Chapter 13 - The Kiss
The silence in the penthouse was heavier than the gunfire had been.
"You love me?" Clara echoed, her voice trembling. "Julian, you don't even know how to love. You only know how to control."
"Then teach me," Julian pleaded, leaning closer. His dark eyes were completely entirely exposed, stripped of their usual armor. "From the moment you stood up to me in that lounge, I haven't been able to breathe without thinking of you. You are the only good, pure thing in my violent, broken life."
Clara looked at his bruised face, his broad shoulders carrying the weight of an underworld empire, and the absolute desperation in his eyes. She knew she should run. She knew this man was dangerous.
But her heart didn't care.
Clara leaned forward, closing the distance between them, and pressed her lips against his.
Julian groaned, a primal, starving sound. He wrapped his massive arms around her waist, lifting her off the sofa and pulling her flush against his chest. The kiss was explosive, desperate, tasting of brandy and adrenaline. It was a clash of fire and steel.
Julian’s hands tangled in her dark hair, deepening the kiss as he walked her backward until her spine hit the cool glass of the floor-to-ceiling windows. The city lights of Chicago sparkled endlessly around them.
"Clara," he breathed against her lips, trailing kisses down her jaw to the pulse point on her neck. "Tell me to stop. Tell me to walk away, and I will."
May you like
Clara wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, pulling him closer. "Don't you dare stop."
Julian picked her up entirely, her legs wrapping around his waist, and carried her down the dark hallway toward his bedroom. The war outside was over, but a completely different kind of fire was just beginning.
