Page 41 of Inarticulate

As soon as they reached the corner of the first building, her shoulders relaxed and she chanced a look in his direction. He was peering down at her, his focus trained on her eyes. All calm fled, her footsteps faltered, and the world faded to black.

“Keenan…” She knew that look. She knew what it would bring.

He grabbed her around the waist with his free arm, lifting her feet off the ground and backtracked her into the wall. The cold bricks infiltrated her clothing, but the warmth of his body had her melting. Liquefying.

She clung to his forearms through the thick material of his coat and glimpsed a flash of his fierce gaze as he leaned into her.

“Don’t,” she whispered against his mouth, making him pause. “Not here.”

Anywhere but here.

They needed privacy.

They promised to be careful.

He nudged closer, their noses brushing, his bottom lip sweeping hers ever so gently. If he kissed her, she’d be lost. He knew it. She knew it. And he did it anyway, his mouth manipulating hers in a dance so exquisitely soft and sweet that she whimpered from the pleasure of it.

She kissed the lethargy from her system. She tangled her tongue with his in a sparring match to alleviate the frustration of the day. All the earlier irritation from work poured into him and he took it. He grasped it all, strengthening her. Invigorating her.

When he pulled back, she kept her lids closed and bit into her lower lip to savor the throb. The man sure knew how to kiss. He knew how to do a lot of things unlike any other man she knew.

“That wasn’t unpleasant.” A smile broke free and she blinked her eyes open.

Intensity was no longer a viable word to describe what stared back at her. It was more than ferocity, deeper than pleasure. It was severe and harsh and feral. It was passion and seduction and lust. All the warring emotions rolled into one deliriously sexy shade of silver.

“We should go and do something productive.”

Luscious lips quirked before her eyes.

“Not reproductive,” she clarified and nudged at his chest. “Come on.”

They strolled along the sidewalk amongst the foot traffic of passing people, hand in hand, fingers entwined. The darkness of night placated her, making her feel like they were hiding comfortably in plain sight.

“How about here?” She stopped and peered up at the cinema display board. “Do you feel like watching a movie?”

He shrugged, then gave her an approving nod.

“What do you—” Pressure shoved into her back, a cement-like shoulder propelling her forward. She gasped and Keenan’s strong hands caught her waist, stabilizing her.

“Jesus.” She turned in his arms and caught the disdain from a man looking over his shoulder as he trudged amongst the foot traffic. “He could’ve walked around me.”

Keenan’s hold dropped from her waist and he lunged, gripping the crook of the man’s arm to spin him around.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” the guy spat.

“Keenan,” she warned. “Let it go.”

The muscles in his neck tensed and his focus narrowed to pinpoints.

The man yanked his arm from Keenan’s grip. “Well? What are you looking at?” His expression turned smug, the caustic grin taunting. “Next time tell your bitch to stay out of the way.”

“Let’s keep walking.” She inched forward and Keenan did, too, raising his chin in the man’s face. He was ready to fight. For her.

“What?” The man laughed. “Cat got your tongue?”

“Oh, shit,” she whispered.

Keenan clenched his fist and pushed the man’s chest with his free hand.

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