Kieran didn’t move, arms still behind his back and posture perfect.He was perfect.
Shut up.
There was a heavy resignation that settled over the room now that they were alone. She may have thought him a coward for avoiding her, but now that the moment was here her mouth grew dry.
“First,” he started, eyes landing on her, then away. Was this… nerves? “Sera, I… apologize for losing my temper last night—”
She burst into laughter. She didn’t know where the laughter came from. She was tensed to snap just moments ago
His brows narrowed, the firm line almost shifting to a frown. “I don’t see how that’s amusing.”
She did not know how she expected this conversation to go, but when he started by implying that his reasonable questioning of what she had been doing the previous night was him 'losing his temper' she had lost her composure. The absurdity of the notion aside, the fact that he said it with a straight face, like it was the most serious apology he’d ever delivered in his life, was too much for her already frayed nerves.
“Thatwas losing your temper?” Sera walked closer to him, gratified that he didn’t try to step away. “You were angry. You’reallowedto be angry.”
“No, I—”
“No. Listen to me.” She reached for his cheek, and he jerked away from her touch, snatching her wrist faster than she could blink.
Brief, almost infinitesimal alarm raced through his features before returning to neutral. Sera closed her fingers in the air, not sure how to interpret what just happened. It was almost like he feared her touch.
Sera cleared her throat, aware that he had not released her arm. “You… you are allowed to feel things,” she said. “My reactions are my problem. You’re not responsible for them. Assuming I had betrayed all your kindness was the logical conclusion to what you saw.”
Sera tried not to look at his mouth while she spoke. Tried not to imagine moving closer. Even now, the desire to kiss him again was strong, almost unbearable. The scent of pine was intoxicating. She was an addict. She wanted nothing more than to bury her face in his clothes, in his skin—if his soap could make her knees weak she couldn’t imagine what would happen if she was ever close enough to sense the natural, intimate scent of his skin. The combination would likely destroy her and she wouldloveit.
Restraint was not a normal practice for her, but then, Kieran North was not normal by any standard of measurement she knew.
His eyes cast sideways, as he lowered her arm. Sera didn’t fight or resist. There was something deeply unsettling about the way he caught her hand, the fact that he still hadn’t let go. She sensed fear, fear ofher. Sera had never been the cause of someone else’s terror before.
“Regardless,” he said in his naturally smooth cadence. No hint of repressed panic. “I apologize for the distress it caused. Whether the emotions themselves were permissible, I do not condone triggering trauma responses in victims.”
He did not release her wrist as it lowered to her side, though his gaze had shifted and all his focus was on her hand. His long, thin fingers gently eased their hold, eyes following like he was fascinated. Like just the feel of her hand was consuming enough to require his entire concentration.
After an eternity she felt the last trace of his fingertips leave her skin. His arm retreated behind his back, but the damage was done. The moment had shifted. The room flooded with the heat of their exchange, the sheer weight of the unspoken. The room was more full than when it held double the amount of people.
She blinked, trying to gather her thoughts. The slow, almost tender way he had touched her was disorienting. She didn’t want him to stop. She wanted to push and see how far he might go when the circumstances weren’t so fraught with misunderstanding, when her consent was more explicit, but then…
Sera sighed.
This had to stop. She couldn’t try for more, she couldn’t wish for his hands on her, anymore than she could continue with their Game. Her heart was aflutter, her stomach in knots. And that meant… well, she could no longer safely indulge in flirtation. “I accept your apology. If it makes you feel better.”
“It does not.”
She rolled her eyes. “For someone with the emotional depth of a puddle, you can be very dramatic.”
His eyes slid to meet hers and Sera’s breath caught. Would he kiss her again?
Please let him kiss me.
Stupid, wanton, impulsive,whatever. She lifted her chin, offering. Waiting. His eyes dipped to her mouth and the thrill that raced through her sent shivers cascading over her skin. Yes! He was going to kiss her again, and this time, she might not have to stop.
Kieran looked over her shoulder. One of those quick glances to check if she was still marked for death. “I skipped work today, but I can’t afford to miss another day.” He stepped backward, then around her. “We can leave by seven tomorrow, if that’s suitable?”
Sera’s heart was beating out of her chest and he wanted to know what time she wanted to go to work in the morning? Fuck him. “Yeah. Sure.”
He nodded and left.
What…Sera spun around as the door to the sitting room closed. His restraint made sense at first, in a ‘some people are like that’ kind of way. But now? They already kissed. The damage was done. Did he notwantto do it again? Sera hadn’t gone two seconds without thinking of the way his mouth had felt, restrained and frantic. An impossible duality that was as thrilling as it was intense. She felt his control slip when his tongue met hers, when their breathing mingled in soft pants. And she had practically thrown herself at him just now. All but holding up a sign that said ‘fucking kiss me already.’
