Her answer was a whisper, but it shattered him. “ I don't care.”

Something inside him broke.

His hand pushed her dress higher, baring her legs, his palm kneading the soft skin as his mouth crashed back onto hers. The kiss was frantic, messy, desperate—tongues tangling, breaths stolen. She tasted of liquor and want, and it drove him mad.

She shifted beneath him, legs parting, pulling him down with her. He pressed hard against her, and she moaned into his mouth, the sound guttural, ...