CHAPTER 11
For the second time in less than twenty-four hours, Aric found himself holding Kaya close in his arms while a crooner waxed on about true love and happy-ever-after. Sappy, fairy tale sentiments that should have made his molars ache with their impossible sweetness. But it wasn’t his molars that ached while Kaya swayed against him.
Everywhere their bodies brushed, currents of electric heat crackled beneath his skin. Instead of making jokes or searching for other ways to demonstrate that he wasn’t susceptible to the kind of hearts-and-flowers weaknesses that seemed to have overtaken the other two couples dancing nearby, Aric found himself riveted to Kaya’s lovely face in the half-light on the terrace.
His veins pounded, a possessive need surging inside him as he moved to the tempo of the music and tried not to imagine how soft she felt, how the scent of her was making his mouth throb with the presence of his fangs.
Damn.
Maybe he should have gone with Mira’s teammates to look for a blood Host. It was true he wouldn’t need the nourishment for days, but that had little to do with the hunger he’d been battling since his first taste of Kaya. Kissing her that first time had been an impulsive mistake, though one he couldn’t seem to regret.
Kissing her again in the war room tonight had been worse than impulse or a mistake. It had been possessive, a compulsion he couldn’t have fought even if he tried. That need still raked him. Now, try as he could not to imagine the two of them naked and in a sweaty tangle, his mind refused to obey.
The fact that she seemed to meet him with equal passion each time they’d kissed only made his desire for her burn all the hotter. And now that she was in his arms again, it took everything he had just to keep that desire on a short leash. Especially when she gazed up at him, a note of pleasure in her dark brown eyes.
“Are you going to tell me what that cryptic smile is about or leave me guessing?”
She shrugged, still watching him with an avid interest that made his pulse kick into a higher gear. “I was just thinking that if things don’t work out for you with the Order, maybe you should take up ballroom dancing.”
He choked on a laugh. “Oh, thanks. Remind me never to come to you for career advice.”
Her smile flashed brilliant white, the joy on her face utterly captivating. “I’m serious. You’ve got some impressive moves.”
He grunted, arching a brow. “You haven’t even seen my best ones yet.”
With her face still lit with amusement, he spun her into a low dip. Her surprised squeal and burst of easy laughter drew the attention of their friends. Someone applauded, but Aric hardly noticed and didn’t care. Nor did Kaya, from the delighted look on her face as he brought her back up and held her close.
Her cheeks were bright pink, her dark eyes glittering along with her broad smile.
“Careful, now, or I might think you’re actually starting to have a good time.”
“I am.” She did a little jig in his arms, nodding toward her shoes. “I feel like I could dance all night. Thank you for asking Rafe to heal me. And thanks for standing up for me during the meeting with everyone too.”
Aric shrugged. “No thanks necessary for either one. Partners stick together.”
“Is that what we are now?”
He nodded, brushing a stray tendril of dark hair off her cheek. “For better or worse, Mrs. Bouchard.”
“Right,” she murmured. “Until D.C. do we part.”
He nodded, uncertain why the comment felt like a jab. Once his work for Nikolai was finished, he was leaving Montreal. Kaya had been making it fairly clear that she was as eager for him to go as he was. Perhaps more so.
They continued to dance in silence now, one slow song after another. Eventually, Rafe and Siobhan drifted quietly back into the mansion. Aric didn’t have to guess anymore if his friend was falling hard for the female. The truth of it had been written all over his face tonight.
Christ, what had gotten into Rafe?
He’d had no shortage of women throwing themselves in his path from the time they were teens, yet Aric had never seen his best friend pay more than passing attention to any single one. Now, after a handful of days, he only had eyes for this soft-spoken Irish beauty.
Aric practically snorted at how ridiculous it seemed.
Until he considered the woman he currently held in his arms.
But whatever was going on between Kaya and him was different. She was no meek flower in need of rescuing. She was a tough, ambitious woman. Fiercely independent, formidable.
He liked that about her. Hell, he respected her as much as any other warrior he knew.
And yes, he wanted her.
Of all the complications his detour to this city might have posed for him, Kaya Laurent had been the one he’d least expected.
She seemed determined to avoid his gaze now, keeping her attention rooted on Mira and Kellan who swayed on the makeshift dance floor only a few yards away. “They make it look easy, don’t they?”
Aric didn’t suppose she was talking about dancing. Not the way her eyes followed the mated pair, a tender awe in her expression.
“It wasn’t easy getting here, though. First they had to come through fire together,” he reminded her. “But yeah, their bond is stronger than anything that could ever come between them again. Even death.”
She gave a small nod. “If I didn’t know them--if I didn’t see Mira and Kellan together the way they are after all they’ve been through--I wouldn’t think that kind of love was possible. Not in real life, anyway.”
“My parents have it,” Aric pointed out. “My sister and her mate too.”
“But not you.” Slowly, Kaya’s gaze swung back to him. “Why haven’t you found someone yet?”
“I haven’t been looking.” As he spoke, her deep brown eyes held him with a vulnerability that devoured every cynical remark or feeling that he might have reached for in the past to explain why he preferred casual encounters over anything that might last. He lifted his hand and stroked the silken side of her face. “Maybe I haven’t been looking in the right places.”
She went still in his arms, silent for the longest moment. “What are you doing?” There was wariness in her voice, even a note of anger. Although she’d stopped dancing with him, she didn’t draw out of his embrace. “What are we doing, Aric?”
“I thought we were trying to decide whether to finish this dance or end it and say goodnight.”
He wasn’t merely talking about moving together on a dance floor, and she knew it. Her guarded gaze said it all. “Don’t you mean good-bye? You’re leaving Montreal as soon as you can.”
“Yes. I am,” he admitted. “I’ve been getting the feeling you might be happy to see me go.”
The fact that she didn’t answer right away took him aback. When she finally did speak, her voice was barely a whisper. “I can’t do this with you, Aric. I want to go back inside now.”
Her eyes said just the opposite. So did the small, jagged sigh that escaped her parted lips.
“No, you don’t. That’s not what you want.” He shook his head, refusing to believe her lie. “You’re still in my arms. You don’t want to run away from me any more than I want you to.”
He knew he was right when he gently cupped her face and instead of protesting, she murmured his name like a plea.
Like a softly uttered prayer.
He bent his head and she met him more than halfway, their mouths coming together in a kiss that was both tender and explosive. The connection blazed through his senses like a wildfire. He didn’t want to release her, but he couldn’t ignore the fact that they weren’t alone on the terrace.
He broke away on a low curse, his amber-lit eyes bathing her face in an unearthly glow. There was no denying his desire for her. It was there in his transformed, heated gaze, and in the fullness of his fangs, which throbbed with the same intensity of the arousal now straining behind the zipper of his dark jeans.
“I’m afraid,” she whispered, so quietly it almost wasn’t a sound at all.
Aric knew what it cost her to say that. Kaya Laurent was a warrior at heart. She didn’t need the Order to tell her as much. Aric didn’t need anyone to confirm that about her, either. He saw her bravery and resilience in everything she did. But especially in this moment, in the wake of that soft confession.
She was tough and indomitable, yet he held her like glass in his arms now, certain that beneath the strong exterior was a woman who’d been broken in more ways than she would ever admit.
He kissed her again, then ran the pad of his thumb over the glistening softness of her lips. “Come with me, Kaya.”
It was more question than demand. He had to allow her that, because if she stepped away from this terrace with him, they both knew where the night was going to lead.
She stared into his eyes in silence.
Then she slipped her hand into his.