“What?” he barked, his eyes widening.
“Kiss me. We should do it. Why not?” I tilted my face up to his.
His expression shifted, the uncertainty giving way to dark hunger. “I was trying to be a gentleorc.”
“I don’t want a gentleorc right now. I want to know what it feels like to kiss you.”
His hands came up to cup my face, his thumbs stroking my cheekbones with incredible gentleness. The contrast between his obvious restraint and the heat in his eyes made my knees quiver.
Then he was bending down, and I was rising on my toes, and our lips met in the space between.
Our kiss started soft, tentative, like he was still afraid I might change my mind. But when I made a small sound of encouragement, pressing closer to him, he deepened it. One hand slid into my wet hair while the other settled at the small of my back, pulling me against him.
His tusks should’ve made this awkward, but they didn’t. They were just part of him, part of what made him unique and wonderful. When I traced the edge of one with my tongue, he made a sound deep in his throat that sent fire straight through me.
I’d never been with anyone who wasn’t human, never even considered it before. Yet with Hail, the differences between us felt like discoveries rather than barriers. Each unfamiliar sensation, from the slight roughness of his skin against mine, to the strength in his hands as they held me, sent excitement through me. It wasn’t despite his differences that I wanted him; it was because of them.
“Allie,” he breathed against my mouth, my name sounding like a prayer and a curse wrapped together.
I could feel his restraint in the careful way he held me and in the slow pace of his kisses. He was afraid of overwhelming me, afraid of wanting too much too fast. But I was past caring about caution.
Thunder boomed again, but this time I barely heard it. The whole world had narrowed to this moment, this male, this feeling of rightness that terrified me even as it pulled me under.
I was fighting the way my heart wanted to open to him, the way my body wanted to melt into his. I’d learned the hard way that caring about people only led to pain. But Hail made it impossible to keep those walls up. Every gentle touch and every reverent kiss chipped away at my defenses.
Before I could think better of it, I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him with all the desperation and longing I’d been trying to suppress.
He caught me, his hands spanning my waist as he lifted me off the ground without breaking the kiss. My legs wrapped around his hips, and he pressed me back against the wooden door, supporting me with his hands beneath my thighs.
This kiss was different. Hungry, urgent, full of all the things we hadn’t said to each other. His mouth moved against mine with a passion that made my toes curl and my core clench with want. His heart slammed beneath my palm, and I nearly swooned when he pressed the evidence of his desire against my groin.
He kissed me like he was falling, and I was the last bit of rope, like he’d been waiting his whole life just to touch me. When his tongue swept into my mouth, I arched against him, a moan escaping that he swallowed greedily.
“Fates, Allie,” he groaned, his lips moving to my throat. The feeling of his tusks grazing my skin sent fire down my spine. “You taste good. Feel good.”
He explored the sensitive skin of my neck with his lips and tongue, and the gentle scrape of his tusks sent me all the way to the moon and back. I tangled my fingers in his hair, holding him to me, never wanting this to end.
But when his mouth found that spot where my neck met my shoulder, when he sucked gently at the skin there, reality crashed back in. This was moving fast. I was supposed to be protecting myself. Getting involved like this was dangerous for both of us.
Yet I couldn’t make myself stop.
When he lifted his head and looked down at me, his eyes had gone dark with want and something deeper. Seeing all thoseemotions there should’ve scared me but instead, it made me want to dive headfirst into whatever was growing between us.
“I should walk you back to the hotel.” His hands tightened on my thighs like he couldn’t bear to let me go.
“We could stay here. Wait out the storm.” The words tumbled out before I could stop them.
I felt his body’s response to the suggestion, pressing against the front of his pants and…vibrating? Nah, that couldn’t be right.
“That might not be a g-good idea,” he growled against my throat.
“Why not?”
“Holding you feels…like coming home.” His eyes flashed with heat, but he stepped back, giving us both enough space to breathe. “You don’t know what you-you do to me.”
“Tell me.”
For a moment, I thought he might. His lips parted, but vulnerability crossed his face. He shook his head, running a hand through his damp hair.
