Page 50 of Catching Fire

“So, they were fake.” She latched on to the one shitty part.

“Yes! If they were real—if I could makeany of thisreal—I would have kissed you the way I wanted to!”

She was still frowning at him when he said, “Like this,” and grabbed her face in his hands.

Chapter Thirty-One

Seline felt Kalan’s lips touch hers and the rest of the world melted away. Their fight about her guns and her plans, her anger at his resistance, all disappeared.

The way she felt about him was all consuming, and though she knew it shouldn’t be, his kiss removed all doubt that this was right. Still, she was too smart to dive into something that sounded wrong. She pushed him away. “I don’t understand.”

They stared at each other for a single hot second, and she could feel the magnetic force pulling her, but she fought it. “If this is how you wanted to kiss me then why were you so cold for the last month?”

His explanation of each little reason didn’t add up. It didn’t explain why he’d pulled away each time she’d tried to kiss him. Seline couldn’t afford to have romances that didn’t add up or men who didn’t fully show her how they felt, so she waited.

Kalan took a breath, and something crossed his face, maybe shame? She couldn’t tell.

“I’ve always known you were special. I hoped that maybewecould be something special, too.” He paused, but Seline didn’t fill the space for him, even though it was awkward for her not to. “After the way I treated you the first night, I didn’t want to push you. I’ll wait however long it takes until you know that I’m not that guy.”

“What are you even talking about?” Holding out was off the table. She’d gone from resistant to utterly confused in one sentence.

This time he looked at the floor. “I lost control. I’ve never had that happen before. I don’t force myself on women.” He snapped his head up and looked her in the eyes for that last line. “I’ve kept a very tight rein on my actions since then. I don’t sit next to you so that I can keep my head in the game and not get too focused on your leg pressing against mine. I don’t kiss you like I want to because I don’t want to push you too far.”

“Push me too far?”When had he done that?

But he seemed to understand even though she didn’t. “That first kiss, on the front porch?”

She nodded.

“You had to push me off of you … I’ve never had that happen before. I’ve never lost it like that be—”

“I didn’t push you off.”He thought that?

“Yes, you did.”

“No, I didn’t.”Was he crazy?“I was there, too. I would know.”

“You grabbed my jacket—” he mimicked the motion, “—and pushed me backward.”

What?Seline shook her head. She didn’t remember this at all. What was he—ooohhhh, shehadpushed him back. “Kalan, I needed to breathe. That was all. I took a breath and then I was trying to pull you back to me and you tugged out of my hands and disappeared!”

“What?” His turn to be confused now, she thought. But he’d walked away believing she’d simply shoved him off.

Maybe it was better to show than to tell. Petrified that she was wrong, that he still didn’t want her, she tried one more time. Last night had been mortifying and she’d survived. If she didn’t survive this, she could throw herself at Sanders, at least.

So Seline reached out and gathered the fabric of his shirt in her fists, much the way she’d held it that first night on the porch. This time, she completed the act of pulling him towards her. She whispered against his mouth, “That kiss was the only reason I was still giving you a chance.”

Then she felt their lips touch again and the world caught fire. Their mouths fused but she felt it everywhere. His hands found her hips and slid her along the counter top until she was at the edge, legs wrapped around Kalan’s waist. Their bodies pressed closer, his hands roaming until his fingers twined in her hair.

He tipped her head back, the lush feel of his mouth traced her jawline, scrambling every thought except the one that wanted him.

With a mind of their own, her fingers tugged at his shirt, and she had it halfway up his chest before she realized what she was doing. But now she could see enough to know that what she was doing was a really good idea, and she peeled him like a banana with a grin and a kiss as she exposed his mouth.

Kalan paid her back by sliding his hand under her shirt and brushing his thumb across her hardened nipple.

“Dieu!” It fell from her lips, all reason gone with his touch as her body reacted to his. Her skirt was now rucked up between them and she wished she had even less clothing on.

Working together, his hands slid up the side of her ribs and only when her breasts felt the cool air did she realize he’d slid her shirt up. He must have also popped the back of her bra when she wasn’t paying attention, because she was completely exposed to him.

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