The Princess Finds Her Match

“You’re hurt,” she said, her words coming out thick and slightly slurred, intoxicated more by this man than any substance she had ingested inside the bar. She spotted a small cut on the corner of his lip and the outer edge of an eyebrow. She felt guilty for just noticing. Before she even realized it, her hand had shot out and she was already tracing the gash by his mouth with a trembling finger. She heard his sharp intake of breath and noted the darkening in his blue eyes.

“It’s nothing,” he dismissed, catching her hand with his own before she had a chance to pull it away, guiding her palm flat against the landscape of his jawline and cheek. Pinning her with a hot, intense gaze that made her tingle in several places all at once, he murmured huskily, “There is one thing you can do to make it better, though.”

The last thought Lexie had was that she was thankful she didn’t have onion rings to go with her burger before his hands cupped the nape of her neck to draw her in and claim her for an all-consuming, soul-destroying mating of lips, tongue, and mouth.

He started out gentle and warm, his seeking lips all over her face, tenderly brushing her forehead, then her eyelids, her nose, each cheek, and then her chin. Lexie smiled at his tender thoroughness then jerked in shock when his tongue swept from one end of her upper lip to the other before doing the same thing to her lower lip. She gasped in surprise, and Nic took the opportunity to plunge his tongue inside her mouth. As his actions grew bolder, Lexie’s knees grew weaker. Her arms clamped tighter around Nic’s back to prevent herself from collapsing like an accordion on the pavement. In return, he grasped her bottom and pressed her hips flush to his. And that was when Lexie felt his arousal.

Nic broke off the kiss, his breath sounding ragged. He drew Lexie to his chest, his chin resting on top of her head. She could make out the rapid beating of his heart and guessed hers was just as fast.

“Holy shite,” he uttered, and Lexie chuckled weakly because he perfectly encapsulated the giddy wonder she was feeling at their instant, total connection. A connection she could not, should not, allow to go further after tonight.

* * *

Nic took her hand firmly in his. She could feel calluses on his fingertips. She squelched her curiosity – she didn’t want to break the spell. If she started the questions, she would then have to answer his. No. Tonight she would be Lexie the…the Fearless! Yes, Lexie the Fearless. It had a very nice ring to it.

“You have a very determined look on your face right now.” Nic gave her hand a firm tug and anchored her closer to him, maneuvering her away from an uneven crack on the pavement. She smelled a hint of his crisp cologne, overpowered by the clinging notes of secondhand cigarette smoke and beer. Lexie suspected she didn’t smell any better.

“Do I?” she sidestepped the implied question. Out of the corner of her eye, he saw his lips pull into another smile.

“You had that very same look on your face before you started dancing on stage.” His head was dipped, his hands in his pockets. A small breeze played momentarily with his dark hair. The shadows between the street lights hid his expression. “You almost gave me a heart attack.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Shite, it was that good.” His face came up and he was grinning boyishly, his lips tilting up at the corners and his eyes crinkling adorably. He was a lethal combination of boy-next-door good looks and just-wait-till-the-door-is-closed-so-I-can-have-my-wicked-way-with-you. Lexie was in imminent danger of melting into a gooey puddle at his feet. His voice dropped. “Believe me, it wasn’t only a heart attack you almost gave me. Any better and I would have embarrassed myself in front of your fans.”

Her face must turned have turned as red as her wig, judging by the warmth she could feel on her cheeks. To deflect the conversation to safer waters, she asked, “How about my singing?”

Without missing a beat, he said, “That was by far the most God-awful singing I’ve ever heard in my entire life.”

Lexie stopped dead in her tracks so that Nic was forced to do the same. She covered her face with her hands. “Oh my God,” she groaned. “Oh my God.”