MARIA POV
Dax smirked, eyes glinting with mischief as he leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. “Now, how are we supposed to **thank** our fierce little queen for her pep talk?”
Henry didn’t even hesitate. One second, he was sitting across from me, tense and brooding, and the next, he was grabbing my chin, tilting my head up as he **crashed** his lips onto mine.
I gasped, but he didn’t give me a chance to recover. His tongue slipped past my lips, claiming me in a kiss so **deep, hot, and overwhelming** that my entire body melted into the booth. My fingers curled around his wrist as I tried to keep up, but Henry was **not** in the mood to let me have control.
Just as I thought I might completely lose myself, he pulled back. My lips tingled, swollen and warm from his ki
