Page 31 of Just a Little Wicked (Wicked Sisters #2)

“S-sorry, are you Erikson Grimm?” he stammered. When Erikson nodded, he flushed and said, “Would you sign this for me? My girlfriend loves your show. We watch it every week.”

Erikson signed the paper and chatted with the man for a few minutes before he and Winter pushed through the front door.

He didn’t mind being recognized and asked to sign things—in fact it was one of his favorite parts of having a show.

He enjoyed seeing the faces on the other side of the TV screen.

He loved knowing that he and his brother had opened minds, and that he and Charlotte were keeping up the good work now that his brother had moved on.

“Why’s it annoying that I have emotional awareness?” he asked, picking up the dropped thread of their conversation.

“I don’t know. I just don’t want to like you.”

“Why not? Friends should like each other. And people who’ve fucked over multiple centuries should definitely like each other.”

She halted at the door to his truck and slowly looked up at him, shock that he’d gone there clearly written on her face.

Her pink tongue darted out to lick her bottom lip.

“We don’t know that we did that in every past life.

I’m sure there were times when we didn’t, like in this life.

You even said it yourself, it’s possible there were lifetimes when we were enemies, or . . . I don’t know, just good friends.”

“Yet.”

“Yet what?”

He pressed a hand to the truck, caging her between his body and the door. “We haven’t fucked in this life yet .”

Her pupils expanded. “Excuse me? What happened to being friends?”

“Nothing. I still want to be friends, but I’d be lying if I said you weren’t starring in some of my more adult fantasies lately.”

Her hazel eyes searched his. “Are you messing with me? We can barely tolerate each other.”

“I can tolerate you just fine.”

She scoffed. “How romantic.”

“Do you require romance from your app men?”

“No. They’re just for . . . physical needs.”

“Hmm.” He dragged his thumb across her bottom lip, praying she wouldn’t bite him.

She didn’t. Instead, her lips parted slightly and her chest rose.

“Even if you don’t want anything more from me, which you’ve made pretty clear is the case, at least consider me the next time you’re looking to get your physical needs met. ”

She let out a disbelieving laugh. “Don’t tell me you suddenly find me attractive.”

“I’ve always found you attractive,” he said plainly. “Scary, but sexy. And the more time I spend with you, the more I want to unbutton your pants and find out exactly what color panties you’re wearing.”

“ Erikson! We’re not compatible in the least. If my visions haven’t proven that, then I don’t know what will. I’m pretty sure we’ve tried this whole thing in multiple past lives.” She gestured between them. “And it never worked out.”

“I notice you’re not denying mutual attraction.”

“Well no, because you’re you .”

He tilted his head. “What’s that mean?”

“Give me a break. You know how you look. I’d have to be dead not to have noticed.”

“Wow.” He pressed his hand to his heart. “Your own words of romance render me speechless.”

She huffed softly. “If you think you want a friends-with-benefits situation because of our past lives, then I?—”

“Nope. That’s not it. The truth is I’ve wanted to kiss you from the start, even if I couldn’t acknowledge it to myself.

” The desire had always been there, but he’d been able to suppress it, to pretend it didn’t exist and shove it away.

But every moment he’d spent getting to know her, learning her little expressions and quirks, had made it harder and harder to keep the pretense alive.

Just once, he wanted to ghost his lips across hers and see if it would quell the need.

Maybe this inexorable tug toward her would ease once he finally had his hands on her.

Maybe they’d kiss and it would be a major let-down.

Or maybe those were all stupid reasons to justify the fact that he badly wanted to brush his tongue against hers and burn.

“Let me kiss you.” His voice sounded gravelly even to his own ears. “Let me taste you. If you’re so certain we’re incompatible, then it will feel like kissing a friend.”

He half expected her to sucker-punch him at the very suggestion, but instead a considering glint appeared in her eyes, and he knew he was in trouble.

“It makes sense that we’d be curious about us with a bunch of past lives hanging over our heads,” she admitted. “Let’s put our curiosity to rest right now and prove to ourselves that this would never work in this lifetime. One kiss?”

He could see right through her. If her visions were real snippets of the past, their affairs in previous lives never lasted.

Winter intended to give him a brief, painless kiss, because if she blew off whatever was beginning to heat between them now, then she could comfortably tell herself this lifetime was different.

That they weren’t meant to be lovers this time around.

She wouldn’t have to let down her guard, or open herself to potential pain.

But the problem with protecting herself against hurt was that she also closed herself off from experiencing all of the joy, love, and pleasure that came with taking a risk.

If that was what she wanted, then fine. It was her life. But he wasn’t going to let her fob him off with a bad kiss just to keep her defenses in place. One real kiss, and if she wanted him to back off, he would.

