11
Both Tianaand Niko remained quiet as they made their way through the crowd. His hand remained on her lower back as she led the way down the pebbled path to the river. Once they reached the water, she turned to Niko. “Thanks for escorting me out of the festival. I can make it home from here.”
Niko stared down at her. She could practically see the thought bubbles above his head, wondering why she’d come down this way. There were no residences by the river, so his confusion was warranted.
“I’m not having mygirlfriendwalk home alone at night.”
“I’m not your girlfri?—”
Her sentence was cut off when Niko leaned down and covered her mouth with his. Just like the first and second time he’d kissed her, she was taken by surprise. This time though, his lips were familiar. Her body instantly melted into his. She hadn’t planned to. It wasn’t her decision. It was a completely involuntary response.
He didn’t ease into the kiss. It landed hard and unapologetically, possessive and sure, designed to knock the air from a person’s chest and make them forget where they were orwhat they were doing. His large, warm hands cupped her face and neck, fingertips pressing into the hinge of her jaw like he might unlock her at the seam. It felt like a kiss meant for a woman he fully intended to claim as his own.
Despite every lie she’d told herself since the first time he’d kissed her, Tiana had secretly been wishing for this kiss. Her mind had thought of little else than how his mouth on hers made the world collapse to a single axis. She felt the heat beneath her skin, immediate, embarrassing in its intensity, igniting from her chest outward. Her hands, with minds of their own, slid up the front of Niko’s hoodie, fisting the cotton, pulling him closer, until their entire bodies were pressed against each other.
The present dissolved. There was no town, no water, no festival, just the way he molded his lips to hers, then the sudden suggestion of teeth, a playful nip at her lower lip that made her gasp, and in that split second, he deepened the kiss. His tongue was velvety and hot, coaxing a response from her that left her knees wobbly and her willpower scattered to the wind. She kissed back just as fiercely, giving as good as she got, and if this was a battle, she was determined not to surrender, even as her body betrayed her by trembling with want.
Niko suddenly pulled away, just enough to breathe her in, both of them panting like they’d run a sprint.
When he rested his forehead against hers and his breath fanned her face, she asked, “Who…what was that for?”
His thumb stroked the pulse at her throat, his voice was rough as gravel when he explained, “You can’t say that you’re not my girlfriend, even in private. It might slip when you don’t mean it to. Every time you start to say that this isn’t real, there will be consequences.”
Tiana was fairly certain the concept of consequences was designed to have a negative connotation. In this case, shewanted to tell him that he wasn’t her boyfriend again so she would receive theconsequencesof her actions.
He dropped his hands and took a step back from her. She wasn’t entirely sure, but she thought she might have noticed his hands were shaking a little bit. Maybe she wasn’t the only one who was affected by their smooch.
They stood, staring at one another in silence for about thirty seconds, before she asked, “What?”
“I don’t know where you live to walk you home.”
“Oh, right.”
Crap.Tiana had completely forgotten what she was doing, where she was, what was going on. His kiss was the equivalent of a control-alt-delete to her mind, it wiped it of all data.
She could see he was serious. There was no way she was going to get away with him not walking her home.
Home. That was a loaded word for her and so many other kids she grew up with. Four letters that held so much expectation, disappointment, pain, neglect, shame, rejection, hurt, and instability.
Her current housing was not ideal, but it wasn’t even close to the worst living situation she’d been in. She wasn’t ashamed, per se, but she certainly wasn’t proud of it. Between Pops’ medical bills and now the increase in the lease, she’d had to make some sacrifices. She’d had to downsize, which was not exactly easy to do considering when she moved to Hope Falls, she lived in a one-bedroom apartment.
They walked down beside the river, with her leading the way, and she shivered as the wind picked up. The next thing she knew, she was being wrapped up in Niko’s down feather parka with fleece lining. In stark contrast to her slender five foot two frame, Niko’s muscular six foot two frame practically swallowed her whole. It enveloped her with warmth and the sexy scent of fresh laundry, musk, and cedarwood.
She let herself briefly, very briefly, luxuriate in the delicious aroma that wafted up to her nostrils and the warmth that cocooned her before she pushed it off her shoulders. “I’mnottaking your jacket.”
Niko ignored her protest completely and readjusted the coat so it was back in place.
“Niko!” Tiana tried to squirm her way back out of it, but she was unsuccessful.
“What?” he asked, his voice infused with faux sincerity.
“You know what,” she replied.
“I know I can play pin the jacket on the fake girlfriend all night if you want to.”
“Oh, soyou’reallowed to say ‘fake girlfriend’ but not me.”
His eyes twinkled. “Do you want to kiss me to teach me a lesson?”
