Accomplice to the Villain (Assistant and the Villain, #3)(84)
Without warning, she grabbed his neck and tugged his mouth back down to hers, and his response was instant. And soft no longer. A frantic urgency took over his actions, like he was on the verge of saying goodbye to something and he intended to take whatever he could before that occurred. His hands were everywhere, leaving fire in their wake and a strange sensation that prickled at her skin in something akin to pain.
He was gripping her hips so tight it was near bruising, but Evie was keeping the upper hand. It belonged to her from this moment on. She put her palms on his chest and began pushing him back, step by step by step, continuing across the floor until the backs of Trystan’s legs bumped against the small couch tucked into the corner of the room and he fell…but not alone. Evie straddled his waist as they landed on the cushion, and she hummed into Trystan’s mouth as he sat up and undid her with each brush of his lips.
On her collarbones, on her neck, but no farther. Evie tugged his mouth back to hers and tried not to succumb to the ragged whispers coming from him. “Gods, you have driven me to madness, Sage. Ever since I first laid eyes on you, I knew you would be the source of all chaos.”
Her lips hovered over his, so close. Her body was aching, and her muscles were taut beneath her skin. “Then why did you hire me?”
He came back to himself for a moment, his gaze serious as he said as simply as possible, “Because the thought of seeing you every day made me feel something other than angry. And I had forgotten what that was like.”
It was the oddest, most beautiful compliment she’d ever been given, and she smiled before making him regret that admission. “I have a confession.”
The wariness of his expression was not flattering, but Evie continued anyway. “That dirty dream I told Tatianna about a month ago…? When I said I didn’t mean it that way and I meant actual dirt…”
The wariness was gone, and now only intrigue remained. “Yes.” His hands were still moving against her hips, making it difficult to keep her wits about her.
“I lied. We were kissing…in the dirt.”
He was laughing before the last word was fully out, and then they were kissing again, and this time, his hand went to shove at the collar of his shirt to expose her shoulder. He laid a scorching trail of kisses down and down until he was bringing a hand up to close around her breast. She gasped and clutched at his hair when his mouth glided over the fabric, his tongue moving the silk back and forth over her nipple until she was making the most mortifying sounds. Somewhere in her haze, she noticed Trystan’s gray mist moving lazily around her ankles, and she thanked it for cooperating in this moment.
His head was against her chest as he breathed heavily. “We are even, then. I’ve had so many inappropriate dreams about you I began to organize them alphabetically depending on whatever act of corruption we were committing.”
She took both his cheeks in her hands and held him still, tilting his head up to look at her. “I want you. And you want me. But for tonight? Forever? And what is it that you want? My lips? My body? My heart? My soul?”
He shuddered, every muscle tensing. “Sage—”
“They’re yours. All of them. Whether you want all of them or none. I gave them to you that first day along with that old wool scarf.”
She felt strong and powerful in this moment, so it was a wonder that tears were burning and then sliding slowly down her cheeks. But then again, she supposed that’s where her true strength lived—in her ability to be vulnerable, in the depth of her feelings. The greatest power was bestowed to those who were brave enough to feel emotion and to do so thoroughly.
Trystan merely looked at her, so much pain etched on his face, but he said nothing.
Evie shook her head in disbelief over what was undoubtedly going to be the most mature and sound decision she’d ever made. Horrid.
But she pushed away, laying one gentle kiss to his lips, teasing him with light passes of her tongue before shoving him back with one hand.
“Enjoy them—your dreams. Because until you decide to forge your own path no matter what destiny says, until you decide to embrace a future with me, wholly and completely, those dreams will be all you ever have.” She painfully separated her limbs from his, standing and leaving him shocked and sprawled out like a shirtless dark god.
She wanted a trophy for what she was doing. A mark of valor, a godsforsaken invitation into the Valiant Guard—or rather, the Malevolent Guard. “Until then, you take the couch. I’ll take the bed, and you can come find me when you choose all of me.”
She slid the covers back, and the cool sheets felt so good against her bare legs she began to kick them about. Okay, so she wasn’t having sex tonight, but at the very least she had this. “Good night, sir!” Evie called with a smile as she nestled her head against the pillow.
He sounded a little too steady when he responded. “Good night, Sage.”
Which was likely the reason she sat up and snapped her fingers. “Oh yes. I forgot to mention—I usually sleep in the nude. In case you were wondering. Night!” She shoved the covers up to her shoulders, and it all became worth it. Resisting him. Laying everything out in the open.
Well, that and the loud, aggravated groan coming from the other side of the room.
Her eyelids drooped, and though her body hadn’t fully calmed, she suddenly felt exhausted. One more night and they would be back on their way. One more night.