Kiss Me While The World Burns

m that crawled across the room like smoke. It was a calculated mood change. The kind of song designed to make drunk high-s

She didn't do inhibitions, and

ne. His fingers trailed down her bare arm, leaving a track of goosebumps in their wake

th me," h

d in a velvet baritone, the kind of tone he probably

ching her lips. "I don't dance, Salvatore. Especially not with

ping an octave as he took a slow step backward into the dimly lit center of the VIP lou

ou're not entirely carved out of ice. Or are yo

ra

sted like b

e way her chest tightened when he looked at her like that. Like he knew exactly wh

er arms, her right hand resting precisely two inches from the concealed holster beneath her leather jacket. She was hyper-aler

. Bruce stepped up to the security railing, adjusting the cuffs of his tailored suit jac

his eyes fixed on the couple. "Or kiss him. Honestly, from this angle

line, she won't do either. She'll just bleed

nst the concrete pillar. "You look so bleak, Kany. Has anyone eve

don't know you, Bruce. I don't trust your boss, and I certainly don't trust a guy who wears a four-thousa

his eyes remained sharp, analyzing her movements, her grip, and her p

turning her shoulder slightly to block him out of her immediate sp

entirely too submissive, too much like letting him dictate the terms of engagement. Instead, she close

oothly placed his right hand against the small of her back. The heat of his palm penetrated t

ough her core. It had been years since anyone had touched her without a weapon in their hand or absolute malice in their eyes. For a spli

fore she could take a step back. Victoria forced the weakness down, burying it deep under layers of

om hers. The scent of cedarwood, expensive tobacco, an

er. The fabric of his tuxedo was soft, a premium silk-wool blend, but the muscle beneath it was

gainst her palms. "I'm just a tech guy, Victoria. You're the one with a pri

g around his shoulder, her dark-painted nails digging into the expensive fabric. "You built a wea

o your family, Victoria," Giordano

n her throat. The temperature in the room felt like it dropped ten degrees, stripped of all the club's artificial warmth. He pul

ks freezing in a safehouse in Berlin to crack that encrypted cipher for you. I would have just let the

e club's bass. The physical proximity was suffocating. Every single survival instinct in her gut was screaming at her to

didn't p

volatile spark crackling between them. It was a sick, twisted kind of chemistry-two apex predato

her lips brushing his jawline as they move

absolute authority in his touch, the sheer physical strength he was holding back. "That I am the

sive ego right open and put him back in his place. She wanted to tell him that nobody got to see the real her and live to talk about it. She wanted

g the absolute seriousness in his expression, the words caught in her throat. For the first time in her life,

his hand at her waist didn't loosen; if anything, his fingers pressed firmer against her spine, pu

aight through the floorboards and into her veins. They weren't even moving anymore. They were j

jolt straight up her column. Victoria's breath caught, her chest rising and falling against his jacket, her fingers still embedd

do with the business they came to discuss, and everything to do with the sheer, combustible heat pressing them together. Neither one