Page 7 of Things We Burn

I was about sense. Logic. Weighed risk. The only excitement in my life happened in the kitchen. I was strict about that. Nothing unexpected. Nothing chaotic. Nothing dangerous.

Kane ‘The Devil’ Rhodes promised nothing but chaos. Danger. I should turn my back on him.

Instead, I looked up at him and uttered a single word.

“Yes.”

I hadn’t thought my body could have any more of a visceral reaction to a person, hadn’t thought Kane could radiate any purer sexual or masculine energy.

I’d been wrong.

The second the single syllable exited my mouth, all playfulness left his gaze.

He was a portrait of desire. Ravenous hunger.

For me.

He didn’t hesitate, his arm wrapping possessively around my waist, resting his palm on my lower back.

That area burned with what felt like a brand.

“Kiera, it’s been my pleasure.” He gave my friend brief eye contact before moving us away.

I didn’t say anything to her, letting myself be taken by Kane. A quick glance over my shoulder showed Kiera grinning ear to ear, raising her glass to me in a toast.

Whipping my head back around, the throngs of people I’d previously had to weave through parted for us.

They parted forKane.

Everyone melted away from this man’s path, eyes following us. I didn’t miss the way people zeroed in on him. They whispered to each other. Some even snapped photos on their phones.

Even that didn’t jerk me out of my daze. I was a private person. I didn’t have social media, something that confounded Kiera every day of her social media obsessed life. I didn’t like photos being taken of me. Not because I had some kind of murky past with an old boyfriend looking for me or something dramatic. I simply didn’t like attention. Which might’ve confused people considering the culinary world was filled with narcissistic attention seekers looking for fame. But there was also a decent amount of us there for the passion, the art of it.

The attention should’ve made my skin crawl. I should’ve pulled out of Kane’s grip and slunk out of the spotlight. But I didn’t. Couldn’t. Not just because his grip was vice-like. But because I didn’t want to.

I cast my gaze down from the prying eyes and phones but otherwise let the moment be captured. Surely, these people were acting like sheep; one sports fan took a photo, then the person beside them followed suit because they didn’t want to miss out on capturing the moment they brushed elbows with someone famous.

The photos would sit on the phones, forgotten by the next drink, I was certain.

Suddenly, we were no longer in the overly warm and crowded room that smelled of salmon canapés and too much aftershave; we were in the crisp New York air, the smell of crushed leaves welcome to my senses.

We passed the valets and people coming and going in a haze. I was concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other,trying to remain composed as the heat from Kane’s body merged with the chill of the autumn air.

The party was held on the Hudson, in an industrial district that was quiet at night. The city never slept, but parts of it lay dormant, waiting for someone to rouse it. Rounding the corner, past the bustle of the party, the road was desolate, no rogue partygoers, no cabs, no one. Except me and Kane.

A man I’d just met.

Taking me down a dark alley.

Granted, he was supposedly very famous and hadn’t exactly taken me by force, but I knew how quickly situations could change. Fame and the spotlight did not turn scoundrels into gentlemen. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Despite my initial reaction to the man, unease prickled up my spine.

As if sensing me tensing, Kane stopped, so I stopped with him.

“This is me.” He motioned to a motorcycle that was parked along the brick side of a building. My knowledge of motorcycles was slim to none, but I could tell from the sleek shape, the color and the gleam of chrome that it was probably an expensive one. One he’d left on an abandoned side street of the city. The flippancy of someone with too much money or the ego of someone who thought they were untouchable, I didn’t know.

“You want me to escort you back to the party, I’m happy to do it,” Kane offered.

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