Page 130 of Fall Before Her Throne

“Leona Theresa. Leona Theresa.”

I loved the sound of it coming from his mouth.

Moments passed, filled with the sounds of our heavy breaths and the slow touches of his reverent worship. His forehead pressed against mine.

“See? It’s not too terrible to be alone with me.”

My kiss was gentle. “Don’t press your luck.”

40

RYUJI

“Think they’re going to be okay?” Cas wearily glanced back at Max and Leona waiting by the garage.

I laughed. “They’re going to start fucking as soon as we leave.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Or they kill each other.”

“Or both,” Ciel piped up from the row in front of us.

“Probably kill each other first, and then fuck in the ashes of our burned-down house,” Wynn said. I held back a snort at my surprise at his usage of profanity. “I bet there’s at least a few scorch marks somewhere by the time we get home.”

“I just bought that house,” Obi grumbled from the front seat. “I expect it to be in perfect condition when we return.”

“Don’t count on it,” I said as I adjusted myself in the seat. My thigh brushed against Cas’s, and he gave me a sideways glance. I pressed my knee against his even harder, and he met the push with one of his own.

Wynn started running everyone through the plan we came up with to get to Connecticut, extract Chiara, and get home without drawing attention to ourselves, but I was barely paying attention. I came up with the plan, so I didn’t really have to listen.

“Hey,” I whispered.

He ignored me, but a muscle feathered in his jaw.

“Pay attention to me.”

Cas rolled his eyes. He leaned closer. “I’m trying to pay attention to Wynn.”

“Nah,” I said with a shake of my head. My knee pressed against his harder. “I can fill you in on the plan when we get there.”

Wynn droned on in the background as far as different routes we could get to the seaside cottage or back from it, but it was a simple trip up the I-95 and back. The problem we faced was cameras watching the roads, so Ciel needed to take those out, which he was already doing.

“Cas.” I leaned closer. “Look at me.”

“What, you want to make out in the back of the car like two teenagers?” he hissed. “While everyone else is focusing?”

I smirked. “If you insist.”

He angled closer, so close I could feel his breath on my cheek. It would only take a jerk of our heads to kiss. My veins pulsed at just the thought. If any of the guys looked back here, they’d see only an inch between us.

“If I kiss you, will you shut up and leave me alone?”

“Yeah.” No. Never.

He snorted. “Liar.”

“It was worth a shot.” My eyes flicked down to his lips. I imagined fucking him, him fucking me, both of us fucking Leona and each other. Somehow he’d gotten under my skin and remained there, just like Leona. I actually liked the man. “You know you want to.”

“I do want to,” he answered, voice barely carrying a sound. My eyes went wide. I gaped like a fucking fish. “Stop looking so fucking surprised.” He rolled his eyes and leaned back. “Not in the car. Not hiding in the backseat like it’s some dirty secret.”