Page 35 of Soulbound

If he kissed her here and now, then there would be expectations, and he didn't want to break her heart.

He'd vowed to help Bishop rescue their father, but he wasn't staying here forever. He craved escape from this entire world, and from the people who filled it.

And then what? said a dark, cynical part of him. Do you think it would be easier to be alone in a new city, with no one who gives a damn about you?

Baring his soul like this was torture. He never exposed himself. Never. But the look in Cleo's eyes when she'd thought he didn't want her.... Cleo stared up at him, her shoulders squared.

The wife he'd never wanted.

His wife in name only.

And it was all he could do not to shove her up against the wall of the nearest house and have his way with her. Sweet goddess, but a part of him wanted her so badly he ached.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, resting a hand lightly on his arm. "And thank you. For helping me to understand. I kept thinking...." She shook her head, but he read it in her eyes.

"That I didn't want you."

Cleo gave him a wavering smile. "It wouldn't be unexpected."

He closed his eyes. Her father had a great deal to answer for—but then, who was he to judge? "I think you underestimate your charms. You're a beautiful woman, with a pure heart—"

"Sometimes it's not so pure," she whispered, rubbing her hands along her arms as though she still ached.

And perhaps she did.

Sebastian's gaze dropped to her mouth. He'd hated seeing another man stake a claim there when he himself hadn't. Hated it.

If you take this step, then you cannot simply walk away from her.

"No?" he asked.

Those coffee-dark eyes lifted to his, and he knew a flush darkened her cheeks, for she was new at this too.

A whisper of need swept through him, his cock pressing fervently against the placket of his breeches. It felt surreal to want her, for his experience with sex had soured him of the need for it. But there was a sweet wholesomeness to his desire. Cleo's intentions were writ large upon her face, and her heart was open to him. There was nothing she could hide from him, and her need for him was simply that: she cared for him, and hence she craved him. Yes? Or no? Sebastian faltered in indecision, but it was her mouth that finally decided him. Those soft, luscious lips that another man had tasted....

And he couldn't bear it any longer. Gray had stolen something that was his, and the jealousy ate at him, stirred by the incubus's magic.

Sebastian captured her hand in his, locking their palms together, his fingers splayed through hers. "Cleo." A whisper, and a curse, for he didn't know how to deal with her. He never had.

She was a dream he'd never dared believe in.

"I've never had a man dance with me.... Never been kissed." He'd felt the ache inside her then, and it matched his own emptiness in some ways.

But it also scared him.

"I don't know what to do with you," he admitted roughly. "You want more than I think I can ever give you."

Her fingers clenched against his, a warming touch. "All I want is to know you care for me. Just a little bit. The rest we can figure out as we go."

It seemed too simple.

And far too complex.

And if he didn't act now, then perhaps he never would.

Sebastian cupped her cheek in one hand, his lungs arresting, and his heart beginning to quicken. Best to get this over with before he lost his nerve. "One kiss then."

And then he brushed his lips against hers, feeling her mouth soften to his touch. Silk, soft as silk....