Page 32 of Hungry As Her Python

“You just want what you can’t have. It’s the chase you crave. It’ll pass.”

I almost laughed.

Pass?

Like hell it would.

She eased back a step, putting space between us like she thought distance could change anything.

Cute.

The problem was, space didn’t work on me.

Not with her.

Every inch she gave me just made my Python coil tighter, already planning how to close it.

She didn’t get it.

This wasn’t a crush.

It wasn’t some shiny-object phase I’d move on from.

Bella Strega had wrapped herself around my ribs from the first bite of her damn chocolate cream pie, and she hadn’t let go since.

“I told you already, but I’ll repeat it however many times you need to hear it, sweet Witch. This thing between us? It isn’t gonna pass. It’s not something I’ll get over, like chicken pox,” I told her, voice low and steady so she knew I meant every word.

“Conrad—”

“You had your say, Sugar, and I hate to interrupt, but I believe you need to hear this again. So, let me say it, okay?”

She nodded. Those blue eyes of her were so big, so crystal clear, I was liable to drown in them.

Oddly enough, that was more than okay with me.

“I’m not going anywhere. Got it? You just let me know when you’re ready for me. I’ll be right here, Bella. Waiting. Watching. Praying for the day you’re ready to accept my claim.”

The way her pupils blew wide at that—yeah, she felt it, even if she didn’t want to admit it.

I felt it, too.

All the way down to my bones.

The sound she made—soft, breathy, and unguarded—shot through me like a live wire.

My restraint frayed.

I bent, catching her mouth with mine in a kiss that wasn’t polite or patient.

I kissed her like she was already mine—because she was, whether she’d accepted it yet or not.

And, fuck, yes.

She kissed me back.

Oh, damn, she kissed me back.

Sweet Goddess, the way her lips moved with mine, the way her fingers curled like she was fighting the urge to grab me and hold on—it was enough to make a man forget his own name.