want to taste more of it, if you don’t mind.”
Not waiting for her to counter, he leaned forward and brushed her lips with his.
Three
Nicki’s head felt too light and her legs too heavy as Stefan deepened the kiss, her body strangely unsteady as he kept his grip tight on her right hand and pulled her close. She’d kissed him withenthusiasmthe first time, but it had been more to scare the idiot off, not egg him on.
But this…
She didn’t want to scare him off from this. Not quite yet.
And Stefan seemed on board with that plan, evidently oblivious to the fact that they were on a public beach in front of God, the world, and everyone. Nicki fought for sanity, but all she wanted to do was keep going, keep pushing, to see how far they could take this moment, how far the very proper diplomat would be willing to go. Kristos and Emmaline had met on a beach, after all, but while they’d had to be circumspect because of his royal stature, Stefan didn’t have those restrictions. He was a demigod, sure, but he wasn’t…
“You’re thinking too much,” he murmured as Nicki caught her breath. One of Stefan’s hands had snaked around her back, and he pressed against her. The heavy muscles of his chest against her breasts made her nipples go hard and alert despite the thick fabric of her jog bra. She’d dressed for running,not seduction, and the result was a curiously muted and wholly infuriating sensation, her body demanding more…more. Whatever Stefan would be willing to give. Which was impossible and stupid and pointless, and yet?—
Screw it.
Angling her face toward him, Nicki surrendered.
Stefan met her more than halfway. His mouth was hard and firm against hers, his hands tightening to pull her close, despite the sand and sweat caking her skin, despite the tangle of nets around their feet. Her heart thudded heavily in her chest, but not too fast, not too hard, and she groaned with very real relief against his mouth. Stefan tasted of salt and heat, and she wanted to wrap herself in the moment and hold it tight, a barrier against the outside world.
Nicki lifted both hands to his shoulders, pulling herself closer to him. He was a fair amount bigger than she was, but their bodies fit together perfectly. His chest and abs were hard, the thin fabric of his running shirt pressed tightly against his skin and leaving nothing to the imagination. He arched her back and moved his mouth from her lips, to her cheek, to her chin, then pulled her over on top of him. Suddenly she was straddling his lap, his body rock hard, her knees sinking down into the sand alongside his hips as his hands locked into place. Stefan’s eyes were dark and intent. They fixed on her with unmistakable need.
“Kiss me again,” he rasped.
She leaned down into him, and for one precious moment she poured everything she had into that kiss. All her wants, needs, desires, fears—all the things Stefan knew nothing about, could never know anything about. For that beautiful second, suspended in time, she was as free as she’d ever been in her adult life, ever since she’d learned that life could be taken from her at any moment, ever since?—
Stefan jerked himself away from her like a man who’d been ripped free of an oxygen tank, and she gamely tumbled to the side to give him space. Stefan’s eyes were wide and startled as he re-focused on her.
“What?” Nicki blurted. “You didn’t want to be kissed back?”
He stared at her, his expression becoming one of intrigue…and desire. “I think, Atalanta, you turn everything into a competition. It makes me wonder what else beyond kissing I should be training for.”
Atalanta?Nicki wasn’t wholly up on her Greek mythology, but she was pretty sure the name was a compliment. Beyond that, the unexpected heat in Stefan’s words made her blink—but not as much as the shift of movement behind him. On the edge of the beach, wavering in the heat so as almost to seem a mirage, a man walked toward them. Not one man, either, but many of them. “Um, are you in trouble or something?”
Stefan stiffened without turning to look. “No,” he said crisply. “There’s nothing scheduled this morning, and my itinerary was logged.”
She lifted her brows. “Your itinerary included making out with me on the beach?”
His smile was back for a moment. “It should have, but no. I advised that I was going to search for you. Clearly, I was successful.” He’d moved back far enough that she could scoot completely off the netting, and she folded up the strands in as neat a packet as she could manage while he watched her.
“They could be coming for you,” he said.
Nicki snorted. “Not hardly.”
She said the words without heat, but she knew her place among her friends. She was the fun adventure-girl sidekick, a little difficult for the rest of them to figure out, with their carefully laid plans for the future—never mind that for two of them so far, those careful plans were falling to pieces aroundthem. But either way, she wasn’t the one that people would be coming for, unless…
She glanced up with sudden interest. Just a few days earlier, she’d offered her services to the royal family in one highly specific way, a way that meant more to her than any of them realized. She’d never thought they’d take her seriously, but…