I hated that there was so much I didn’t know and even Theo didn’t. It made me feel unprepared.
“Let’s forget about all that tonight,” he pleaded. “I want tonight to be about us.”
His words stirred something inside me and I nodded. I looked toward the sky, admiring the twinkling stars. I loved how bright the stars were here. Sometimes I felt homesick, but mostly it was the people I missed—Dani and my dad. I wondered what Dani thought of my absence. I couldn’t risk contacting her for both of our safety, and it sucked. I missed her and wanted her to know I was okay.
I felt Theo’s lips brush softly against the side of my head and my eyes fluttered closed.
“What was that for?” I breathed.
“Because I can.”
I looked into his heated gaze and my blood roared through my veins. A smirk rose on his lips the longer we stared.
He was as infuriating as he was sexy. It was a potent and irritating combination I seemed to be unable to resist, like he was some special cocktail mixed solely for me.
Suddenly, he hopped up and offered me his hand. I took it and he hauled me up into his arms.
There was no music, but he began to move us like there was.
I pressed close to him, breathing in his scent. Dancing with him now felt different than it had in the ballroom. I didn’t feel like we were doing something wrong. He towered above me, his body enveloping mine.
When he crashed into my life—literally—never in a million years did I think we’d end up like this.
“What are you thinking about, doll face?”
“You,” I admitted.
He smiled cockily. “I’m pretty sure I occupy ninety-nine-point-nine percent of your thoughts.”
I rolled my eyes. “So sure of yourself, huh?”
“Of course. I mean, why wouldn’t you be obsessed with me? I’m extremely good looking, an incredible fighter, witty, an amazing kisser; shall I go on?”
I snorted. “Maybe you should date yourself?”
“I would, but where’s the fun in that? I like to get turned down some to keep things interesting and how could I ever deny myself? I’m far too wonderful to say no to this.” He let go of me for a quick second to motion to himself before resuming our dance.
“You talk too much.”
I silenced him with a kiss, which he deepened. He grabbed my face between his large hands, angling his mouth over mine. I grabbed hold of his tux, afraid I might slip away.
He pulled away, but just barely. “How can something that’s supposedly so wrong, feel so right?”
“Because it is right,” I countered, my brain still slightly foggy. “Nobody can convince me otherwise.”
He kissed me again, stealing my breath and searing himself like a brand on my very soul. I don’t know how long we stood there kissing, it could’ve been minutes or hours, it didn’t matter because it still wasn’t enough.
Eventually, we found ourselves heading back inside, but instead of going to the ballroom we headed to my bedroom. The air between us was thick with desire, pooling into a storm I knew was going to rain down on us any second.
We reached my room and he opened it. It closed behind us with a bang and Nigel meowed before running off and hiding in my closet.
“You make me crazy,” Theo murmured before he attacked my mouth, his fingers diving into my hair.
He kissed me like a desperate man who ached with all his soul for me. He pushed my back into the door and tilted my chin up to him. I shoved his tux jacket off his shoulders and it fell to the floor. My shoes were the next thing to go. He tore my mask off and tossed it over his shoulder where it hit the wall and bounced off. I took his off too, desperate to see him. I didn’t want any barriers between us.
He kissed me wildly, with a reckless abandon like I might turn to smoke beneath his hands and disappear. He nipped at my bottom lip and I moaned, my fingers searching for the buttons on his shirt.
I struggled to undo them and, with a growl, he backed away from me and tore his shirt off—he literally ripped the buttons out and they went flying all over the room.
The shirt fell to the floor like an empty shell and then he was on me once more.
I felt consumed, burning from the inside out, like I was going to explode at any second. My body pulsed with an energy I couldn’t control and I swore I heard things rattling in the room, but I was too absorbed to look.
My palms scoured the planes of his chest like I was searching a map. His skin was as heated as mine, and soft, but definitely not smooth. I felt the slight impressions of scars all over his body, like he’d fallen through a glass window or something of the sort.
“You make me blind,” he breathed against my lips. “Blind to my fears and my duties and everything I’ve ever known.”
He kissed me before I could respond. I didn’t think he wanted to hear what I might say, but the truth was I had nothing to say. I couldn’t think of anything.
I reached for his belt and his hand stopped me.
“Mara,” he whispered. “What are we doing?”
I looked up at him, my blood roaring in my veins, and pushed him toward the bed.
“You shouldn’t have to ask.”
His eyes were hooded, the normal gray color almost black with desire. His eyes raked me up and down, from my mussed hair, to my swollen lips, to my breasts that rose rapidly with each breath.
“I know what we’re doing.” He narrowed his eyes on me. “But I want to know that you know.”
“Yes, Theodore, now please shut up.”
It wasn’t the first time I’d said it tonight, and I meant it both times.
Apparently, he liked the sound of his own voice too much.
I turned around and brushed my hair over my shoulder, showing him the zipper in the back. I didn’t say anything more to him. This was my invitation and he could take it or leave it.
I heard his feet shuffle across the carpet and I held my breath. I didn’t dare to turn and look over my shoulder for fear of scaring him away.
He paused behind me, his presence looming. I felt his heat against me and he stayed there for several seconds before I felt his fingers lightly against my back. I shivered as he grabbed the zipper and slowly—oh, so slowly—lowered it. I held my breath as the dress loosened from my body. I lowered my arms and the dress slipped easily off my body and pooled at my feet.
Theo pressed his lips to my shoulder in a tender caress and I shivered, my eyes closing, and I leaned my head back against his chest.
He wrapped his arms around my waist and we stood that way for a few moments.
I turned to face him, searching his eyes. In them, I saw desire, but more than that I saw love. He said he did, and I felt it, but seeing it was a far more powerful thing, especially now.
“No matter what happens,” his voice caught, and he swallowed, “never forget this moment. Don’t forget what you mean to me.”
“Shh,” I hushed him. “It sounds like you’re saying goodbye.”
“I don’t trust these people, I don’t trust what they might do to me if they get wind of this. So please, I’m begging you, don’t forget.”