“Gods, you are infuriating!”
“I can say the same about you, lass.” He tossed his mercenary coat onto his bed. “You are stubborn, haughty, tempestuous?—”
“Excused me?” she hissed.
“It means?—”
“I know what it means!”
Sighing, Klyde rubbed his jaw shadowed with stubble. His blue eyes stormed as he looked at her in a way that made her heart twist. “I am leaving tomorrow, so I won’t dance around it any longer. You reject my gift not because you don’t need it, but because you need to refuse anything having to do with me. That is the only way you can persuade yourself that you don’t feel for me the way I do for you. And it frightens you.”
Lucenna stared at him, her chest heaving.
Klyde closed the distance between them. “So insult me all you wish. Threaten me. Throw things at me. Hit me. I’ll take anything you give me but stop lying to yourself.”
She tried to speak, tried to shout, but all she could manage was a faint whisper. “It’s not a lie.”
“Say that again and mean it.”
Hot tears built up behind her eyes and threatened to spill over. This man got under her skin. He challenged her. Confused her. Provoked her. Made her skin heat with anger and longing.
And she loathed it.
Lucenna clung to that anger and made it her boat to stand on. “I don’t want you. I never wanted you. Not a ridiculous man who never cared for anything but his own selfish desires. Idespiseyou. You are an infinite source of irritation, and once you’re gone, I will be glad of it.”
Klyde took a shallow breath, and it was the only indication that the blow had hurt. But he didn’t fight her as she wanted. He didn’t even raise his voice. He only reached out and gently wiped away the tear that had escaped.
Because they both knew it was a lie.
“Why?” Lucenna weakly hit his chest. “Why must it be you? I don’t understand it at all. You’re the fool that maddens me every day with your ways and stupid dimples. I can’t stand that you see through me, that you hear what I don’t want to say. When I finally gave in, you pulled away and left me to sit in my own humiliation. You accuse me of lying to myself,yet I sense you’re afraid, too.” She moved away from him, shaking her head. “You should never have kissed me, Klyde. For not even you know what you want.”
Lucenna stormed out of his room for hers and slammed the door shut behind her. Leaning against it, she shut her eyes. Gods, why did she tell him that? It didn’t matter. Tomorrow he would be gone, and she could move on with her life.
Yet why did she feel lonely at the thought of him leaving? She didn’t want him to go. Her trembling hand lingered on the doorknob. She likely wouldn’t ever see him again after today.
Could she let that be the last thing she ever said to him?
Maybe life came down to more than wants. If anything, this part of her journey had shown her it was awful to live with regrets.
Lucenna swung open the door.
Her heart lurched to find Klyde standing right there, his eyes burning. “I was never confused about what I wanted.”
Then he grabbed her face and kissed her.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and rose on her toes, kissing him back. Her heart surged in her chest. With thrill. Relief. And complete, utter surrender. They stumbled backward into her room, and he kicked the door closed.
Klyde leaned her against a dresser, claiming her mouth with his. His heated hand slid to her waist, sparking a rippling current along her spine. Gripping her thigh, he hooked it up his waist. Her pulse throbbed as his tongue slid against hers, devouring her mouth. She couldn’t hold in the small moan, and his hands tightened around her waist.
This wasn’t like their first kiss.
This one was hungry.
Starved.
“What I want,” he panted against her mouth. “Is your today and your endless tomorrows. I want to tear this off you.” He gathered a handful of her dress in his fists so tight she heard the fabric tear. “And forget all else as I lose myself in the wonder of you. I want to feel your heart race in time with mine. To breathe in your scent and swallow the sound of your voice calling my name. I want you. Every blessed inch of you.”
His voice vibrated through her being. Each ardent word stripping her to her bones. Lucenna kissed him heatedly. Challenging. Damn him for knowing exactly what to say to make her defenses fall.
