A slow tremble worked its waythrough my body. It was one part surprise and two parts relief. I hadn’trealized the hold guilt had on me. Or the crippling shackles of blame.
I hadn’t realized I needed to escapethat prison as well.
Killian’s grasp tightened on myface, his thumbs sweeping over my cheeks to collect the tears that wouldn’tstop falling. “Tell me you understand. I need you to say the words.”
“I can’t,” I hiccupped. “I want tobut I can’t.”
He pulled me against his chest,wrapping his arms around me and holding me against the hard safety of his body.“You can,” he promised. “However you see yourself or remember yourself is alie. He hurt you Vera, and that is unforgivable. But what you did? Staying?Staying when you couldn’t see a way out, when you lived in fear, when he liedto you over and over and over, that wasn’t wrong. You didn’t do anything wrong.That’s his voice in your head, not yours. He’s still feeding you the lies thatkept you trapped for so long. You’re brave. And you’re strong. And you’re sodamn resilient. It might have taken you longer than you wanted, Vera, but youdid it. That makes you the hero of this story, not the victim. You’re thesurvivor. You’re moving on.”
I pulled back, opening my eyes tomeet his gaze and it was one of the bravest things I had ever done. He held methere, captivated by his faith in me, by the grace and gentleness that was insuch contrast to everything else I knew to be true about him. He wasn’t judgingme. He didn’t think I was pathetic or weak or used. And he was asking me to seemyself how he saw me.
It wasn’t a switch that could beflipped. I didn’t immediately feel like the brave, strong woman he promised Iwas.
But I took a step in that direction.
“Thank you.” I licked dry lips andpushed through the emotion, trying again. “Thank you for being so kind. Forsaving me not just from Derrek tonight, but from me.”
His head dipped toward mine, hisarms tightened around me. “You still don’t see it. You don’t know howincredibly talented you are. You never needed Derrek to introduce you toanyone. Your food would have done that for you. You didn’t need him to validateyou. You didn’t need his approval. You’re brilliant, Vera. So naturallytalented, you put me to shame. He saw how utterly precious you were and triedto capture your magic for himself. But he underestimated you. You’re meant formore than him. More than the food truck you’ve sentenced yourself to. You’remeant to shine, Vera. I saw it the first time I met you. You shine so fuckingbright.”
He closed the distance between us,pressing a kiss to my cheek. As soon as his lips touched my skin, a shockwaverocked through me. My fingers curled around clumps of his black t-shirt and Itipped into him, our bodies settling against each other as if letting out asatisfied sigh.
I didn’t pull away. I couldn’t. Hehad given me back a piece of myself that I’d been unable to find. He’d given mea gift that I would cherish for the rest of my life.
His lips lingered on my cheek,brushing once, twice, slowly peppering my cheekbone with the sweetest kisses. Ishivered at the gentle seduction of it, the brush of his beard against my face,the fullness of his lips tasting my skin, the salty tears that had only justnow stopped falling.
He’d told me I was bright, but notcompared to him. He was the sun, and I was a flower turning my face to hisheat. He was the stars in the clear summer night sky, and I was the stargazermesmerized by the mysterious beauty I would never fully understand.
I turned my face toward his, seekingthose lips that were driving me crazy. He let out a shaky breath, catching thecorner of my mouth as soon as he could reach it.
Someone whimpered, but it couldn’thave been me. I had never made that sound before in my life.
The next time he kissed me it was areal kiss, mouth to mouth, lips caressing lips, tongues seeking tongues. Imelted into him, fully alive again for the first time in years.
He tasted as perfect as possible,all masculine need and hungry desperation. His mouth moved over mine, fully incharge, fully committed to kissing me as thoroughly as possible.
My hands wound around his neck,desperate to hold onto something stable as my knees trembled and my bellyflipped and my core coiled, heating with delicious warmth.
He just kept kissing me, deepeninguntil his tongue did wicked things to mine. His teeth nipped at my bottom lip,and then he licked a slow path that pulled another needy sound out of me.
His hands pressed me closer to him,while he walked me and leaned my back against the car. He held me there,trapped against the cold, dew-covered door and his hard, muscled body. Histhigh slid between mine, not aggressively, just enough to tease me into wantingmore.
I wanted him closer, harder. Iwanted to strip his clothes off him and throw myself on top of him. Thistension had been building and building between us. I didn’t know if it was myemotional breakdown that had finally pushed us together or if we would havealways ended up here, unable to resist the pull between us.
I’d tried to ignore it. Ignore him.But he’d never let me ignore the fire between us. He’d never let me get awaywith pretending we didn’t want this.
And God, did I want this.
His mouth left mine to drag slow,sensual kisses over my jaw, to the tender spot just below my ear, down thecolumn of my throat, where he spent a delicious amount of time at the hollowbetween my collarbones.
When he finally brought his mouthback to mine, we were nothing but lips and tongue and desire. His teeth bumpedinto mine as we learned the contours of each other, as we familiarizedourselves with each other’s body and mouth and need.
It was everything a first kissshould be—irresistible, voracious and too short. Way, way too short.
He finally pulled back, and Islumped against him, breathing heavily and tingling with desire. My lips wereswollen in a way they hadn’t been in a very long time, and my stomach jumpedwith nerves and need and a thousand lust-filled butterflies.
He panted just as heavily as me, hisarms still wrapped around my waist, supporting me so I didn’t tumble over. Hisvoice rumbled against the top of my head when he finally spoke. “You’ve wantedto do that for so long. I’m surprised you held off for as long as you did.”
I smiled, surprisingly comfortablewith his familiar arrogance. I didn’t even bother standing up. I just smiledinto his chest, inhaling him again and again. “I thought you’d be a betterkisser, though. I’m trying not to be disappointed.”
