The Promise (Darkest Lies Trilogy Book 2) by Bethany-Kris (fiction book recommendations .txt) 📕

“I’m here because I feel safe.”

“You feel safe here?” he asked.

“With you,” she clarified. “Like my feet are on steady ground, the rest doesn’t really matter when I feel like that because I never do. Except with you. I like it, I’m not sure I should, though.”

The admittance had Karine’s cheeks burning even if she had willingly told him the truth. Not that her secrets seemed to bother him as his gaze roamed over her where she stood a nervous mess. She became hyper aware of her night attire the longer his gaze lingered. An old oversized T-shirt, and a pair of tiny cotton shorts. Roman gave no indication that he even noticed what she was wearing, or cared, for that matter as his gaze crawled back up to meet hers.

“I think you do know what you want, Karine. Maybe it’s become easier to distinguish your wants and needs without everyone else constantly plying you with whatever they wanted or needed at the time to serve their purposes, but either way ... you do know yourself. And you’re allowed to. No one’s taking that away from you here. I promise.”

She couldn’t look away from him, then, her reason for being there undeniable as that urge to run diminished to practically nothing. The hunger pooling low in her belly as Roman leaned his gorgeous form toward the edge of the bed took center stage for her focus instead.

Karine didn’t even try to hide the way she swallowed hard, or how she couldn’t stop her tongue from sweeping along the seam of her lower lip like she might find the taste of him there. Or the memory of it. Roman didn’t miss the actions either, his attention drawn to her mouth and back up to her wide stare.

“If there’s something in this room that you want, Karine, you should take it,” he told her, hesitating after he’d swung his legs over the side of the bed. A sensual grin tugged at the corners of his lips. Despite herself, and how in over her head she was with this man, she grinned, too.

Just moments ago, she’d been lost, her mind dark, at war with herself and the people inside her head fighting for attention—for presence. And now, it was just her and him, a single moment between them, and she wasn’t going to waste it.

“Even if what I want is you?” Karine asked.

“Especially if what you want is me, Karine. You wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want you, too.”

“Good,” she said in a whisper. “Because I do.”

Roman slid out of the bed, bare feet touching the floor for only a second before he moved toward her, making Karine drag in a shaky inhale of air that left her body on fire. He was a sight to see, coming at her fast, eyes drinking her and hands clenched into fists that he released only when he reached for her.

Every hard line of his body, each chiseled muscle, flattened to her soft curves when he scooped her into his arms, and pressed his mouth to hers. The fire he’d ignited inside her was nothing compared to the way pleasure speared through every one of her nerves at his kiss, bruising and unforgiving against her own.

But she liked it.

And how that bliss melded with the heat spreading through her limbs at an alarming speed. Karine sighed into the kiss, her lips curving into a smile when his tongue teased the seam of her mouth for a taste.

“I like the way I feel when I’m with you.”

The words slipped out before she could stop them, but Karine didn’t regret saying it all the same. It was the truth, and he should know.

“All you had to do was say so,” his voice rumbled with her next kiss.

Good to know.

Not that she could say anything at the moment. But it was fine. More than. Roman sucked on her bottom lip, his teeth dragging along the plump flesh until she was gasping for air. Feeling his fingers tease her shorts, daring to dance beneath the waistband, she stole his next kiss before he could take it, parting her lips for his tongue to dart deeper, finding hers.

She didn’t even care that her arms were folded against his chest, trapped while his kiss pulled the air straight from her lungs. That hungry, harsh kiss turned softer, suddenly deciding to take his time with her. There was no rush as her back flattened to the door when he pushed them forward, never once breaking the kiss.

Karine’s heart stuttered when she realized she could spend the rest of the night with him. Tangled up in him, again.

If that was what he wanted, too.

And it certainly seemed like he did.

Roman only pulled away from the kiss to spin her around. The change was so abrupt, the room became a dizzying blur before she came to a stop. Her back molded into his chest, her ass tight to his groin where she could feel the hardness and length of his cock between his thighs. His strong arms crossed over her front, engulfing her, pinning her to him while he grabbed a fistful of her hair. Tugging her head to one side, earning a soft moan from Karine, he pressed featherlight kisses along the column of her neck.

She couldn’t quite understand how his gentleness mixed so perfectly with the roughness—or better yet, how it made her body sing.

“How good do you wanna feel?” he asked, his words drifting along her sensitive skin and making her shiver. And then, more demanding came his dark, “Tell me.”

Karine rushed to say, “So good.”

Still slow, his mouth moved over her skin, coaxing those flames licking under her surface even higher, and Karine floated higher with each one. His tongue lapped at the curve of her shoulder, then sucked after his teeth dragged over the same spot.

One of his hands shoved quickly down into her shorts at