“Better?” Leo asks.
“I think so.” My fingers are still trembling, but significantly less than they were a few minutes ago. I take a long, deep breath to clear my head.
My eyes fall to his chest again, to the area over his heart where I crumpled his shirt. I trace a crease in the material. “I didn’t expect so many emotions.”
“No?”
“It was like a hurricane.”
He sucks in a sharp breath. “Did I overwhelm you?”
“A little, yes. But I wasn’t scared.” In fact, I’d felt oddly in control.
He exhales in obvious relief. “What did you feel?”
Where to even begin? The conflicting emotions I sensed resist being named or defined. After a moment’s thought, I sum them up as best as I can. “A struggle.” When he tilts his head, I explain further, “I’d feel one emotion and then a second later feel its complete opposite. Over and over again. And the only thing I can figure is that you’re dealing with some sort of internal battle.”
His jaw ticks as he forces down a hard swallow and nods in confirmation.
In the flood of emotions, one dominated the rest. I ask him, “Are you missing someone? Your family or your sister, maybe?” I bite my lip to keep from adding,or a girlfriend back at home?
“No,” he answers softly. “No more than usual. What did you feel?”
I shake my head. This is getting too personal. “Are you tired yet?”
“Not yet. What did you feel?”
So much for redirection. “It’s just…it seemed like you’re longing for someone, that’s all.”
He looks away, but not before I notice his eyes darken. I’ve struck a chord. My pulse races as I hastily search for a way to backpedal this conversation. Chocolate. I need to go down to the vending machines and get him some chocolate.
When I try to get up, he snags my hand.
Frozen and stunned, halfway to standing, I watch as he uncurls my fingers and plants a gentle kiss on my palm. So soft. So warm. My skin tingles and electricity races up my arm. Why is there no air in my lungs? I tear my gaze from our hands to his face, to his beautiful eyes peering up into mine.
My brain is ten steps behind my body. I don’t understand what’s happening.
Leo tugs me back down by the waist, encircles my whole body in his arms. “Betts?—”
Is it possible the person he’s been longing for is me?
He grips the back of my head, his mouth hovering less than an inch from mine. Closer, even, than when he helped me off the fallen tree. Closer than when we were squeezed together in the pantry. Closer than we’ve ever been.
My fingers splay across his jaw.Oh god, kiss me. Please, please kiss me.
I’m utterly unprepared for it when it finally happens. I admit that I’ve pondered—once or twice or a thousand times—what Leo’s kiss would be like. Slow. Gentle. Patient. Like he usually is with me. But that’s not the Leo coming out in this kiss. This is the demanding, persistent Leo. The passionate Leo. He’s like a hungry animal that’s snapped free from its chain. With one hand fisted in my hair and the other flattened across my back, he pulls until I’m archinginto him. Until my ribs are crushed to his chest and my legs are entangled with his.
He opens my mouth with a forceful push of his lips, silencing my moan with his tongue. I grasp him behind his neck, catching a handful of his smooth, thick hair. He growls and kisses me harder, deeper, his mouth slanted over mine.
Breathless, he withdraws, his eyes dancing wildly over my features and his fingers following in their wake. His thumb sweeps across my cheekbone, then over my bottom lip. “It’s you I want. I shouldn’t, but I do.”
He shouldn’t? Why not? Zander is a non-issue.
He captures my mouth again, chasing away my confusion. I can admit it to myself now—now that I’m allowed to feel it—that I want Leo, too. I’ve wanted him since the first time I saw him, leaning against the counter in the O-Chi kitchen.
I clutch his shoulders, my pulse racing as his hands course up the back of my thighs and over the curve of my hips. Soon he’s kissing a trail down my throat, pressing soft lips to the dip where my neck meets my shoulder. I shiver at the light touch and my body starts to hum.
Buthisbody is flagging. I can feel it in his relaxing muscles and his loosening grip. Even his breathing is slower. With my hands to his jaw, I raise his chin. Sleepy dark eyes, still shimmering with heat, blink back at me.