I held my breath and waited for the explosion that never came. The only sign that he’d heard was his darkened pupils. Wordlessly, he disappeared only to reappear minutes later.

I was doubly confused when he shed his shirt and reached past me to toss it and grab a bottle I hadn’t noticed he had laid on the bed. I tried to get a better look, but he captured my chin between his fingers and held my head. Time seemed to stretch as he silently studied me. I knew him well enough to know he was challenging me without uttering a single word. I lifted my chin and matched his gaze. I wouldn’t back down. Whatever game he played, I’d play it harder.

“You told me I can’t touch you,” he said slowly.

“My birth control—”

“Kneel.”

“Excuse me?”

Instead of repeating, he anchored his hands around my arms and faced me away from him. He then flattened his hand on my spine and forced me down. I struggled but he restrained me until I couldn’t struggle anymore.

“Shhh. Don’t speak. I can’t control myself if you speak.”

“This is control?”

“No, Lake. This is me taking control.” The towel—my only shield—was peeled away from my body effortlessly. I couldn’t see anything but the sheets trapped under my body. I listened to the sound of his harsh breathing as the smell of his freshly washed skin infiltrated all of my senses.

“Remember what I promised you?”

“You’ll have to be more specific.” I sensed his smile as he ran a hand down my spine to my bare ass. He stopped there and I tensed.

“I told you I would take you here…” he slipped a finger between my legs to tease forbidden areas, “when you were ready.”

“Yes.” Was I consenting or acknowledging his promise? God, I wished I knew, because he slid his knee, forcing my legs wider.

“I can’t wait that long,” he whispered.

Oh, fuck. Did he mean—

I wasn’t able to finish piecing it together because he kissed me. A harsh, possessive kiss that promised danger and retribution.

“If I can’t have your pussy… I’ll have to settle for the next best thing.” The ice in his voice froze the blood in my veins until I felt as if I would shatter.

“Keiran—”

“Shh…” His lips trailed the side of my forehead, down to the corner of my lips. After pressing a little peck, he shifted me, bringing my hips higher in the air. “I promise to make you want it.”

Could I want this?

I panted and writhed on top of the sheets as his hands freely roamed my body. Unexpectedly, I felt a hot, wet trail of desire escape me and run down the inside of my thigh. I was both mortified and hungry for something I wasn’t even sure I wanted.

“Goddamn,” he moaned and trailed a fingertip over the thigh that exposed my arousal. “You’re dripping, baby. Don’t tell me you don’t want this, or I might have to fuck you harder.”

He reached for the bottle that lay near my head and popped the top. He took a single pass over the heated skin of my ass before spreading me for his teasing. I groaned and gripped the sheets between my teeth when the first wet finger entered me. I sucked in a breath a little too harshly until I was left gasping.

“Easy,” he cautioned and slipped his finger deeper. I exhaled and my body accepted more of his invasion. I heard him shift and then his tongue was between my legs, devouring and delivering me to heights I’d never reached, all the while his finger never stopped fucking my ass.

“There’s no part of you I can’t have,” he promised after I fell apart in his mouth.

Stop this!

“Yes.” Apparently, my brain and body were at war. I turned my head in time to see him tear open his jeans with a savagery unlike men of our time. A moan escaped my lips as I braced myself for his invasion. The anticipation alone almost killed me, and when his cock pressed against me, ready to take, my heart stopped beating. He used my hair as a noose and brought his face closer.

“Keiran? Lake?” Sheldon’s voice on the other side of the door was a like a bucket of cold water, resuscitating and drowning me simultaneously.

“Yes?” The hostility in Keiran’s tone was unmistakable.

“Your niece is wondering if you two are coming to have pancakes with her before your court appearance.”

And just like a mother, Sheldon had expertly scolded us by reminding us that Kennedy could hear us, and we had somewhere to be. Another moment passed, Sheldon had already retreated back downstairs, and Keiran had still not moved away. He gripped my hair tighter in his fist and brought his lips to my ear.