He’d had no shortage of women throwing themselves in his path from the time they were teens, yet Aric had never seen his best friend pay more than passing attention to any single one. Now, after a handful of days, he only had eyes for this soft-spoken Irish beauty.
Aric practically snorted at how ridiculous it seemed.
Until he considered the woman he currently held in his arms.
But whatever was going on between Kaya and him was different. She was no meek flower in need of rescuing. She was a tough, ambitious woman. Fiercely independent, formidable.
He liked that about her. Hell, he respected her as much as any other warrior he knew.
And yes, he wanted her.
Of all the complications his detour to this city might have posed for him, Kaya Laurent had been the one he’d least expected.
She seemed determined to avoid his gaze now, keeping her attention rooted on Mira and Kellan who swayed on the makeshift dance floor only a few yards away. “They make it look easy, don’t they?”
Aric didn’t suppose she was talking about dancing. Not the way her eyes followed the mated pair, a tender awe in her expression.
“It wasn’t easy getting here, though. First they had to come through fire together,” he reminded her. “But yeah, their bond is stronger than anything that could ever come between them again. Even death.”
She gave a small nod. “If I didn’t know them--if I didn’t see Mira and Kellan together the way they are after all they’ve been through--I wouldn’t think that kind of love was possible. Not in real life, anyway.”
“My parents have it,” Aric pointed out. “My sister and her mate too.”
“But not you.” Slowly, Kaya’s gaze swung back to him. “Why haven’t you found someone yet?”
“I haven’t been looking.” As he spoke, her deep brown eyes held him with a vulnerability that devoured every cynical remark or feeling that he might have reached for in the past to explain why he preferred casual encounters over anything that might last. He lifted his hand and stroked the silken side of her face. “Maybe I haven’t been looking in the right places.”
She went still in his arms, silent for the longest moment. “What are you doing?” There was wariness in her voice, even a note of anger. Although she’d stopped dancing with him, she didn’t draw out of his embrace. “What arewedoing, Aric?”
“I thought we were trying to decide whether to finish this dance or end it and say goodnight.”
He wasn’t merely talking about moving together on a dance floor, and she knew it. Her guarded gaze said it all. “Don’t you mean good-bye? You’re leaving Montreal as soon as you can.”
“Yes. I am,” he admitted. “I’ve been getting the feeling you might be happy to see me go.”
The fact that she didn’t answer right away took him aback. When she finally did speak, her voice was barely a whisper. “I can’t do this with you, Aric. I want to go back inside now.”
Her eyes said just the opposite. So did the small, jagged sigh that escaped her parted lips.
“No, you don’t. That’s not what you want.” He shook his head, refusing to believe her lie. “You’re still in my arms. You don’t want to run away from me any more than I want you to.”
He knew he was right when he gently cupped her face and instead of protesting, she murmured his name like a plea.
Like a softly uttered prayer.
He bent his head and she met him more than halfway, their mouths coming together in a kiss that was both tender and explosive. The connection blazed through his senses like a wildfire. He didn’t want to release her, but he couldn’t ignore the fact that they weren’t alone on the terrace.
He broke away on a low curse, his amber-lit eyes bathing her face in an unearthly glow. There was no denying his desire for her. It was there in his transformed, heated gaze, and in the fullness of his fangs, which throbbed with the same intensity of the arousal now straining behind the zipper of his dark jeans.
“I’m afraid,” she whispered, so quietly it almost wasn’t a sound at all.
Aric knew what it cost her to say that. Kaya Laurent was a warrior at heart. She didn’t need the Order to tell her as much. Aric didn’t need anyone to confirm that about her, either. He saw her bravery and resilience in everything she did. But especially in this moment, in the wake of that soft confession.
She was tough and indomitable, yet he held her like glass in his arms now, certain that beneath the strong exterior was a woman who’d been broken in more ways than she would ever admit.
He kissed her again, then ran the pad of his thumb over the glistening softness of her lips. “Come with me, Kaya.”
It was more question than demand. He had to allow her that, because if she stepped away from this terrace with him, they both knew where the night was going to lead.
