Lost in the Shadows Excerpt © Tracie Douglas 2018
“You saved me, Penny.” His hand finds mine, and he instantly laces our fingers together. I open my mouth to argue, but he keeps going. “I know you're going to tell me that's not true. That I'm the one who saved you. But I'm telling you the truth. The morning before we met, I didn't think I would make it out in one piece when we made our move to take Charles and Armando down.”
“Damien—” I tense beside him, but he squeezes my hand, urging me to let him finish.
“It took nine months to get what I needed to take them down, but during that time, the things I witnessed, the darkness of it all, I didn't know how I could come back from all of that. Then you walked into that room, and the moment our eyes met, it was like the world shifted under my feet and I had a reason to make it out alive.He stares down at our connection, his brow puckered into a frown.
“Damien, please,” I beg, not sure what I’m asking for but needing to close the distance between us. I lean further into him, letting him wrap his arm around my shoulder. I feel like I can’t breathe without touching him and lift my face to nuzzle his neck.
His scent fills my nose, intoxicating me, and the temptation to taste his skin is too much. My mouth touches his neck, and my tongue darts out to run along a corded line. The flavor of his skin bursts across my tongue, and I moan throatily. He tastes salty, manly, intoxicating. It’s a taste I could become addicted to, but one taste isn’t going to be enough. I open my mouth again, this time placing a hungry kiss on his skin, swirling my tongue across it.
He gasps and pulls back, grasping my shoulders with his hands. He’s shocked, and when he looks at me, I expect to see anger burning in his eyes. But it isn’t anger I see. There is something else there, something unfamiliar to me. Whatever it is makes my body tingle in all the right places.
“Damien…” His name is on my lips, but if I’m honest, I wish it were more of his skin. I run my tongue along my bottom lip, searching for any remaining trace of him, addicted to the taste of him already. He watches me attentively, and his brow crinkles with frustration.
His eyes are glued to my mouth, and I know he’s thinking about the only kiss we’ve shared. I wonder if he felt this pull between us then, too.
He leans forward slowly, and right as I think he’s going to close the distance completely and kiss me, he pulls back.
    “We can’t.” 

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