Cillian comes to an abrupt halt when I appear from behind his camper.
His cheekbones are flushed, and his eyes sparking with fire. He’s angry. I have no doubt it’s with me. But is it because I’m here or because I ran away from him?
His cheeks hollow, like he’s clamping down on whatever he wants to say.
For some reason, I, too, am suddenly short on words; I’m also short on breath. Partly from running here in the pounding rain. Partly because he is where I found myself running toward.
He drops his gym bag, then, fingers flexing at his sides, he backs me up against his camper. One of his palms spreads on the white metal, while the other keeps twitching at his side as though he’s contemplating strangling me.
“You drive me fucking insane, Electra.” His Adam’s apple jackknifes his corded throat.
I still don’t say anything. I don’t even know what I’m doing here—or what I want.
No, that’s not true. I know what I want.
I want this man…thishumanto obliterate the space between us and deliver my first kiss.
He reaches up and cups my jaw, tilts it back and back and back. Droplets of rain bleed out of my hair and roll down my spine in time with a shiver.
His long thumb traces a line from my chin to the hinge of my jaw and back, causing my pulse to trip and another shiver to race through me.
“Fucking insane…” His mouth is so close to mine that his husky growl vibrates against my teeth. “You have three seconds to stop me.”
His warning tightens every nerve in my body, pulling every muscle taut until I feel shrink-wrapped in my own skin.
“Three…” His heavy-lidded stare roams over mine. “Two…” His thumb pushes into my throbbing pulse point. “One…” His gaze locks on my mouth, and he closes in.
The contact hits like a jolt. One that makes my heart detonate and my blood surge, pressing hard against my too-tight skin. Waves of heat and cold roll over me in such rapid succession that I tremble.
He slots one of his legs between mine and presses the length of him against the length of me, throttling the tremors with the infernal heat of his body.
My hands finally come alive and slide around his waist. He kicks my mouth open with his lips and plunges his tongue in deep, slow, practiced sweeps. I moan as I try to reciprocate with as much assurance. I don’t want him to guess that this is my first kiss.
He flexes his thigh and grinds it into me, coaxing another moan from my lungs. I fist his hoodie and press him closer, the bulge in his sweats digging into my hip like a bone. The groan that drops from his lips emboldens me to reciprocate his rocking motion.
His mouth skids off mine, and he pants—deep, rasping breaths that heat my entire face. Though I still tremble, my bodyfeels like it’s caught fire. He runs his callused palms down my arms. Instead of panic, his slow sweeps bring comfort, stripping away years of abuse from my skin.
How is this possible? I don’t even know him.
When he does it again, my skin breaks out in more goosebumps.
He steps back, drops his hands. I want to beg him to put them back on me, but Electra Serran doesn’t beg.
He drags his hoodie off his head and spears it over mine, guiding my arms through the warm gray cotton. And then he presses his glasses back up, his eyes smoldering as they sweep over me.
Funny how a single look can galvanize a person. Under Cillian’s stare, I feel like the sexiest woman alive, as though something dormant in me has suddenly awakened. A drab moth transforming into a vibrant butterfly.
“You’re a fucking knockout, Electra.”
I swallow.
He gives his head a small shake as though he can’t believe this is real, and I’m here. I mean, I hardly can, andI’mthe one who came.
He crouches, unzips his bag, then fishes out a keyring shaped like a four-leaf clover. After he straightens, he weaves our fingers together, coaxing my spine off his camper.
It takes him three attempts to fit the key inside the keyhole, mostly because he’s looking at me instead of at the door. I almost facilitate his endeavor with magic, but that would give him pause, and I don’t want to take him out of the moment.
When he finally succeeds, he drags the door wide, then looks at me, rolling his lips like he’s unsure how to ask me in.
