His lips moved over hers. His hands holding her so very, very close. “You handled yourself like a warrior, princess.” He paused, studying her eyes. “Yes. My warrior princess. I like the sound of that.”
She unclenched her fingers from his shirt, wincing as the blood rushed back into them. It felt as if the sharp edge of the letter opener still cut into her hand as she gripped it tightly. If Sebastian hadn’t arrived when he did, she might have had to defend herself with it. That prospect didn’t frighten her as much as it probably should have. She’d been fending off attackers since her late teens. “I could feel you getting sick. I saw it. The others might not have been able to, but I knew what you were going through. What if...”
“Shh,” he soothed. “It’s over now, and we’re both alive and well. Kiss me again. Kiss away my hurt.”
Alice lowered her face to his, wanting the oblivion. Needing it. She slanted her mouth over his, opening herself to his taste. His heat. “That thing...what was it?”
“Nothing more than a warning.” Keeping one hand on her back, he slid the other beneath her shirt. “Are you still planning on using that letter opener?” he said, chuckling.
A wince later and she uncurled her fingers, still wrapped around the smooth handle. “I was going to put it back lat—”
“I knew you had it. You’re not very good at being stealthy.” His fingers kept trailing fire along her belly, his mouth paralleling with a similar flame on her neck.
“Am too stealthy. You couldn’t have known.”
“Your walk gave you away. A little stiff-legged.”
Her breath caught as Sebastian pulled the T-shirt up and over her head. He leaned forward, covering her breast with his mouth, moistening the bra as if it wasn’t there. Alice found herself arching into the heat coming from him, her mind almost too caught up in his actions to process his words. She paused though when his nibbling became almost too much to bear. “You knew but didn’t stop me?”
Sebastian sighed, his forehead resting against her sternum. He took a deep breath then raised his head to look her in the eyes. “I gave you carte blanche access to my home, where I am still a stranger to you. With your background, I would have been more surprised if you’d left my belongings unmolested. I don’t condone your behavior, but I do understand it.”
A sudden wash of shame flooded her. “I was going to steal it at first. That’s inexcusable and...I’m sorry. For what it’s worth, I’d decided to return it before you offered me the job. I thought you’d never know.”
Sebastian gently bit her lower lip, pulling a gasp from her. “I know.”
Why? It made no sense. For him to know what she was, to have figured out she would have robbed him in his sleep if given half a chance, he should have turned her out at the first suspicion. Instead, Sebastian kissed her. He took sustenance from her and allowed her to take from him.
Just her luck, right? To have a man so perfect, he would have been a Prince Charming for any other woman. To her, he’d been no more than a mark.
The realization made her heart clench.
Then again, her life didn’t come with a Prince Charming. Hers came with stoners and meth addicts. With a brother who tried to sell his sister to his friends. With an illness that might kill her one day—sooner, rather than later.
Alice rocked her hips, purposely brushing against Sebastian’s erection. Anything to banish the current thoughts from her mind.
“You’re thinking too hard,” Sebastian said. His thumb brushed beneath the curve of her breast. Back and forth, stirring her arousal.
“Kiss me again, please.” Her words were a rough whisper. Full of yearning. She wanted him, the man, but she wanted for herself. Just once, she wanted...
Gentle lips brushed over hers, and the live wire short-circuited every synapse in her brain, detonating one after the other until there was no thought left. She moaned into his mouth, reveling in the heat still lingering there. Like before, he fed it to her and she consumed it greedily. Never had it been like this. The intensity, soul-grabbing.