The Redemption (Filthy Rich Americans 4)

My voice was uneven as we stood side by side, watching the lanterns go like slow moving fireflies. “The sound people made when the lanterns went up . . . I’ll remember it the rest of my life, Sophia.”

She went still, like she worried if she moved, she might not be able to hold herself back any longer.

The music from the sound system was quieter here, but I could hear Chris Isaak singing that he didn’t want to fall in love. He accused the girl of playing a wicked game, and without thought, I took Sophia’s hand. Her eyes widened as I drew our joined hands up and slipped my other one around her back.

I didn’t ask her with words if she wanted to dance with me. Instead, I used my body to lead her through a simple pattern, moving to match the tempo of the love song wafting in the air. Her hand was small and warm in mine, and I brushed my thumb over her skin just above the back of her dress, causing her lips to part and an inaudible sigh to tumble out.

I’d planned seduction for her, but with our private dance to the sultry music and the lanterns glowing overhead, we crossed into a territory that was fraught with danger.

This was romance.

It was one of the few areas of my life where I had no expertise, and I hadn’t practiced it in more than two decades. Alice was practical and had no need for romance, and I’d been smart enough not to try to woo Marist—my attack on her had been a combination of strategy and brute force.

Everything about Sophia put me off-balance.

While the lust inside me wanted her beneath me, I couldn’t stop the craving to have her beside me after our partnership ended.

Typically, I enjoyed dancing and how it put me in control, but this dance was far more satisfying than anything I’d had before. She moved when I did, and she turned beneath my hand when I guided her through it, the hem of her dress dusting across the stone-filled path. She was trembling when she came back into my arms and stared up at me with big eyes, the reflection of the lanterns faintly noticeable in her pupils.

I was in command of our dance but had no illusions that I was in control. My feet slowed us to a stop, my hand on her back urged her forward, and I dropped my head, capturing her lips with mine.

A jolt of surprise went through her, but she softened into my kiss, molding her body to my frame like she wanted every inch of contact I was willing to provide. The fabric of her dress crushed against the ribbed front of my tuxedo shirt, and the heat of her breasts soaked through into my skin.

It was foolish to be doing this. However unlikely it’d be that someone would wander in and catch the two of us in such a passionate moment, it wasn’t impossible, and the consequences would be catastrophic. Warnings beat like angry drums in my head, but I ignored them. Her soft mouth was too enticing, and no matter how strong I was, I could not resist its pull.

She whimpered with pleasure when I teased her lips apart and slipped my tongue inside. The slow, lush slide caused sparks to cascade down my spine and race toward my groin. She tasted sweet, from either the champagne or the cake, or perhaps that was simply the flavor of her lips.

I let go of her hand, freeing it so I could cup the back of her neck and angle her head to give me further access to her mouth. And once she was released, she plunged that hand inside my tuxedo jacket and slipped it around my back, deepening our embrace.

It wasn’t a kiss I was used to delivering.

There was no reason or goal or benefit that could be quantified on paper as to why I kissed her, but the need to possess her was crushing. I was desperate to show her how powerful her effect was on me, and how it rivaled the power I held over her.

She was breathless, and her pulse roared, pounding in the spot on her neck beneath her ear, and I moved my mouth until I could cover it with my lips, sucking gently. Sophia wilted in my arms, and for a moment, I recklessly considered laying her down on the bench beneath the fountain and taking her right there.

Luckily, common sense won out.

I didn’t want a dangerous, quick fuck with her, and additionally—I had plans. I would extract both orgasms and information from her, and it was unlikely I’d be able to do either right now. When I had her under my control, neither of our focuses should be split with worry over being caught.