Page 130 of Broken Blood Ties

I look up at him, smiling. “Okay.”

Something akin to relief relaxes his expression.

“I’m going to get cleaned up and changed. What time do we leave?”

The peaceful look on his face screws up into confusion. “What? I’d feel better if ye’d stay here.”

I step up to him, placing a hand over his chest. “Not a chance,” I whisper. I’ve come this far with him. I’m not turning away now.

The tension leaks back into the tightness of his jaw, and his nostrils flare before he slams his mouth on mine, bundling me in his arms. His kiss is fierce and needy, and he angles my chin almost instantly to deepen the kiss. The palm of his hand is firm as he cradles the back of my head, pulling it down to cup my face, then farther to squeeze my throat gently. I let myself gasp into his mouth as he sweeps his tongue into my mouth, and I moan as he nips and sucks my lower lip.

Being in Kieran’s arms feels like sipping on hot apple cider in the stormy weather of fall. It’s hot at first, nearly scalding on the tongue, but as it spreads, warmth seeps deeper, hugging the very marrow in my bones.

My eyelids flutter closed as he presses long languid kiss down my neck, swirling his tongue in different directions to keep me guessing. When he pulls away for a breath, I whimper in protest.

“I thought ye didn’t want this life?” he asks, diving back to lick a long line up the aching column of my exposed neck. Zings and zaps pulse loud in my core, and I can barely pant out an answer.

“I want you. And everything that comes with it. I’m coming with you.”

Kieran lets out a growl and rips away, grabbing me by the wrist and dragging me out of the room and downstairs. Panic throbs through me, wrestling with my desire. Is he going to lock me in a basement to keep me from coming with him?

We hit the bottom of the steps, and he glides down the hall.

“Where are we?—”

“Me office. Now.”

Another thrill hums through my blood at his strained tone, and I struggle to contain my excitement when he pushes me into the office, and the lock clicks behind him.

He captures my mouth again, hands roaming beneath my T-shirt and snapping the band of my leggings against my skin.

I shuck off my cardigan, looking around the room at the office. Here? Does he want to do this here?

“Don’t we have to leave?”

Though I say those words, my tongue slides over his upper lip and he shudders, but when my hands reach for his belt buckle, he snatches my wrist, tsking me.

“In the chair.” His demand liquefies my insides, and I nearly wobble there instead of the sultry walk I try to achieve. Jeez, I’m a goner for this man.

Once behind the desk, I sit in the chair, spinning around a few times while he stares at me. The predatory gleam in his expression is feral.

“We’re a bit far apart, don’t you think?” I ask, confused.

His unrelenting scrutiny drips down my body, slowly, ever so slowly; taking the time to undress me with his gaze until I’m practically writhing from his look alone.

“That night. When I caught ye in me office …”

I swallow. “Yeah?” Heat blooms in my cheeks as he stalks forward, both hands fanning out over the mahogany-colored desk, unconcerned with the papers he’s shoved out of the way.

My breath falters while my pulse intensifies on his next command.

“Show me. Show me what ye’d’ve done had I not walked in.”

Chapter39

Kieran

The moment we step inside, the heavy smoky air hits me like a personal punch. It clings to everything—the walls, the lights, the crowd that rattle with the kind of anticipation you can feel deep. The arena always had a tenuous vibe, even as mine. But with Summer here, on my arm in that silk, fitted black dress I picked out for her—the place is thick with shadows and palpable with a heavy undercurrent.