FORBIDDEN BLOOM

5 — TO FIND HER AGAIN (2)

LEONIDAS

And I didn’t need to be told twice. I stripped out of my shirts, then leaned forward to reach for the tiny ropes of her dress as my fingers shook with the need to feel her skin hot against my lips.

This was a need I hadn’t felt in years. Tonight, the King was not in control of anything.

I fumbled for a second with the intricate ties before I lost my patience. With one sharp tug, the material gave way and my eyes devoured every inch of her ivory skin.

Tiny scars marked the underside of her belly, the spot right above her collarbone, one long and thick against her side.

She was magnificent. Perfect.

Curvy in all the right places, full breasts rising and falling with her heavy breaths, my throat went dry.

“You are even better than I imagined.”

Without giving her a chance to reply, I crashed my mouth against hers, tasting pure want. This was the kiss of a starved man, not a King.

My tongue claimed her mouth the same way my hand slid down her smooth body to find the sweet spot between her thighs.

To my amazement, it was a fountain down there. She was already slick. For me.

“Gods,” I breathed against her neck, biting at the sensitive skin right where it met her shoulder. “You are soaking for me.”

“Don’t just talk about it, Leonidas. I did not come here to be lectured,” she rasped, letting out a wrecked moan as her fingers dug into my skin. “Just f**k me.”

We hadn’t even started when a frantic pounding at my door ruined the mood. Whoever was knocking either had a death wish or there was an urgency bigger than my punishment.

It had to be the latter. I’d hate to spill blood on a night as perfect as this.

“Your Grace! You have to see this!”

I groaned, burying my face in the crook of her neck. “Let’s ignore it.”

I wanted to sink into her and lose myself in that jasmine scent until morning.

“Your Grace, it’s the docks!” the voice shouted through the thick oak. “The warehouse is on fire and it is spreading to the residential block. The sirens are already going off, but the governor is refusing to authorize the evacuation without your digital signature. People are trapped.”

Every bone in my aroused body tensed.

A warehouse fire in the industrial district was one thing, but if it hit the high-rise apartments nearby, it would be a m******e.

And in this modern age, a King was more than a figurehead, he was the one who held the keys to the city’s emergency protocols.

I pulled back to look down at the woman I was going to leave. Her hair was a mess against the furs.

“I have to go. There’s a fire and the lives of my people are at a risk if I don’t go now.”

Grabbing my trousers, I swung my legs over the bed and leaned over to press a hard kiss to her mouth.

“Don’t move. Stay in this bed. I’m not even close to being finished with you. Promise me you’ll be here when I get back.”

She arched a brow. “A King should not make demands he can’t enforce, Leo. They did not teach you that in royal charm school?”

“Promise me, princess. Stop f*****g around,” I growled, hovering inches from her lips.

“I’ll be here,” she whispered.

I grabbed my phone and my shirt, throwing it on as I sprinted for the door. I didn’t even look back as I wrenched it open and bounded down the hallway.

***

It took three hours of barking orders into a headset and staring at thermal feeds on a tablet before we were able to contain the fire and save the residential areas.

Although my lungs burned with exertion and my shirt was ruined, at least the fire was out and we had managed to pull the last of the residents to safety.

All I could think about on the drive back was the woman waiting in my bed. I couldn’t wait to scrub the scent of smoke off my skin and replace it with her.

Swinging the door wide open , I burst into my quarters.

“I’m back,” I called out with a raspy voice. But I was met with silence.

The bulbs were out, leaving the room in cold, gray emptiness. The furs on the bed were still rumpled with the impression of where she’d been lying.

The sheets, cold. So was the fading scent of jasmine.

I checked the vanity for her, then looked in the bathroom, hurt to find it empty. I moved round in circles, kicking down all the doors in the hallway.

She was gone without a trace. There was no note, neither was there phone number.

Just a single jasmine petal resting on the pillow where her head had been.

I realized in the short seconds that followed, that I’d just been played.

She sought me out, gotten exactly where she wanted in my head and vanished like a ghost into the night.

A frustrated laugh bubbled up in my throat as I sat on the edge of the bed. None of my men had seen a woman dashing out of the castle either.

How did she manage to evade all of them?

To think I’d memorized every detail of her face, and now, I’d have to spend the rest of my life looking for it.