“Tell me your name,” she all but demanded, putting on a brave face. In truth, she was entirely nervous to stand this close and be enchanted by his details, his light eyes. “I have the right to know my admirer’s name, the one who’s been watching me from the shadows.”
Alec’s face transformed from anxious to amused by her remark.
But that wasn’t all he was feeling. He stood tall and protective of this moment, daring the guard, who was not far behind, or anyone for that matter, to steal this from him. He was in awe of her, his masterpiece, longing for the chance to touch her for the first time. And if he were honest, he was afraid she’d change her mind and leave.
He was all these things, and it was equally nerve-wracking.
“Alec,” he said, smiling, gripping his hip bones to inhale, exhale, to settle himself, to control his hands from taking her into his arms. “And I would have to disagree. It was hardly from the shadows. Have I not made myself obvious?” She stood stunned, so Alec took a careful step closer, raising a brow. “I have to know your name.”
“It’s been a year,” she said, taking a step back.
“The longest year of my life. Both enslaving and intoxicating.” Alec’s mouth quirked at the end. “Now, please tell me your name.”
“Twelve new moons, and you haven’t spoken to me. You kept me waiting,” she teased, her pulse pounding beneath her skin. “Do you even desire me at all?”
Every word coming from her mouth only made Alec fancy her more, how she was bold, playful, a little free. “I cross the ocean nearly every day just to catch a glimpse of you. I have no other business being here.”
“So, why do you only watch?”
“Because,” he said simply. “You are capable of a terrifying thing no one has had the power to do before, which is rip my heart out. Now,” he took another step forward, “if you don’t tell me your name, I will call youmine.”
She took a step back. “Circe,” she said, amused and looking up at him through her dark lashes. “I’ve seen that look many times. You gaze at my body with desire in your eyes.”
This only drew him in more. “I’ve desired you long before I’ve seen your body, Circe.”
And she raised a brow, taking another step back with a gorgeous smile that made all the blood in his heart melt to other places. But then her back met the cliff, and she had no place left to go.
A wave hit the shore, causing a breeze to crash between them.
Her scent slammed into Alec. He closed his eyes to savor the aroma of essential oils. Perfume and a sapphire around her neck, he knew only a lady of fortune could acquire such valuables. He had these assumptions about her, but this never disturbed him.
Alec took his last step forward, exhausted from his frolic.
His breath stuttered when he lifted a hand to touch her cheek.
She flinched, and he cocked a brow at her reaction.
“I would never harm you,” he said, dropping his arm in surrender.
Patiently, he waited, breath stalled, heart on reserve, eyes on her.
Then he felt her fingers reach out and touch his.
He felt his heart beat again.
Circe took his hand in hers and brought it to her face until her cheek was in his palm. His thumb grazed her cheekbone, and she closed her eyes, and he freed a breath. He shifted in place, shifted closer, and tilted her head back to see her face. “If you must know,” he said with a shaky breath, “I desire something far more than your body.”
She looked at Alec with two seafoam eyes that sparkled like sea glass. He wasn’t only handsome. In truth, there was something disarming about him. And to be disarmed by a man to any degree was equally thrilling and terrifying. Circe had everything to lose, so why couldn’t she stop herself?
“Stay! Identify yourself,” Bain called out.
Circe slipped out of Alec’s grasp, took his hand, and pulled him around the corner, dipping into the cave. He looked from left to right before slipping into the shadows behind her. When he faced Circe again, she had her back pinned against the wall, her chest heaving.
He came up on her and leaned in, resting his forearm on the cave wall above her head. “Tell me to stop, and I swear to you, I will stop.” She was so close he could taste her breath on his lips, but he kept his hands to himself, waiting, waiting, his gaze sliding into hers. “But I don’t want to stop—”
Circe pushed up on her toes and kissed him right on the lips.
Just once before pulling back to look at him.
