Page 71 of Runaway Hearts: Seduced by Danger

I put the car in drive and exit the parking lot. “Kai?”

“Hmm?” He turns his attention to me, one hand still entangled in mine.

“The second we arrive at my uncle’s…” My cheeks flush with embarrassment. “There will be no real privacy,” I finish, my whole face a bright lobster red.

Kai’s smirk disappears. “Why are you telling me this?”

Kiss me again. Now.

“I just… I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.” My spirit slaps my forehead.

Assertiveness minus a hundred.

Come on, Marianne!

A slow, lopsided smirk wakes on his lips. “Get your mind out of the gutter.”

My mouth hangs open, and I blink slowly before I burst out into a fit of nervous laughter.

I don’t want to admit it, but he’s right. Getting a write-up for public indecency isn’t on my vacation list. Neither is inducing trauma on my uncle with indecent noises. Nina would just congratulate me… probably. Too much attention, again.

I wiggle my fingers. “Okay.”

As we drive through the streets, the engine’s hum lulls us into comfortable silence. Occasionally, his thumb draws lazy patterns on my skin.

The night air flows through the open window, carrying the scent of water and far-off pine trees. I steal glances at Kai, illuminated by passing streetlights. His profile’s smoldering with intensity, a brooding edge softened by the warmth of our shared moments.

The cloak covering his true feelings is absent.

As we pull up to my uncle’s house, a naughty thumb caresses my inner thigh.

“Just, huh,” I murmur. “The second we step in, we need to act normal.”

My family has never seen me with someone. Ever.

He sniffs and smirks. “I’ve got this.”

I cut the engine, but neither of us moves. The night is alive around us—crickets chirping, leaves rustling softly in the breeze.

Kai’s hand leaves my thigh reluctantly as he reaches for the door handle and a strange pang of loss zings through my vertebrae.

But before I unbuckle my seatbelt, Kai’s hand cups my jaw. The smolder in his gaze sets the air on fire. “No privacy, huh?” Every movement of his upper body is controlled, like a panther crouching before an attack. “Then, I need one more.” His lips brush against mine, gentle at first but quickly deepening as if he’s holding back an ocean of longing.

I had forgotten the heady thrill of feeling wanted. It’s intimidating.

But I dissolve into him as I grab fistfuls of his hair and angle his face to deepen the kiss. Our tongues clash in a battle for power until I slide mine over the roof of his mouth, eliciting a shiver that rips through his entire body. The car becomes a pressure cooker of pent-up lust and unresolved tension. The gearshift digs into my hip, but I don’t care.

All that matters is us.

His mouth travels down my neck, teeth grazing the sensitive skin just below my ear. I gasp, my back arching involuntarily. Kai’s hands roam, finding the hem of my dress and skimming up my thighs, making me shiver despite the heat building inside me.

“Kai.” My voice is a strained mix of need and desperation.

He pulls back just an inch. “Marianne,” he whispers my name, a plea and a promise wrapped in one breath. “Go inside,” he says, voice gravelly. “Before I lose control.”

I don’t want that.

My body protests as I slip out of the car, each step a struggle against the magnetic pull between us. Kai follows but stays five steps behind. The porch light shines above.

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