Page 48 of A City of Hearts and Feathers

That was not what was getting to her. It was the fact that she'd meant everything she had said. She did want to kiss Kahil more than she wanted to kiss anyone. Now, she looked completely ridiculous. This was not how she'd wanted this night to go.

Zoe had planned on telling him that she was getting feelings for him once they'd gotten home. Maybe kiss him and see where it went. She wanted to know if he actually meant anything behind his flirting.

You aren't going to find answers hiding in the shower,she told herself. Zoe got out of the shower. She was an adult,goddamn it. She could totally look a man in the eyes and say she wanted to kiss him.

Zoe got into her pajamas and unraveled her hair. She looked at her reflection in the mirror for a long moment. "You are going around Istanbul finding pieces of a magical book. You can talk to a man you like. Get your shit together.Gnothi seautonand all that."

Zoe half expected Kahil to have gone to bed without another word to her. Instead, she found him still sitting on the edge of her bed where she had left him, his beer now empty.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking up at her.

"Yeah. I'm sorry about…everything I said," she replied, trying to keep her voice steady.

Kahil's face fell a little. "Don't be sorry. If you hadn't been drugged, I would have loved everything that came out of your mouth. I just didn't want you to regret anything that happened while you weren't yourself."

"That was kind of you." Zoe moved closer and gently pushed his bottle out of the way so she could stand between his legs. He looked up at her, his mismatched eyes like molten amber. "But drugged or not, thisiswhat I want to do."

She placed her hands on his face, thumbs tracing his high cheekbones and did the one thing she had been dreaming about since they met. She kissed the scar on his top lip.

"Zoe…" The empty bottle dropped from Kahil's grip, and his big hands traced up the back of her legs to her satin sleep shorts. She tilted his head back and kissed him properly. His lips were warm and fit perfectly against hers. He pulled her closer, his mouth opening for her to take more. Maybe he was the drug she should be worried about because the more she tasted, the more she wanted. Each brush of lips was slow and silky, dragging her under with desire.

Zoe's hands stroked over his braid before using it to gently tug his head back and kiss her way down his strong neck to the soft skin behind his ear.

"You always smell so good," she murmured against him. She pushed his jacket off his shoulders and ran her fingers over the leather knife holsters he had on underneath. "You were worried enough tonight to carry all this with you?"

"I don't trust anyone at the moment. Especially not the likes of Akamos. I'm so sorry. I should have stopped you from drinking that wine," Kahil replied, his hands on her legs tightening.

"It's okay. You got me out of there. You kept me safe," Zoe reassured him. She gripped the leather straps and brought him in for another kiss. "I have to admit, these are kind of doing it for me."

"I'll wear them more often then," Kahil said and laughed softly. He stroked up her back. "You are so damn beautiful. I liked the dress, but these satin shorts of yours have been killing me for days."

"They have?"

Kahil nodded. "Everything about you has been driving me crazy since you landed in Istanbul."

Zoe ran her fingers over his cheekbones. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Very good. I've been closed off for decades and meeting you is like feeling the sun on my face." Kahil twirled a lock of her hair between his fingers. "Everything is so warm again. It's like I was waiting for you and didn't even realize it."

Zoe's heart fluttered wildly. This man. She was still unsure enough to ask, "You…want me?"

"Yeah, honey, I want you. Every second." Kahil kissed her once. "Of every day." He pulled her into his lap so she was straddling him and kissed her again. "And I'm going to prove it."

"Oh, thank fuck," Zoe sighed in relief, and everything became a blur of kissing and hot caresses. She undid the buttons of Kahil's shirt, wanting to touch and taste all the tattooed muscles underneath it. He was too fucking gorgeous everywhere, and he was all hers.

She stared at him and his strange, mismatched eyes. A sweet ache lodged itself underneath her heart. She wanted him so deeply that it scared her.

"Fuck, if I wasn't enjoying it so much, I'd resent you being so damn hot," she said, licking the hard curve of his collarbone.

"Why resent something that belongs to you?" Before Zoe could try and answer that, Kahil shifted, lowering her back onto the bed. He slid off her and removed the leather holsters and his shirt with slow intent, his eyes never leaving her. Zoe made a mournful sound.

"Don't scowl,balim. The holsters will only get in the way for what I want to do to you," he said, his voice husky.

"Oh? And what's that?" she asked.

Kahil looped his fingers around the hem of her shorts. "What was it you so eloquently said when we were downstairs? 'My pussy isn't going to eat itself?'"

"I didn't," Zoe said, covering her face with her hands to hide her mortification.

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