Page 14 of Bound By Blood

“You,” he answered quietly. “Every inch of you, in every way possible. I want to start at the top of your head and nibble my way down to your toes.”

“Well, I’ll give you this—you’re more honest than most.” After the image he had painted in her mind, it was an effort to keep her voice steady.

The music changed tempo, going from an oldies song to something slower and more romantic.

Zack held her closer, tighter. Straps crisscrossed the back of her top, leaving parts of her back bare to the touch of his hand. His dark eyes burned into hers, hot and hungry. Kaitlyn’s heart skipped a beat. She had seen looks like that before, in the eyes of her father’s people. But Zack didn’t belong to her father’s coven, or any coven.

Still, the look unsettled her and when the music ended, she told Zack she needed to sit down. She wasn’t tired, but she needed to put some space between them. She couldn’t think clearly when he was holding her, when he was looking at her like that, as if he was a hungry cat, and she a tasty mouse.

He escorted her to a nearby table, held her chair for her. “How about a drink?” he asked, and when she nodded, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and called the bar in the casino.

“Why didn’t you just order from the bar up here?” Kaitlyn asked.

“That’s for the tourists. I have my own private stock downstairs.”

Less than five minutes later, a waiter arrived at their table carrying a bottle ofClos Du Mesnilchampagne and a bottle ofDom Pérignon Rosé.A waitress arrived moments later bearing a tray with a pair of crystal goblets and a plate of canapés.

Zack dismissed the help with a smile, then gestured at the bottles. “What’s your pleasure?”

“I don’t know anything about champagne.”

“Well, theClos Du Mesnilcosts about seven hundred dollars; theDom Pérignonabout half that.”

“Are you kidding me? Seven hundred dollars for a bottle of champagne?” She shook her head in amazement. “I have got to try that.”

He filled two glasses with liquid that was straw gold in color, then handed her one. “What shall we drink to?”

“Beginnings?” she suggested.

“Beginnings,” he repeated, and touched his glass to hers.

He watched her over the rim of his glass as he sipped his wine, and for one moment out of time, Kaitlyn imagined his lips pressed against the side of her neck, his tongue lightly stroking her skin.

“Katy, let’s go where we can be alone.”

She nibbled one of the canapés, then shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not? Are you afraid of me?”

“Yes.”

He sat back, his brow furrowing. “What are you afraid of?”

“The way you make me feel. We’re moving way too fast. I hardly know you.”

“What do you want to know?”

She sipped her drink, then set her glass aside. “Everything.”

“Everything, huh?” He dragged a hand over his jaw. “My parents are dead. I’m an only child. I’m rich and single and I’m crazy about you. What else do you need to know?”

“How old are you?”

“Thirty-one.”

“When’s your birthday?”

“August the fourth.”

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