A Reckless Note (Brilliance Trilogy 1)

“Come here,” he orders, and while I am not a person to take orders, there is something about being told what to do by this man in this situation that is ever so enticing.

I close the two steps between us and he doesn’t make me wait for my reward. His hands are back on my hips and his eyes meet mine. “You really are beautiful, Aria.” His lips touch my belly, that simple touch darting sensations through my entire body, forcing my lashes to lower. My throat is dry, my nipples tingling. Every part of me is alive because of this man. I am not sure I have ever been this alive.

Suddenly, I’m on the bed, on my back, and he’s tugging his shirt over his head. My fantasy of kissing and licking his tattoos is in the forefront of my mind, but it’s hard to think when he is touching me and kissing me all over. I have a moment, just a moment when my mouth is on his arm, on one of those musical notes etched into his skin, but it doesn’t last. We are all over each other and soon his pants are gone, and we both roll the condom over him.

We are side by side, his hand on my backside when he presses inside me. I gasp with the feel of him so hot and hard, with the sensation of him driving deep. And then his fingers are in my hair and he tugs my head back, his lips lingering over my lips. “I swear, woman,” he murmurs, “you’re a drug and I’m addicted.” Already, his mouth is on my mouth, a slow burn between us that is wild and wicked one moment and sultry the next.

And when it’s over, when we are both trembling and crashing into each other and the soft pull of the mattress, the late hour, and the night, it’s not over at all. Kace and I snuggle under the blanket together and we don’t even need words. We come back together, our bodies close, my head on his shoulder.

And I sleep.

I sleep better than I have since my last peaceful day in Italy, the last night my family was whole.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

I wake in Kace’s arms, and it’s not long until we’re in the shower together, and I finally do what I have wanted to do since I discovered those tattoos on his belly. I dare to press him into the corner. I dare to take control.

The heat in his eyes says he doesn’t mind, not one bit. “What are you doing, baby?”

“What I’ve wanted to do since I discovered all your tattoos.” I go down on my knees and my gaze lifts to his as I kiss one tattoo and then lick it. He laughs a low, rumbling laugh, that hums with arousal.

“That’s what you’ve wanted to do?”

“Oh yes,” I say. “Very much so.”

Hard muscle flexes beneath my palm as my mouth travels each and every one of those musical notes etched in his skin, all the way down his belly. By the time I’m there, he’s hot and hard, his cock jutted forward, now at my shoulder, and I can’t neglect any part of him. I wrap my hand around him and lick the head.

His lashes lower, the lines of his face as taut as every muscle in his body and soon I am licking a whole lot of everything, everywhere. He speaks of money as power, but I believe right now, on the floor of this shower, there is power in making this man moan, to have him lost and completely out of his own head.

When I’ve taken him over the edge, he pulls me to my feet and I’m the one in the corner, his hand stroking over my wet hair, tilting my face to his. “I wear a condom, baby. I have always worn a condom but for you, with you—I want you to go on the pill.”

For me.

With me.

I don’t hesitate. I don’t overthink. At least in that steamy, wet moment, I decide right then that maybe this is all sex, and sex would be better without limitations. Maybe he doesn’t even care about my secrets because this is lust. And if it’s all lust and sex, why shouldn’t I enjoy the ride? “I’ll call my doctor Monday,” I say, and my reward is him on his knees, and my leg over his shoulder. No, my reward is the quake of my body that he owns with such fierceness that I can barely say my own name when it’s over. I certainly cannot stand without his help. And he loves it. He holds me up and then pulls me under the water, where he soaps me up and promises me coffee followed by queso. It’s a pretty perfect way to start a day.