“Little hellion,” he murmured, bending closer. “I’m going to fight you on this one.”

Her lashes lifted. “What do you mean?”

“One kiss, right?”

She nodded, her face set like she was ready for battle. She popped onto her toes and wrapped her hand around the back of his neck, tugging him down. “One time only.” Then she mashed her mouth to his.

The told-you-so smugness of the brief, inelegant kiss was already on her lips, but just as she started to pull away in victory, he wrapped both his hands around her neck, his thumbs skimming her jaw, and kissed her for real.

If he only got one kiss, then he was going to make the most of it and take her the way he’d been reluctantly fantasizing about.

Winter’s lips stilled in surprise, but she didn’t pull away.

Her skin was soft under his palms. His fingertips tangled in the silky, damp strands of her hair at the base of her skull, while his thumbs framed her jaw and held her in place for him.

She allowed his lips to move over hers, coaxing and soft, until his tongue touched her bottom lip.

She automatically opened at the request, and he slid inside her mouth.

He'd thought the kiss might combust, that they would burst into an inferno of lust, but instead it built, a slow and steady symphony of taste and sensation that made every one of his neurons fire and his skin feel so sensitive that he swore he could feel her phantom touch everywhere.

He angled her head and licked deeper, her fingers digging into his neck as she pulled him closer, tighter.

They shared breath, the kiss intensifying over a hazy amount of time, until he was plundering her mouth and kissing her like she singularly provided oxygen.

It was a carnal claiming, a crescendo, and every cell realigned in his body with one point of orientation: Winter .

He was drowning in her, and it was the sweetest death he’d ever experienced.

Then something shifted, and she was no longer allowing him to direct the kiss.

She was fighting for control, kissing him with all the pent-up fierceness of a woman who’d spent a lifetime locking down her passions.

He let her take what she needed from him, her tongue tangling with his, her teeth nipping his lower lip hard enough to make his jeans uncomfortably tight, her hand creeping up to join the other around his neck.

His thigh wedged between hers and he pushed her against the truck.

She moaned into his mouth as he nudged upward, nearly lifting her off her feet before remembering how slight she was.

Her grip on his neck was almost painful, her limbs vibrating with tension as she pulled him closer, like she would crawl inside him if only she could.

Erikson felt certain he’d been designed by the Universe to specifically to help this one, Wicked woman find pleasure.

She rocked against his thigh and they both groaned, euphoria sweeping through him at the mere thought of having been the one to drag that noise from her lips.

His hands were on their way to her ass to help her grind harder, when a catcall from the parking lot and the shout of, “Get a room!” doused him with a cold bucket of reality.

He reluctantly tore away and pressed his forehead to hers. Both of them were breathing heavily, their hands still tangled up in one another. Her lips were wet and swollen, and in her eyes he saw a reflection of his own need.

His voice was rough when he said, “Oh, we’re fucking compatible all right.”

She nodded slowly and swallowed. “Okay, okay . . .” Her words were interrupted by the wail of a fire siren, the red engine flying past. The sound didn’t fade completely, meaning the fire must be close by. “I admit we have some unexpected chemistry, but let’s pause and think on this.”

“What’s there to think about? What just happened right now—that wasn’t normal, Win. That was electric .” His lids lowered as he scanned her rumpled and aroused body. “Tell me you don’t want to find out just how combustible we’d be.”

Her breathing hitched. “Let’s be rational, Erikson.

There could be a lot of complications with a quick fling.

Your brother and my sister are going to be married, and we’re probably going to have to see each other from time to time—assuming I’m able to visit my family after I join the Shadow Council. It could be awkward.”

“Right. There’s that.”

She slid her hands from his neck and he reluctantly loosened his grip on her too, although he kept one palm on her waist. Some part of him wasn’t willing to let her go just yet.

“And would it be wise to start something, considering how we felt in past lives? What if we sleep together for two days and then mourn each other for the rest of our lives?”

“You going to fall in love with me in two days, Elf?” He was joking, and yet . . . why didn’t that thought horrify him?

She huffed. “I was more worried about your feelings.”

It was unnerving to realize she might be right to worry.

“Let’s just head back to the motel for now.”

As they left the gym parking lot, they noticed people on the sidewalk gawking toward the sky. A plume of smoke was billowing from the top floor window of a general store. Firemen were pulling a hose from a truck even as traffic crawled past.

“I hope everyone got out all right,” Winter said, her brow furrowed. “I’m surprised I didn’t see that a fire was going to happen when I was so close to the location.”

Erikson’s heart fisted in his chest. Yes, that was strange. Very strange. In fact—he glanced at her from the driver’s seat, his lips pressed together—it felt a lot like a new manifestation of power.