Page 27 of Yearning For Her

Unacceptable.

The waiter left, and Willow and her companion stood, pushing in their chairs.

Kian’s gaze indulged in Willow. She wore a white ruffled, off-the-shoulder blouse and light blue jeans that clung to her curves. His fingers twitched at the memory of how her hips had felt in his hands. Her hair was twisted up in a clip atop her head, with loose strands framing her face.

Willow stowed a tablet computer in her tote bag, slipped her arms through the straps, and made her way toward the patio exit with the woman from her table. “It was so lovely to meet you, Amanda.”

“Thank you for this, Willow. I can’t tell you how much you’ve eased my nerves.” Amanda smiled, stepping through the arched gate and onto the sidewalk. “I kept telling myself there was no way I’d ever get pictures like this done, but after seeing all the pictures in your portfolio… They’re so beautiful. I can’t tell you how excited I am for tomorrow.”

Their conversation was meaningless to Kian, not that he could bring himself to focus on their words. No, his eyes fixed upon Willow’s lips, and he recalled how they’d felt against his. His hunger roared. Need coursed through his body, overtaking every fiber of his being. It rumbled in his bones, thrummed in his muscles, sizzled in his veins.

His cock pressed painfully against his pants, instantly hard and desperate for freedom. For her.

Kian wanted her every smile, every laugh, chuckle, and giggle. He wanted her pleasured moans, her warmth, her softness, her passion, her everything.

The rules he’d adopted to help him survive in the ever-changing world of humans fell to pieces. There was only Willow, could only be Willow. He shoved away from the wall and strode toward her, each step quicker than the last, powered by need, by lust—his own lust.

He’d hungered too deeply and for too long. He would feed now.

“I want you to be comfortable, and for this to be an amazing experience,” Willow said, falling into place beside Amanda as they turned away from Kian to walk along the street. “I want to show you just how sexy and courageous you really are.”

The breeze picked up, flowing toward Kian. The air was still rife with city odors, but they were overpowered by a different scent, one which he greedily drew into his lungs.

Violets, vanilla, and a hint of warm summer breeze. Willow’s fragrance. Its fullness, its sweetness and allure, assaulted his hyperaware senses, wrapped around them and squeezed them into submission. He quickened his steps, rapidly closing the distance.

“I’ve never felt sexy,” Amanda said, head down. “It’s so hard when everyone around you judges you for how you look.”

Willow adjusted the tote strap on her shoulder. “I know. I’ve been there. I know what it feels like to look in the mirror and not be happy with what you see, to stand there picking at every flaw. But I finally gave everyone a big eff you and worked on loving myself. I took the leap myself four years ago and scheduled a boudoir session. I broke down in tears when I saw my pictures. I couldn’t believe that was me, that I could be that sexy vixen staring at the camera so confidently, so seductively. Ever since…” She looked at Amanda and smiled. “I want to help others feel the way I did.”

“Thank you, Willow.”

“Of cour—”

Kian’s hand darted out and caught Willow’s wrist. He tugged her back, and she spun toward him with a startled sound, stumbling directly into his chest. Grasping a fistful of her clipped hair at the back of her head, he angled her face toward him.

Her eyes widened in recognition an instant before he claimed her mouth with his.

Lightning crackled across his lips. A conduit opened directly to his soul, and saccharine energy blasted through it, flooding him with a power he’d not tasted in weeks. His other arm banded around her, crushing her body against him. He took advantage of her surprise, his tongue delving into the velvet depths of her mouth, his lips devouring hers.

She wedged her hands between their bodies as though to push him away only to hesitate. Her fingers curled, bunching his shirt in her hold, and she pulled him deeper into the kiss. Her lashes fell shut.

Delirious pleasure flowed into Kian. He groaned, and his eyes also closed. His heart was thunder rolling in his chest, and his aching cock throbbed, trapped between their bodies, tortured by pressure, by heat, by his need for more.

One kiss. This one kiss gave him more energy than he’d gained from entire nights of sex, more than ever should have been possible from something so mundane. And gods, her taste! Her mouth was so damned sweet, and it only made him crave the flavor of her cunt even—

A hard shove against his chest broke their kiss. The immediacy of the pleasure he was siphoning dwindled, but the magical connection wasn’t yet severed.

He opened his eyes to look down at her with red-tinted vision just as a sharp crack of pain exploded across his face. His head snapped to the side, and Willow tore out of his grasp, leaving him swaying.

“What the hell, Kian?” Willow demanded.

Kian blinked and touched a hand over his cheek, which pulsed with a lingering burn. Not only had she pulled away from him during a kiss—a kiss she had clearly enjoyed—but she’d hit him. No one had ever withdrawn in the middle of any such act with him, much less stricken him. His innate charm should’ve kept her blinded by passion without any effort, even in his weakened state.

“You slapped me.” He returned his gaze to her.

Her lips were kiss-swollen, spots of pink stood out on her cheeks, and her chest was heaving. She looked so fucking delicious.

Worth it.

---