Page 37 of A Storm in Every Heart
“I told you,” Kastian says flatly. “Your power won’t work on me.”
I shake my head again, so confused and overwhelmed I can hardly think. “It works on all men.”
His smirk returns. “I’m not all men.”
Startled, I choke and almost laugh. “Arrogant prick.”
His hand tightens in my hair. “Spoiled princess.”
I shiver and for a long second we stand still and silent. Kastian lets his hand fall away from my hair, but he doesn’t step back. My breathing turns ragged once more, and my mind reels.
If I didn’t bewitch him, then this is just us, and somehow that’s even worse.
Holding Kastian at arm’s length, antagonizing each other, and convincing myself to hate him is the only way I’ve been able to survive the last year, but I can’t do it again. Another year of this might kill me…something needs to give.
“Once,” I blurt out.
Kastian’s face twists in confusion. “Once what?”
“We do this once. Just to…get it out of our systems, and then we never have to think about it again.”
His eyes darken, and his voice comes out hoarse and raspy. “You really think once will be enough?”
No.
“It will have to be because that’s all I’m offering…if you want it, that is.”
For a long moment, Kastian stays silent, conflict warring on his face.
My cheeks heat and my heart thunders against my chest so loud that I know he can hear it, just the same as I can hear the way his uneven breathing speeds up the longer he looks at mewith indecision in his eyes. If I was wrong and he still doesn’t want me, I might die of humiliation right here and now.
“Fuck it,” Kastian growls.
He moves suddenly, gripping my thighs and hoisting me into the air before I’ve even had a moment to realize what’s happening. He pins my body between the wall and his broad chest, and his hips press firmly into me, and I can feel the undeniable evidence of his desire, still hard and ready.
He doesn’t kiss me this time, instead pressing his face into my neck as his hands glide over my sides, tracing the contours of my body, before settling around the curve of my ass, pulling me even closer.
I writhe against him, chasing the heat of several minutes ago. My fingers tremble as I reach between us, feeling the cool leather of his belt beneath my touch. I fumble with the metal buckle, struggling to unfasten it.
He growls against my skin and shifts his hips, batting my hand away. “Stop,”
I whine in the back of my throat. I want to beg, but I force a teasing smile onto my face and keep my tone light. “Changed your mind already?”
In answer, he grinds his hips even harder into my core. “Not a fucking chance. But if I only get you once, then I’m going to make it count. I don’t want to fuck you fast against this wall; I want all night to feel you come over and over on my fingers and my tongue so when I finally fuck you, you’re begging me for it.”
My eyes fly wide, and a tiny whimper escapes me.Oh, fuck. I’m in so much trouble.
Whatever happens now, I know once won’t be nearly enough. I know that it won’t matter whether I walk away or I drown in him all night long. In the morning, he’ll still have ruined me.
KASTIAN, PRESENT
Once.
Onceis such a torturous trap.
On the one hand, it’s perfect.
If I thought she wanted anything else from me than to “get this out of her system,” I’d worry if it was fair to her to start something when I already know I’ll never be able to form a soul-bond with her. But just once means I don’t have to tell her.
