Ryne relaxed, dragging in a reviving breath. “I speak wid Belle,” he said stubbornly. “She say no come back … I no will.”
As distressed as she already was about the fight, an avalanche of embarrassment washed over Belle as Connor summoned her with a look.
He couldn’t actually expect her to … spurn the man right in front of the entire damned colony, she thought with a mixture of discomfort, and anger because of that!
Obviously, he could and he did.
And Belle just didn’t think she could.
She moved closer to him, though, hopeful they could minimize the embarrassment for her, for both of them, by speaking quietly.
She’d no sooner looked up at him unhappily, though, than he caught her, dragged her against his length, and caged her lips beneath his.
Belle felt like she’d been hit by a lightning bolt.
Nothing crossed her mind from that moment but the feel of his hard mouth on hers, his taste and scent, and the texture ofhis tongue as he explored the sensitive cavern of her mouth. As hungry and possessive as his exploration was, it was woefully brief to her mind.
Because it felt just amazing and she just wasn’tdoneexperiencing it.
Mindlessly, she followed when he broke the connection.
He planted his nose beside hers, huffing for breath. “Want Belle be my woman,” he said huskily. “You no want, I go.”
Well fuck! She had to answernow? In front of every damned body?
Not that she hadn’t been indulging in fantasies since she’d first met him!
And he’d sure as hell outdone all of them!
She swallowed convulsively a couple of times. “I … uh …. I don’t … know.”
Ryne was horrendously disappointed.
But she hadn’t said go, hadn’t flat out refused.
Shehadresponded.
She’d kissed him back.
She just hadn’t made up her mind … yet, he told himself.
No doubt lingered in his own mind. She had heated his blood so fast, he was dizzy with the rapid ascent.
Reluctantly, he eased his hold on her when Connor crowded the two of them, curling a hand around Belle’s upper arm possessively.
They had a glaring match, but they both knew they couldn’t wrestle over Belle with her standing between then--not without the risk of hurting her.
Slowly, Ryne loosened his hold on Belle.
When he did Connor snatched her to him and coiled around her. Grasping a fist full of hair at her nape, he tugged her head back and planted his mouth over Belle’s.
Belle felt her knees buckle at the shock wave that went through her at that heated connection, as his--Connor’s essence flooded her with delirium.
She’d waited her whole life, it seemed, for that first kiss--ever hopeful that hewouldsee her as a desirable woman, that hewouldkiss her. And yet, she wasn’t actually aware of registering anything at all until he broke the kiss. She blinked at him, glanced at Ryne and then, when Connor let go, staggered off drunkenly at the best speed she could manage.
She had to plow her way through the audience surrounding them, gawking at them.
The bitch that had confronted her about Connor kicked her as she went through, tried to trip her up, and Belle did stumble. She caught herself, though, and she was so wrapped up in shock she didn’t even realize for a while afterward that it had been a deliberate retaliation for the kiss.
