“So, you’re back.”
He dipped his chin once.
“I won’t keep you,” I said before turning back to the wall and climbing again.“I’m sure you have many important things waiting for your attention.”
There was a small sound behind me, then a powerful force lifted me up, yanking me from the wall. My stomach dropped.
Seconds later, I was set on my feet in the middle of my living room.
I blinked. IfI’d ever needed a demonstration of the difference in power between the two of us, the speed, agility, and strength he’d just demonstrated would have brought that point home very nicely.
My lips parted, whether in rebuke or something else,I’ll never know. In the next moment, Liam yanked me to him, his eyes glowing with an otherworldly power, his fangs denting his lower lip.
His mouth descended on mine, forestalling any comment. Passion rose, threatening to swamp my better judgment. Someone’s fang, I don’t know if it was his or mine nicked flesh, and suddenly the rich decadent copper of his blood filled my mouth.
Just like that, the whirlwind feelings his presence had caused disappeared, leaving me consumed with need.
A moan filled the air, I wasn’t sure it if was his or mine. Our bodies pressed together as if we were trying to climb inside the other.
His hands were on my back even as mine fisted in his hair. With a little hop I jumped up, his hands going to my ass to support me as I wrapped my legs around his waist.
Our bodies became a tangle of limbs as each second pushed us higher. My skin felt flushed with need.
I panted as he broke the kiss to rain small pecks down my neck and shoulder. I tried to grab hold of a thin thread of logic, but his lips covered mine again.
Several minutes passed where only the small breathless sounds we made could be heard.
He was fire and fury against me. I was the push and pull of the ocean against him. Tangling and dueling, each of us exalting in the battle of desire.
A crash in my bedroom brought me back to the present. Reason cascaded down on me like ice cold water, reminding me of why this, me and him, was a horrible idea.
He’d left without a word of warning. Just picked up his things one day and was gone, like a ghost. There wasn’t one word of goodbye.
He didn’t owe me anything. We hadn’t embarked on a relationship. I knew that. Still, I thought we’d been heading down a certain path. To have him up and disappear like that had brought the cold grip of reality back.
Liam was vampire. Not just clan, but an enforcer for their council. His agenda was not mine. I couldn’t trust him or his reasons for taking an interest in me.
For that, I was grateful he’d left the way he did. It reminded me of the facts of life, before I got too invested.
I lifted my head and stared down at him, noting the otherworldly glow, the slightly unfocused eyes, the softened expression. The sight made me waver in my decision. He looked at me with the single-minded focus and intensity of a man who hadn’t had a drink in a year, and I was a cool glass of water taken from a mountain spring.
I pushed away, my body suddenly stiff as I unhooked my legs.
He was slow to let me go, his expression fierce and watchful.
His hands lingered as he helped me down. I stepped back, avoiding his gaze. I turned and saw the bike he’d somehow unlatched from the harness without me even noticing. It lay half on the couch.
I headed to it, lifting it up and wheeling it over to the bike rack I kept near the front door.
“So, you’re back,” I said in as steady a voice as I could.I’d said it before, but it was worth repeating, as I busied myself with getting the bike situated on the rack.
He watched me, his expression closed off, the passion of moments before gone.“Yes, my business finally wrapped up.”
“That’s good,” I said. I was grateful he was willing to gloss over what just happened, but it still galled me that it seemed so easy for him.
“I thought we’d made progress,” he finally said.
I could feel the weight of his stare on my bent head.
