I pressed myself harder against him and he swept his tongue between my lips.
Oh, my God, this feels so good.
He groaned, low and deep in his throat, and grabbed my ass with both hands.
Heat spread from his touch, straight through my core. I wished that we had all the time in the world. I wanted to go further with him. I wanted to wrap myself around him and forget about everyone and everything else in the world so it was just the two of us.
But I couldn’t.
Not when there was a bounty on my head.
Not when I wasn’t safe anymore.
Chapter 3.
For the moment, I let myself enjoy the kiss. I tilted my head so he had better access to the inside of my mouth. If he wanted to explore, I was willing to let him.
Unfortunately, I needed to breathe and I was sure he did as well. I pulled away from him, though every cell in my overly heated body told me to shred our clothes and take us down to my bed. To lose ourselves in the passion of the moment, and to forget the danger and travesty that awaited us both when we were found. To make myself feel complete in this world—in every realm.
When I glanced up, he narrowed his eyes at my lips.
“You don’t want to...” He let his voice trail off.
Somehow, I knew exactly what he was trying to say.
“Oh, I do,” I said quickly, probably too quickly for it to come out cool and collected, the way I hoped it would. “I really do. But I’m pretty sure the reason you came here was to tell me that my safe time in this realm had come to an end, so maybe getting into something now isn’t the best idea.”
His jaw hardened as he extricated himself from our embrace. His hands lifted from my ass. His heat lifted from my body. I suddenly felt cold.
I wished I hadn’t said anything. I should have let myself enjoy him for another moment longer.
“Yes.” He gave a cryptic nod, his eyes everywhere but on me. It almost seemed as though he was upset that he’d let himself get too carried away. “You are right.”
Even though I knew it was the right choice, my heart ached as he stepped away. I swallowed and tried not to think about it. Reaching for him now
wasn’t an option. As such, I stayed back and watched him, still mesmerized by his beauty.
He shook himself as though trying to calm down. I wanted to believe I had such power over him. Deep down, I knew it could have been more about the danger than the desire.
I didn’t speak for a long minute, not sure how to handle his reaction. Was it temper, anger at being stopped? Or something deeper? More? I longed to go to him. I longed to wrap myself up in him. But I held back.
Finally, he stopped walking and looked at me with his usual amount of calm detachment. I almost screamed at him. To go from such a powerful kiss to... nothing so easily... I didn’t know quite what to think.
I sat back down on the bed, feeling achy in places I usually didn’t.
“So, what do I do?” I asked, spreading out my arms. I didn’t want to think about the fact that we were suddenly on two different sides of the room.
He sat down on the couch. He rested his elbows on his knees and stared at me with piercing eyes.
“I think you need to go somewhere that no-one will find you,” he said. “Perhaps... the realm where you grew up? From what I’d gathered, and what the High Warlock said... your mother created a realm that only you lived in. That is very rare, and more than likely, impossible to track and find.”
Disappointment swamped me. He wanted me to return to my mother’s realm, where I was completely isolated from everyone and everything? He wanted me to leave everything behind after just finding it for myself?
“You want me to go back... and hide?” I asked. I tapped my fingertips together, trying to give me something to focus on. “Like my mother did for almost twenty-five years?”
My breath caught in my throat as I struggled against the rising emotions in my chest, tears filling my eyes. The last thing I wanted was for him to think I was weak.
Worse, now I was crying.