CHAPTER ELEVEN
There were many things she was feeling right now, and they bombarded her like pinpricks of needles that tempted to make her body wriggle out of her own accord: regret, panic, fascination, and haze, among other things. Then there was that one emotion that stood above the rest, hovering over her like a threat as she watched Simon enter with a worried expression on his face. Instead of her friend and mission partner comforting her with his presence, he only ended up heightening the sensation.
He was wearing black slacks and a plain black shirt—what they decided was an unofficial uniform for a bodyguard who was only guarding his charge at home. She’d seen him wear it multiple times, and she hardly noticed anything about it—or at least, she tried not to as she focused on the mission.
Now she was noticing everything too much—the breadth of his shoulders and chest as the shirt stretched across it, the muscled arms that fit so well in the short sleeves, the long, hard legs that sauntered over to her as she sat up from her lying position.
Her mind half-expected him to yank her up and crash his mouth against hers in a hard, glorious kiss, and her body throbbed at the thought. She pressed her legs together and looked up at him, unable to erase her helplessness even if she tried.
“Help. I’ve been poisoned.”
Simon paused like a deer caught in headlights, his eyes widening and those gray eyes darkening to a deeper color. She licked her lower lip and parted her lips, and she watched as his gaze followed the movement before he dragged it back up. Then the darkening cleared and he was sitting beside her, taking her elbows and rubbing them soothingly, like he thought that was going to help.
Tingles shot up her spine.
“What kind of poison?” he asked urgently, thumbs rubbing her skin. “Tell me so I can find a way to help you.”
She stifled a moan at the feel of his fingers on her, and her mind supplied how those fingers could help…by sliding further down her skin and touching every part of her body that ached. She could feel her nipples tightening and the throbbing rush down in between her legs, and this time, she could no longer hold in the whimper.
“I didn’t drink anything, but I think it’s so powerful that the sip I took was enough.” She struggled with words. “I’m so…I’m so turned on right now, Simon, and I can’t…”
His fingers froze at her words, and his body stilled. Slowly, he made a move to withdraw, and something in her ached at the loss.
Without thought, without any plan or control of her body, she moved in a flash. Robin grabbed hold of his shirt and crumpled it in her hand, using all her strength to push him down on the floor. He yelped and tried to fight her, but she jumped on him before he could, making them both crash down with him on his butt and her straddling him. His hands automatically went to her waist to steady her, and panic entered his eyes when he realized what he’d just done out of instinct. But she was already moving forward, unable to help the need rising up inside her to feel his body close. And his hands.
And that mouth.
She placed her hands on his shoulders, trapping him in place. He tensed but didn’t move away. She looked him in the eye, and he looked back at her, confusion and awareness warring in his.
Robin leaned forward, brushing her mouth against his. He didn’t respond, still ramrod straight as his hands tightened on her waist. Taking advantage, she kept brushing, feeling the heat start up in her body. The tingles erupted when he spoke.
“Robin, we can’t…” he breathed out roughly. It was a warning, but all she could concentrate on was the warmth of his breath. “I can’t…”
“I’m so hot, Simon…” she responded, licking his lower lip. “I’m so hot for you…”
Then, unable to contain her moan any longer, she finally deepened the kiss and threw all caution to the wind.
He lowered his grip to her hips as she assaulted his mouth with eager kisses, and she half-thought he would push her away. She didn’t want him to because he tasted like man and everything that made him the Simon she knew—earthy, bright and addictive to the soul.
Then Simon opened his mouth, and surprise filtered as her tongue suddenly, easily slipped in. Then his tongue was colliding with hers, and whatever brightness was there turned dark and dangerous as he kissed her back with an intensity that knocked her off her feet completely.
He kissed like a drug, and she was intoxicated. He kissed her with a skill that was sexy and seductive at the same time, teasing her between soft and hard tongue movements and sucking on her lower lip every once in a while. Her hands tightened on his shoulders as one hand moved to her thigh, while the other rested on top of her wet robe and his palm brushed her stiffened nipple. Another moan came out of her, this one longer and rougher as he assaulted her mouth over and over. She wanted the kiss to go on and on, unable to get enough, but Simon had other ideas as he broke the kiss almost roughly and proceeded to cruise his lips down her throat, where he sucked softly. Robin’s hands moved up, gripping his hair for support as she felt like she was losing her mind bit by bit at his every caress.
His hand tightened on her breast, and suddenly she wanted his mouth on it, making the ache go away. A strangled sound came out of his throat, something between a groan and a curse, and she heard the words come out with difficulty.
“Robin…we can’t…”
She whimpered her protest and yanked his head back up, their teeth clashing. She pressed her body against his and felt the huge, hot erection that he’d been hiding all along. Robin lifted her body to grind against it, wanting more, more, more—
A voice whispered in her head that this wasn’t real. Magic seeped out, making the voice louder.
All of a sudden, her senses came back—that she’d been letting her body dictate her actions, that she’d been allowing the poison to intensify her desire without doing anything about it.
That she’d been letting it flow into Simon, too, which was why he was responding with an intensity that was beyond what he showed her in the past few days.
But her instincts were stronger, and that magic fought the poison now like a sledgehammer. Slowly, her fingers untangled from his hair one by one, and she allowed herself to respond to his kiss for a few more seconds before finally letting her more sensible side take over and break the connection.
She moved away from him as if burned, her breathing heavy and her heart beating a mile a minute. Arousal pounded in her veins, threatening to make her come undone, but she held on and consciously crossed her arms over her breasts and tried to find the words to say as she watched him with his own erratic breathing. She wanted nothing more than to press her body back against him, and realization came over her that was harder to accept than kissing him had been.
She was attracted to him even without the poison—seriously, dangerously attracted to the Simon he was now.
“Simon…”
Simon’s gaze snapped up and pinned her in place, burning hot with desire. She swallowed, her mouth going dry.
Then that gaze cleared in an instant, and a frown marred his face as he sat up quickly.
“Jake,” he uttered.
Robin blinked. What?
“Kismet, where the hell are you? We’ve been trying to contact you.”
It all made sense as he pushed one hand in his ear where the earpiece was. Most thoughts of the kiss left her head as she instinctively moved closer, and Simon didn’t think twice as he removed his hand and let her ear come closer. She used her magic to enhance the connection, and suddenly she could hear Jake, too.
His voice was tense and unclear, but she could hear something about Lucy, running away from monsters, and a maze that they couldn’t get out of. Her mind raced as she tried to piece together his description of the size, the shape and the colors he saw before the line cut off again, and his voice faded into nothingness.
A light bulb popped in her head, and she was standing up in an instant and racing towards the bathroom, where she dressed speedily. When she went back out, the first thing she noticed was Simon already up, too…and his erection gone.
Her cheeks heated at where her thoughts went, but she steeled her spine and faced him.
“I’m sorry. My magic fought the poison too late. And it seeped into you.”
He was quiet for a moment, simply gazing at her intensely. Then he shook his head. “Forget it. We need to find Jake.”
There was a dismissive tone to his voice, and she should feel relieved that he wasn’t picking at it. But instead of relief, disappointment settled in her chest, heavy and odd.
She ordered herself to respond accordingly. “I think I know where Jake is. I haven’t checked the back garden a second time because of the wall, but I have a feeling…”
Simon nodded. “Right.”
“So let’s rescue them and go home.”
“I’m not going home yet after the rescue.”
“Why?”
Simon’s eyes turned dark and steely. “I’m killing Jin first for doing that to you.”
And then he was out the door before she could say anything, and Robin was left to wonder how things could have gotten out of control so quickly.