Page 55 of Enchanted Kisses
Immediately, I thought of Dagan.
My heart raced as I ran for the stairs and my bedroom. I’d barely made it five steps when hands snagged me around the waist.
“No!” I tried to pry his fingers from my skin.
“It’s all right, Lily. It’s me.” Caiden pulled me against his chest.
I let out a breath and rested for a moment before I remembered that I was still in my bra and panties.
“Close your eyes,” I ordered. “I’m not dressed.”
He chuckled. “You’re joking, right?”
“I’m not moving until you close your eyes.” At least, sandwiched against him, he couldn’t see my body. Not unless he craned his neck and blatantly stared down at me.
“Lily, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before. Remember?” His tone was silky and low.
“Remember that you peek? How could I forget? I won’t make that mistake ever again.” The feel of his warm hands flat against my stomach had me tight as a knot.
“Ever?” he whispered in my ear.
Shivers ran over my skin. I jumped away and faced him. “Why are you here?”
His glittering eyes roamed my body, and a ray of gold flashed from his head to his feet. With his chin low, he peered up through dark lashes and inched toward me.
“What are you doing? Are you…losing it?” I backed up until I bumped into the wall.
He stopped in front of me. “Stay still.” He brushed my hair behind my shoulder and bent down to nuzzle his face in the crook of my neck. After a few deep breaths, he seemed to relax.
My body, however, did the opposite. My muscles coiled like springs. He was so warm and smelled so good. Unsure of what he was doing, but aware it wasn’t an attack, I closed my eyes and rested my head against the wall.
“I had to see you,” he breathed on my neck, his fingers lightly trailing up my arm. “Everything is right when you’re near.”
I swallowed as tiny kisses danced up my arm, charging my heart.Holy cow. “Caiden,” I murmured, “you shouldn’t be here. I know about Bianca.” I hadn’t planned to say the last sentence, not yet anyway.
He turned his head so his forehead rested on my shoulder. I hoped it wasn’t to get a better look at my underwear, though it didn’t seem like it. If I were right, I’d guess his eyes were closed. Raysa hadn’t been kidding when she said he was struggling.
“It’s not what you think. I’m sorry I wasn’t the one to tell you.”
Seized by a mixture of self-consciousness and hurt, I wiggled out from beneath him and moved away. “Why didn’t you tell me you had an ex-fiancée?”
He straightened to his full height, although his eyes remained focused on my body.
I lifted a finger. “Hold that thought.” I raced upstairs to my room and grabbed my robe, pulling it on and fastening the tie on my way back to meet Caiden.
He was gone.
“Caiden!” I yelled, panicked, though I didn’t know why. I sped to the front door but only made it to the kitchen.
He stood at the fridge with the door open, his eyes fixed on something inside. “Did you like my gift?”
I’d forgotten I’d put the plastic box—earrings and all—in the fridge before changing into my dress.
“Yes and no.” I borrowed Raysa’s earlier response. What would she think about Caiden being here?
I glanced at my phone on the counter. I could call her and ask, but I didn’t want to add to her stress. Plus, she was right when she said I needed to learn how to deal with Death Sentries. Even though Caiden was—what?—a halfsie like me, it was a good starting point.
Instead of telling him to leave, I took a chance. “What did Alliston mean when he said we were foretold?”
