His brow lifts even higher. “You want me to kiss you?”
“Yes,” I breathe out. “I need to kiss you.Please.”
Now, I’m begging?
A vein throbs in his forehead as he speaks. “Put on a surcoat first.”
I glance around my cottage, as if a surcoat will suddenly appear. “I don’t have any more clean clothes.”
He removes his cloak, steps closer, and wraps it around me, enveloping me in its warmth.
His calloused palms brush against my skin as he frames my face. “This is madness.”
“Why?” I ask, my voice shaky—obvious in my need for him.
“Because I don’t know you, but…” a muscle jerks in his jaw as he exhales, “…I desperately want to kiss you.”
Gently, he allows his thumb to trace my cheek. I close my eyes, savoring the feel of his touch against my skin as he leans down and brushes his lips against mine. Every part of me craves that familiarity, that warmth, that connection.
More!
I grab his hips and yank him closer, needing him to chase away the smoldering in the pit of my stomach, the darkness. He’s the other half of this binding. The missing link.
It doesn’t matter that he doesn’t know me right now, or that I’m a fragile candle quivering in a dark room. He’s the light. The flame. The spark my heart longs for.
His body tenses like he’s fighting a losing battle against himself. Then, he caves. Oh, how he caves. He groans as he crushes his mouth to mine and draws me closer.
I need so much more than this. Instinctively, I sway my hips against him, feeling the part of him I want inside me. He stiffens and breaks the kiss. I loop my hands around his neck and try to bring his lips back to mine, but he pulls away.
“I need more,” I say boldly, unashamedly.
Instead of bringing me close again, he steps back, gaining distance, probably even clarity after I threw myself at him. “If I kiss you again, I won’t stop.”
A smile breaks across my mouth. “Perfect. I don’t want you to stop.”
He raises a hand, halting my urge to throw myself into his arms and wrap my thighs around his hips.
The door bursts open, and Praxis and Cenric step into the cottage. I stare, my mouth hanging open, as I take in Praxis. Nothing could have prepared me for seeing him again.
He is alive!
ChapterFive
Agrin tugs at Cenric’s mouth as he glances between us. “You told us to meet you here.”
Hector clears his throat. “Yes.” He looks at me and speaks in a flat voice. “Take her.”
Take her?
I throw up my hands and step back. “Stay away from me.”
“You said you wanted our help,” Hector says. “Yes?”
My heart races as I jerk my gaze between the three Bloodstone warriors. “I will not be your prisoner.”
Not again.
“I have no plans to make you one,” Hector says, his voice way too calm.
