Page 40 of Yearning For Her

“All done,” she said, voice breathier than she’d intended, as she lowered the camera.

Wordlessly, he turned toward her and advanced. Whether she wanted to retreat or not was irrelevant. Willow was frozen in place, and she knew, deep down, there was nowhere else she wanted to be in that moment. His lustful eyes pierced her, fanning the flames he’d ignited in her soul.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and tugged her body against his. A surge of anticipation forced the breath out of her lungs. Seizing the nape of her neck with his other hand, Kian tilted her head back, leaned down, and sealed his lips over hers.

Willow curled her fingers against his chest. His lips caressed hers with a warmth and tenderness he’d not yet shown, though she could not deny the underlying passion and fire. While their lips were connected, her skin tingled, her heart hammered, and every nerve in her body lit up. Her eyelids slid shut.

His lips stroked, his tongue teased, and his fangs nipped. Willow’s belly tightened. Desire surged through her, and the ache in her core grew heavier. His heat and scent surrounded her, intoxicating and decadent, and she longed to lose herself in it. To lose herself in this.

Somehow, she understood what was happening. He was feeding from her right now. But it felt good. So, so good. Even when taking from her, he gave so damn much in return.

And that quickly, he snatched it all away. Kian lifted his head, breaking the kiss and prompting Willow, momentarily bewildered by his sudden withdrawal, to open her eyes.

Shifting his hand to her jaw, he trailed the pad of his thumb along her lower lip, and then ran his tongue across his own. “Thank you for breakfast, Willow.”

He righted her, released his hold, and stepped back, leaving her unsteady, cold, and bereft. “I know you have a busy day, so I won’t take up any more of your time.” Kian strode toward the door only to pause on the threshold and glance at her over his shoulder. “I’ll pick you up for dinner at eight.”

Her thoughts were clouded in the haze of lust Kian had cast over her, and Willow blinked at him until her mind caught up and processed his words. “Wait, what?”

“Dinner. Eight o’clock. What you’re wearing will be perfect.”

“We’re not going on a date, Kian!”

But he only turned his head away, offered an unconcerned wave, and left.

Willow growled. “Wicked, rotten fae playing dirty.”

They were not going out together.

Twelve

Kian didn’t know what the fuck he was doing.

How could a centuries-old immortal being not know how to do something as simple as wooing a mortal?

Because I know how to fuck humans, not how to…to win their love.

“Dinner,” he grumbled, unlocking his phone. “It’s just dinner. How hard could that be?”

He’d seen humans eating together all the time. Sharing meals was one of their favorite things to do as a species. Breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, after-dinner drinks, dessert, midnight snacks, drunken drive-thru trips—mortal lives revolved around food. What was there to mess up here?

Everything.

He had no idea what foods Willow liked and only the vaguest notion of what sort of atmosphere she’d appreciate. She’d been so excited on her way to Eden that night, but he couldn’t be sure that it’d had anything to do with her destination.

Growling, he cast aside his thoughts of that night, of that place. She’d been hurt deeply, and the time since had not been enough to heal her wounds. He could sense them from her constantly. The pain she carried was muted, personal, and deep, an ache that wouldn’t go away. A sorrow that tinged everything else.

And yet her taste was still infinitely sweeter than that of anyone from whom he’d ever fed.

Though she’d declared they weren’t dating, that was exactly what tonight would be. A date.

But what was appropriate for a first date? He was an incubus. His specialty had always been fucking and leaving. All this…courtship was beneath him. No one had ever resisted him like Willow had. She was different from all the rest, and he somehow knew he’d never find her like again even across a thousand human lifetimes.

Opening up a search window, he tapped out his query.

Dinner for mortals

His thumb hesitated over the little magnifying glass icon. Dinner for mortals…

---