Page 25 of King of Rage

“So you remember working?” he asked. There was a sharp edge to his voice now. “Do you also remember that you worked yourself to exhaustion today? Do you want to work yourself to death?”

His brows drew together as he leaned closer.

“You own your business, and you’re still overworking yourself to the point of fainting. What the fuck are you lacking? Money?”

Stella’s eyes flashed with irritation.

“It has nothing to do with you, Mr. Frost. You should be worrying about your girlfriend, not me.”

“I don’t have a girlfriend,” he replied, his voice hard.

The firmness of his answer made her expression shift, though she quickly concealed her reaction.

The question that had been gnawing at her ever since she had seen him with the woman at dinner rose to the surface again. She had assumed the woman was his girlfriend.

“What about the woman from last night?”

"It was a business meeting. I was there to sign some documents. That's all."

Before he could finish, Stella leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.

Lucius went still for a brief second, caught off guard by the sudden kiss.

Then instinct took over.

His hand rose to her face, his fingers curving around her cheek as he tilted his head and kissed her back. His mouth moved over hers with the same commanding familiarity she remembered, taking control of the kiss as though he had never forgotten how to make her surrender to him.

Stella’s fingers curled into the sheets beneath her.

The more insistently he kissed her, the more her resistance began to crumble. Her body responded before her mind could catch up, yielding to a touch she had spent a year trying to forget.

‘Even after a year, I can't make myself want anyone else but you. Your body is the only thing that makes me feel this desire — like I can finally breathe again.’ she thought,

His mouth was exactly as she remembered. Soft, maddeningly controlled even as the heat between them built. He kissed her like he couldn't help himself, catching her lower lip between his teeth, sucking gently before doing the same to the upper one. His tongue slipped past her lips, tracing hers, retreating, then coming back for more until she could barely catch her breath.

His mouth left hers and trailed down to her jaw, softer now, unhurried, a stark contrast to the hunger of a moment ago. He worked his way to her ear, then her neck, kissing and biting lightly along her throat.

His tongue slid over her skin, and she sucked in a sharp breath, her fingers curling into his hair, gripping tight. He caught her wrists and drew them behind her back, and her spine arched instinctively, tilting her neck further into his mouth.

She let him kiss her, lick her, take whatever control she had left, until she stopped trying to hold onto it at all.

He held both her wrists in one hand while the other worked the buttons of her dress, loosening it before sliding it down over her hips and off completely, tossing it aside. The cool air of the room hit her skin, and her breath caught.

His mouth found the strap of her bra and dragged it off her shoulder with his teeth before returning to her now-bare neck, his tongue tracing over her shoulder, down to her collarbone. Soft kisses, soft licks, slow enough to drive her mad. The trail of warmth he left behind made her shudder.

"Ah," she whispered, her voice breaking as his mouth found hers again, hungry, insistent. He kissed her over and over, his mouth claiming hers again, before his hand slid to her back and unclasped her bra. It fell from her shoulders, and he tugged it the rest of the way down her arms before tossing it to the ground, careless, just like he'd done with her dress.

He released her hands and lowered her gently onto the bed, her head sinking into the pillow beneath her. She was so overwhelmed that she could barely catch her breath.

She surrendered to his lead as he shifted over her, bracing himself above her. He reached for the hem of his T-shirt, pulled it over his head, and tossed it aside. He had already changed into his usual clothes for home, leaving him in nothing but his trousers.

His gaze returned to her, lingering on her face as he moved closer.

His bare chest came against her, and her hands moved on instinct, reaching up to touch him, sliding down the ridges of his body. This time she was completely sober and the feel of him beneath her palms was overwhelming in a way it hadn't been the last time.

She tried to hold herself back, tried to keep some control, but it was impossible around a man this handsome. His body was a familiar poison, one she wanted to drink again and again.

Her hands slid up to his neck as she pulled his head down and pressed her mouth to his throat, kissing him there.