Page 14 of Deadly Oath

It sends a flood of heat through me all over again, and it’s all I can do not to ask him to keep kissing me.

“I just—I need a second,” I breathe, feeling dizzy. It’s notnottrue. I feel completely undone by the suddenness of what just happened, by how quickly it all spun out of control. “I—that was—I’ve never?—”

“Been kissed before?” he supplies, and heat races up my throat as I press my fingers to my lips.

“Was I that bad at it?” I whisper, humiliation racing up hard on the heels of desire, and Kian chuckles roughly, shaking his head.

“Not bad at it at all,” he rasps. “But you’re shaking like a leaf, little rabbit. If someone has kissed you before, they didn’t do a very good job at it.”

“No, that was—that was my first kiss,” I admit, my hands grasping behind me for the ropes of the ring for support. My knees feel as if they’re on the verge of giving out underneath me. “I’m still—I’m?—”

“A virgin?” Kian fills in, his mouth twitching with amusement, but I see a flicker of something in his eyes as he says it. Something that makes it look as if they darken briefly, his gaze hardening with something that both frightens me and sends an answering jolt through my body.

I nod speechlessly, and he makes a sound deep in his throat, his gaze sweeping over me with a hungry possessiveness that even I can recognize.He’s dangerous, my mind whispers, and I can see the rawwantin his face, a need for something I don’t fully understand. But even as my mind is telling me to run, my body is responding to him.

He’s offering things I never had the chance to have before. Power. Choice. Pleasure onmyterms, as well as his. And the idea of paving my own way forward in this, when I’ve never been able to choose any path before, makes me want to grab him and drag him down on top of me.

But I can’t be rash. Not when my safety depends on being able to be comfortable in this town. Not when I need to be alert for anythingthat could mean the danger has followed me, found me here. I can’t rush into this.

“I—I just need to take this a little slower,” I whisper. “This is new to me. All of this—” I swallow hard, and I see that dark lust in Kian’s eyes ease just a little. He pulls back, straightening, and I can’t help but catch a glimpse of the thick, stiff length tenting his shorts as he reaches down to adjust himself.

There’s no way that will fit.

“I don’t know what’s happening here.” I swallow hard. “It’s all moving really fast. I just—if this is going to go anywhere at all, I need to take it slow.”

Kian’s eyes flash, but he nods, taking another step back. “I’m not going to force you to do anything you don’t wanna do,” he says. His thumb is hooked in the waistband of his shorts, as if he’s using his hand to shield me from seeing just how turned on he is. “If you say stop, I’ll stop. If you want me to leave you alone?—”

I nod, letting out a slow breath. “I—I don’t think I want that.” I bite my lip, trying to sort through the tangle of emotions churning in my stomach. Every other interaction we’ve had so far, he’s managed to either irritate me or piss me off—and yet, I haven’t been able to get him out of my head. Whatever it is about him that rubs me the wrong way, it’s clearly rubbing me very much therightway at this moment. And maybe if I gave him a chance?—

“Is that date still on the table?” I ask softly, curling my fingers tighter around the ropes behind me. My heart does a small, nervous twist in my chest at the thought of him turning me down, or worse, laughing at me. Laughing, maybe, at the idea that I’ll get a second shot at him when I said no once, and every other woman in this town is lining up for that same chance.

Marie was right about one thing, there’s not a woman here, married or unmarried, who won’t at least fantasize about him. Seeing him like this, I’m sure of it. He doesn’t need to give me a second chance.

But his gaze wanders over me slowly, that same hunger still in his eyes, and his mouth curls up on one side. “Sure,” he sayscasually. “I’m hungry. Why don’t we go out now and grab something to eat?”

I stare at him, caught off guard by the suddenness of the offer.He did that on purpose,I can’t help but think, and that irritation I felt before swims up to join the tangle simmering in my chest. “You’ve been working out,” I tell him pointedly. “You’re not going to go out to dinner dripping with sweat, are you?”

Kian smirks at that, a knowing look on his face that says he’s fully aware of just how closely I’ve been looking at him. “I’ll go take a shower now,” he says affably. “Won’t take but a few minutes. Then we can go get something to eat. I imagine you haven’t had a decent meal in a while, considering your cooking skills.”

“You—” I shove myself away from the ropes, suddenly pissed all over again, and Kian chuckles, taking a neat step backward.

“Don’t swing at me,” he says with a grin, holding his hands up. “You might get one punch in, but I’d lay you out flat on the floor right after.”

His gaze meets mine as he says it, blazing with heat, and I come up short, my body tightening with a rush of desire. It feels like sparks are snapping between us, close to igniting the air in the space between him and me, and I need to catch my breath. I need a moment alone.

“Okay,” I say quickly, before he tries to come up with any other means of convincing me. “I’ll just wait out here?”

“Sounds good.” Kian grins. “It won’t take me long. I’ll be right back out.”

I can’t stop myself from staring at him as he walks away. I’ve never encountered anyone like him before. I grew up around Bratva men who considered themselves the peak of masculinity, but there’s a rawness about Kian that outstrips any other man I’ve ever met.

As he disappears around the corner, I look around, suddenly unsure of what to do with myself while I wait. The idea of someone walking in and finding me here makes my face heat all over again, as if they’d be able to tell just by looking at me that Kian had me up against the ropes a moment ago. The thought of explaining that I’mwaiting on him only makes me feel more nervous, and I glance around, seeing the women’s locker room off to one side. As far as I can tell, the rest of the gym is currently empty, and I head in that direction, hoping to have some privacy while I wait for Kian to finish showering.

Thatimage is burned into my mind the second I think of it. I’ve never seen an entirely naked man before, but what was pressed up against me gives me enough to put some of the pieces together, and just the thought of him standing naked under the water, soap running down the rivulets of his muscles, is enough to make me feel slightly breathless all over again.

I lean back against the lockers, trying to push the image out of my head. But it sticks, sending prickles of heat over my skin, and I reach down unthinkingly, toying with the top button of my jeans.

I’ve never made myself come before. I’ve toyed with the idea, let my fingers wander—but I’ve never made it to the finish line. Now, with the thought of a soaking-wet, naked Kian in my head, I’m sorely tempted to slip my hand inside of my jeans, and finally find out what that would feel like. After the way he kissed me, I think just the memory of that might be enough to get me there.

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