Page 28 of When Hearts Surrender

A car honks in the distance.

“I’ve called you a car to take you to wherever you want to go next, to the next yeses in your adventure,” he murmurs, a deep anguish in his voice.

“W-What?” I whisper as confusion fights with heavy disappointment. Why does this feel like goodbye? Why isn’t he asking for my number or taking me home?

My questions must have shown on my face because he answers, “I’m sorry, Anna. These few hours are all the adventures I can give you. If I were to take you home, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to help myself…”

His voice catches as his sentence trails off. He takes a step back away from me, the brisk morning wind crashing between us, a wall separating two worlds that cannot be breached.

“But why?” I ask.

I don’t understand. I want to know him better. My heart has never beat like this for another man before. There is a connection I can’t explain—why is he just giving up?

Silas shakes his head, unwilling to say more, and steps to the side.

Wetness prickles behind my eyes from a strange urge to cry, but I don’t. I’ve only known the man for a few hours and I have my pride. This has to be a side effect of the adrenaline from earlier. I won’t beg anyone to go home with me or to keep in touch with me.

Squaring my shoulders, I strain a smile. “Thank you for an unforgettable night, Silas.”

I walk toward the black sedan, every atom of my body telling me to turn back, to run toward the imposing, mysterious man standing there. Raking in a heavy breath, I shake my head and quicken my pace toward the car.

I’m not looking back. I’m not—

Suddenly, pounding footsteps echo behind me and before I know it, a strong hand curls around my wrist. With a quick tug, he spins me around.

I see a flash of furrowed brows, intense eyes glimmering with a determined light. He clasps his other hand at the nape of my neck and crushes his lips to mine.

He’s kissing me.

I’m swept away by a tsunami of heat and passion. And relief. Because he wants me just like I want him.

Silas kisses me like it’s the last kiss he’ll ever receive, the last meal of a condemned man before execution. His mouth moves against mine, his tongue dipping out to taste the seam of my lips and my mind blanks, my body a slave to the sultry sensations.

Moaning, I curl my hands around his neck, my fingers tugging at the dark strands, and he growls before he tilts my head to the side and plunges his tongue inside my mouth. His movements are dominant, his hunger palpable, and he bands his arm tighter around my waist such that I’m plastered to him from my chest to my legs, and I can feel every twitch of his hard muscles through the thin fabric of my dress.

An unmistakable hardness prods my stomach and I feel myself growing wet, wanting to rub against him, against this stranger whose last name I don’t even know, but I find myself not caring.

A year of yeses.

Somehow, I have a feeling I’ll always say yes to him.

I let out a whimper as his teeth nip my lip before his tongue laves the bite mark. I drag in a breath of air before he swallows my mouth with his again, his long fingers knotting my hair and tugging, the sudden pain a direct caress to my clit.

This is insanity, but I don’t care.

I need more. I need him. All of him.

“Oh Silas,” I moan, and he freezes.

He wrenches me away and staggers back several steps. His chest rises and falls rapidly as we stare at each other, my lungs burning with the need for more oxygen, my mouth craving for another taste of him. His face is flushed, hair mussed, eyes wild with the same inexplicable madness swirling in my veins.

My skin feels hot to the touch, my core pulsing, needing the virile man before me, who looks like he’s a beast and wants to tear into me for breakfast.

And I want him to.

I take a step forward and he lurches back, his index finger shaking as he points to the car behind me.

“Go.Leave me,” he commands, the warmth from his face seconds ago morphing into a fierce coldness.

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